Banjo & Kazooie (SSBU): Difference between revisions

'''Banjo & Kazooie''' ({{ja|バンジョー&カズーイ|Banjō & Kazūi}}, ''Banjo & Kazooie''), formatted in their reveal trailer as '''Banjo-Kazooie''', are a playable duo character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'', and are the first third-party fighters from [[Microsoft]]. They were revealed alongside {{SSBU|Hero}} during the E3 Nintendo Direct on June 11th, 2019 as the third [[Downloadable content (SSBU)|downloadable]] fighters from {{h2|Downloadable content (SSBU)|Fighters Pass Vol. 1}}. Banjo & Kazooie were released as part of Challenger Pack 3 on September 4th, 2019. Although they are a team, they are collectively classified as [[Fighter number|Fighter #73]].

{{s|mariowiki|Chris Sutherland}} reprises his role as both Banjo and Kazooie, with his portrayals from across the ''Banjo-Kazooie'' series being repurposed for ''Ultimate'' in all regions.

Banjo & Kazooie are ranked 62nd out of 82 on the current [[tier list]], placing them in the C- tier and making them the lowest ranking character from Fighters Pass Vol. 1. The duo have a strong projectile mixup game: their numerous projectiles such as [[Egg Firing / Breegull Blaster]] and [[Rear Egg]] grant the duo some effective setups and followup potential, with the ability to constantly knock opponents around and lead into combos if used properly. Egg Firing generates long-duration eggs that can disrupt approaches or [[gimp]] recoveries, Breegull Blaster can set up aerial combos and platform tech chases, while Rear Egg functions as the duo's main zoning and combo tool, with the niche ability to break out of combos or extend the duo's [[recovery]]. The duo's signature move [[Wonderwing]] is a long-duration dash with [[invincibility]] that is very powerful, has potential to be combo'd into, and can beat out almost every option other than [[grab]]s, giving them a safe recovery option and a powerful (albeit committal) reversal in disadvantage. Most of the duo's attacks feature [[disjointed]] hitboxes due to Kazooie, giving them some adequate range for close quarters. Their normal moveset has some effective attacks: down tilt functions as an amazing [[2 frame punish]] and [[edgeguarding]] option thanks to its long duration and range, up tilt is a powerful anti-air and KO move with low enough endlag to combo into itself at low percents, and forward air is a viable KO tool with good reach. Finally, their status as a heavyweight, along with their two midair jumps, lack of helplessness from [[Shock Spring Jump]] and ability to extend their recovery with Rear Egg, gives the duo higher-than-average survivability, and Kazooie's dash speed grants the duo surprisingly fast long-distance movement. Overall, the pair has some solid strengths to control the flow of the game.

However, Banjo and Kazooie have some noticeable flaws. Their moveset suffers from being quite inconsistent due to problematic hitboxes, weak damage and knockback, or both, which can make general combat quite unwieldy. In addition, their frame data is generally unimpressive, with their landing lag also being rather high, which gives them limited attacks that can be thrown out in neutral. Their most intricate combos usually require a lot of technical skill, with effective usage of Rear Egg and Breegull Blaster combos being quite difficult to perform; while some can lead into Wonderwing punishes, most of these combos do extremely low damage. Finally, their damage output is relatively low, and when combined with the aforementioned problems gives them very few consistent followups or good reward for landing attacks, while also giving them few safe KO options. Combined, this means their gameplan is usually limited to winning neutral exchanges using their projectiles to get opponents to make mistakes. Their other problems include their weight, which makes them combo food for a lot of the cast, and their general movement, which is unimpressive outside of Kazooie's dash due to Banjo's slow walk speed, low traction, and poor air speed/jump height. Wonderwing is incredibly risky despite its perks, is designed to be out-prioritized by grabs, is limited to up to five feathers per stock, and is slow enough to be reacted to. Finally, the duo's grab game is passable: their grab is only average, and their pivot grab has the odd quirk of having lower range on aerial foes due to a coding error, while only back throw has the ability to directly KO, and down throw is very inconsistent despite [[bury]]ing opponents, which is unusual for a throw of its type (such as similar throws shared by {{SSBU|King K.Rool}} and {{SSBU|Snake}}).

Overall, Banjo and Kazooie function as an unusual mix of a heavyweight and a zoner: most of their gameplan revolves around picking openings granted by their projectiles, although their general inconsistencies tend to make them considered relatively weak for their archetype. Due to their issues, Banjo and Kazooie have seen minimal representation throughout the course of ''Ultimate''’s lifespan, with most of their results coming from early during their release, such as from {{Sm|Tweek}} and {{Sm|Raito}}. In the post-pandemic era, {{Sm|Toriguri}} has brought about some of the best results and wins the duo has ever had, with some major top 8 performances worldwide.

|dtiltdesc=Kazooie's [https://banjokazooiewiki.com/wiki/Beak_Barge Beak Barge]. It is a [[semi-spike]] with good range and long-lasting hitbox (10 frames), all of which make it a good tool for on-stage edgeguarding and [[2 frame punish]]ing. It lowers the duo's profile to an even greater extent than their crouch, enabling them to duck under some moves like {{SSBU|Wolf}}'s {{b|Blaster|Wolf}} shots. As a launched opponent will usually [[tumble]] onto the stage, this move often allows for read-dependent follow-ups such as neutral aerial (against taller/larger character) down smash, or another down tilt; its disjoint distance also makes it a great [[tech-chasing]] option in other situations, although its power and speed are somewhat poor, being the duo's slowest tilt attack at 12 frames. Finally, it acts as a pseudo-crawl and can [[cross-up]] against shields when performed close enough to their opponent.

|fsmashdesc=The [https://banjokazooiewiki.com/wiki/Breegull_Bash Breegull Bash]. This move is moderately slow (19 frames) and has high ending lag, but it is fairly powerful (especially relative to Banjo & Kazooie's overall moveset), KOing at around 100% from center stage. Its speed and the size of its hitbox makes it mainly useful for punishing short-ranged attacks and catching rolls. Its hitbox is wide enough to sometimes hit aerial opponents diagonally above and in front the duo, though not to the extent of hitting opponents standing on platforms above Banjo & Kazooie. Additionally, similar to down smash and especially down tilt, its high range allows it to [[2 frame punish]] at the edge (although this move is more powerful and lasts for a shorter period than either ).

|uairdesc=Kazooie flaps her wings upwards in a scissoring motion, similarly to {{SSBU|Sonic}}'s up aerial. Hits twice, with the first hit leading to the second. Has a wide hitbox with good range, with the first hit being able to hit grounded opponents if performed while the duo is falling. Additionally, it is Banjo & Kazooie's fastest aerial, coming out on frame 7, and has the quickest interruptibility of the duo's aerials; this allows the duo to perform up to four up aerials while using their jumps, somewhat similarly to {{SSBU|Meta Knight}}'s up aerial strings. Can set up juggles into itself at low to medium percentages. A landing up aerial against a grounded opponent can combo into up tilt, up smash, and also any aerial except for down aerial, depending the opponent's percentage. Even further boosting its utility is that the move's first hit on its own, depending on the positioning, can potentially set up KO confirms into up tilt, forward smash, forward aerial and Wonderwing on landing. However, it has relatively low hitstun due to its low damage and slightly higher ending lag compared to other weak up aerials, making up aerial ladder juggles easily escapable. The first hit may also occasionally launch opponents away from the second hit, and the move is extremely weak, having almost no KO potential even at extremely high percentages. Additionally, the move has 12 frames of landing lag, which is unusually high compared to other up aerials of comparable speed and strength. The move autocancels from a short hop.

*{{Sm|Toriguri|Japan}} - The undisputed best Banjo & Kazooie player of all time whose performances in the post-online metagame led to a positive shift in Banjo's perception. He is both the only solo-Banjo player ranked globally, ranking 54th on the [[LumiRank 2023]], and the the only solo-Banjo player to place top 8 at a major, doing so at {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 14}}, {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 15 "FINAL"}}, and {{Trn|Battle of BC 6}}, while notably defeating {{Sm|MkLeo}} at the latter event.

Banjo & Kazooie were initially met with a mildly positive reception due to their strong and flexible moves (such as forward aerial, forward tilt, smash attacks, [[Wonderwing]], and [[Rear Egg]]), their ability to zone and edge trap effectively, and their versatile recovery. However, the duo's flaws, including their below-average speed, mediocre damage output on many of their attacks, surprisingly high landing lag on some of their aerials, and a grab game of inconsistent quality, were also noted. This has led to Banjo & Kazooie garnering below-average results compared to the rest of the cast, although they had some notable success from players such as {{Sm|huto}}, {{Sm|Raito}}, and {{Sm|Trela}}; {{Sm|Tweek}} also utilized Banjo & Kazooie at {{Trn|Glitch 7 - Minus World}}, although he promptly dropped the duo following that tournament. As a result, the early consensus posited the duo within the lower end of high tier at best and within the mid tier at worst.  

However, by the end of 2019, Banjo & Kazooie saw a decline in both results and reception, with many players dropping the duo. Many players believe that Banjo & Kazooie are only at their strongest in an online environment, due to the increased input lag benefiting their most useful attacks. Conversely, others believe that Banjo & Kazooie fluctuate between the lower end of the mid tier and the low tier. Although Banjo & Kazooie are generally considered respectable fighters, the duo's viability as a solo main has been questioned due to their best players often co-maining them or using them as a secondary. Despite this perception, {{Sm|Toriguri}} has managed to consistently achieve success at major tournaments while using Banjo & Kazooie as his sole main ever since the early metagame, and has achieved surprisingly impressive results, including a 3-0 against {{Sm|MkLeo}} at {{Trn|Battle of BC 6}}. Overall, Banjo & Kazooie are ranked 62nd on the current tier list, which posits them as a lower-end mid-tier fighter.