Since its release in 1998, Banjo-Kazooie has become widely regarded as one of the best and most influential 3D-platformers of all time. Both it and its sequel Banjo-Tooie were critical and commercial successes, and are widely loved by fans of the genre. The titles always come up whenever discussing the Nintendo 64, as the system is synonymous with the characters at this point. So why exactly, in the age of remakes, remasters, and reboots, have these titles not been given the remake treatment? Here are some reasons for why they should be remade in the coming years.
After Rare was purchased by Microsoft in 2002, 3D platformers slowly became less and less popular in the coming years. As first-person-shooters and action games became more prominent, platformers lost their place in the spotlight. This caused the studio to shift its focus to more experimental games, and eventually led to the 2008 release of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, which famously abandoned the series’ platforming in favor of vehicle creation. The game was disliked by fans who wanted a more traditional experience, and the series hasn’t returned ever since.
But then in 2017, Activision kicked off a revitalization of the genre by remastering the original Crash Bandicoot titles from the PS1 with Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy. The game was a massive success, and was big enough for the company to remake Spyro’s original three games with the Spyro Reignited Trilogy the following year in 2018. Since then, more games within the genre have been remastered and remade, with no end in sight. Even the recently released SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydated is yet another title to be remade due to love for the lost genre; and the original Battle for Bikini Bottom was itself heavily inspired by Banjo-Kazooie, so it therefore would make perfect sense for Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie to get their own full remakes from the grown up.
Aside from the old classics getting remade, many new platforming mascots have come out to make their own marks on the platforming genre. A Hat in Time, which released in 2017, has become a huge success. The title takes very clear inspiration from Super Mario 64, The Wind Waker (in its art style), and Banjo-Kazooie. Other games, like New Super Lucky’s Tale, take inspiration from the 2D and 3D platforming genre and puts its own unique and modern spin on it. Even though the genre has become less popular over the past decade or so, these indie titles are signs that both gamers and developers alike have not forgotten them.
One obvious reason for why Banjo-Kazooie should make its return is the fact that, ever the game’s original creators want it to happen. Though most of the original Rare employees are no longer at the company, many of them left and formed their own studio known as Playtonic Games. Fans of the creators will know that this is the same company that used Kickstarter in order to fund the bear and bird’s spiritual successor, Yooka-Laylee. The platformer released in 2017 to rather mixed reception from both fans and critics, but the point is that the game was a passion product sprung from the fact that even the game’s original creators want to see more Banjo-Kazooie titles.
The series’ composer and voice of the titular character, Grant Kirkhope, has been very vocal in his wishes to see the characters make a return, stating it on multiple occasions. There have been multiple rumors in the past few years of the games getting remakes by the original developers, but all of them have thus far been proven false. It isn’t outside of the realm of possibility for this to one day become a reality, however.
It’s no secret that the fans, too, very desperately want to see Banjo-Kazooie to make its return. The bear and bird reached the top of the list of the Smash Ballot back in 2015, which led to the head of Xbox himself, Phil Spencer, stating that he would be perfectly fine with the characters making their way into the Super Smash Bros. series. This of course became a reality last year, as Banjo and Kazooie were added into Ultimate as part of the Fighters Pass DLC. This in many ways was a huge deal, as it was one of the first times in gaming history that an exclusive IP from one console was brought over to another exclusive title, as part of a special partnership. Fans went absolutely wild over this announcement, and rightfully so; this was the bear and bird’s first new appearance since 2008’s Nuts & Bolts, and the first time appearing on a Nintendo console since the Nintendo 64.
This new appearance also renewed many fan’s interests in seeing a sequel, or remake of the original titles. See the characters in shiny HD graphics, and Spiral Mountain re-imagined as a Smash Bros. stage brought endless possibilities to the idea of a new Banjo-Kazooie title.
It also seems as though Rare is finally ready to take on the heavy task of remaking Banjo-Kazooie. Though fans have had their doubts in the past, the company seems to finally be on the right track again. No longer developing Kinect titles, Rare in recent years has gone back to making core games. Sea of Thieves, though not necessarily a masterpiece, has become a relatively well-liked game by many fans and critics and shows that the company still has plenty of creativity and passion remaining. The recently released Battletoads reboot has also done well, and is another sign of the developer’s returned passion and talent. Rare even co-developed the well-received Killer Instinct reboot, another classic from the developer’s past.
Even though the company isn’t in the same place as it once was in the 90’s, it has clearly grown over the past several years, and should be ready to take on the task of bringing back the bear and bird duo. And if not them, it’s obvious that Playtonic Games has a passion for the series unlike any others. But regardless of who brings back Banjo-Kazooie, there will be fans patiently waiting for that day to come.
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