Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge

We pick up the storyline after the end of Banjo-Kazooie with the evil witch Grunty defeated, her right-hand crony Klungo wandering aimlessly around and the comic two-some simply having some well-deserved relaxation time. Unfortunately, however, Klungo has also been concocting a method of resurrecting his villainous mistress. He manages to siphon her constrained spirit into a large mechanical monstrosity that uncannily resembles the late Grunty herself. Once back in action, she evokes revenge on Banjo by kidnapping Kazooie and dragging the wise-cracking bird back through time to the 1970s. Banjo hastily jumps to the rescue and so the adventure begins...

 

When BK: GR was originally announced, many people wondered just how on Earth the extravagant and vast environments of the two N64 iterations would make the transition to Nintendo's 32-bit handheld system. But ramblings from the Rare camp suggested that whilst Camelot's Goden Sun looked visually impressive, it would be nothing compared to what its GBA team could produce on the hardware...and this was certainly no mere empty boastful comment. The camera angle might be fixed, giving a limited isometric viewpoint that causes minor problems when moving behind particular objects, but other than that you would assume that you are simply playing on the 64-bit powerhouse once more. The models are of a 3D nature and move around the interactive, colourful locales, all of which will be familiar to BK veterans. In terms of animation, all the necessary aspects are included, such as the range of moves carried out by both bear and bird, as well as the wide range of characters, friend and foe alike. Slowdown never proves to be a setback purely due to the lack of on-screen action at any one time

 

Rare's GBA team has literally taken the hearts of the two N64 titles and crammed them into a small GameBoy cartridge. Everything has been scaled down, but first-timers will clearly be unaware of this. You start off in control of Banjo the bear and only have a minor range of moves, jump and back-pack-whack (does what it says on the tin). As you progress through the game's five levels, all accessed via the central hub of Spiral Mountain, you will collect musical notes that are dotted around. These can be exchanged for extra moves when you come across special mole hills that house the teacher of new abilities. Once your range of moves begins to increase, you can easily work your way through the game, first of all rescuing Kazooie, thus enabling other moves to be unlocked (such as using Kazooie's legs to climb steep inclines or using her as a gun to fire different eggs as enemies and switches), and then continuing to beat down Gruntilda's minions and collect those elusive jiggies. These, if you are wondering, are jigsaw pieces, ten of which can be found within each level and a further ten spread across Spiral Mountain, and grant access to later levels if sufficient have previously been obtained. They can be earned by means of a variety of methods

 

So, you have just parted with your