Banjo-Kazooie (universe)

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While designing a moveset for the titular [[Banjo]], the team experimented with various ideas on how to improve and expand upon Mario's moveset in ''Super Mario 64''; namely, the ability to double jump and run faster. As Banjo's character model did not apply itself easily to these ideas, they were initially accomplished by simply having wings and legs sprout out of his backpack when necessary. This eventually led to the logical conclusion of a separate character living in Banjo's backpack: a bird named [[Kazooie]]. Variation was added to the gameplay through the shaman Mumbo Jumbo, who transforms Banjo into different creatures and objects with unique abilities. With the game's pirate themes gradually diminishing, the role of antagonist was passed from Captain Blackeye to a green witch named Gruntilda. At one point full voice acting was considered, but the team quickly realized how much dialogue would have to be recorded and how much it would slow down development. Instead, they opted for garbled voice clips that sync up to the text, becoming a series staple ever since. To help promote the upcoming title, as well as fill in the vacant holiday release schedule, Banjo was added as a playable character and made his video game debut in ''{{s|mariowiki|Diddy Kong Racing}}'' in November 1997. While Kazooie is not present or mentioned in-game, she is mentioned in the instruction manual.

''Banjo-Kazooie'' was initially released in June 1998 to strong sales and critical acclaim, with praise to its detailed graphics, witty dialogue, dynamic soundtrack, colorful cast of characters, and improvements over the foundation laid by ''Super Mario 64'' across the board. Along with other recognizable titles such as ''[[GoldenEye (universe)|GoldenEye 007]]'', {{uv|Perfect Dark}}, ''Donkey Kong 64'', and ''Conker's Bad Fur Day'', this game cemented Rare's reputation as a top-tier developer for the platform. The eponymous duo became mascots for not only the company but also the Nintendo 64 itself. Owing to this success, a direct sequel titled ''{{s|wikipedia|Banjo-Tooie}}'' was released in November 2000, featuring a more elaborate plot with a darker tone, Mumbo Jumbo as an additional playable character, multiple new gameplay styles including first-person shooter segments, local multiplayer, and a large interconnected world. The duology confounded the gaming community for many years with the mysterious "Stop 'N' Swop" feature, originally meant to use an unintentional quirk of the N64 hardware to transfer data between different cartridges for unlocking special bonuses. However, the feature was removed at the last minute both at Nintendo's behest and due to newer N64 models making it infeasible.

''Banjo-Kazooie'' was initially released in June 1998 to strong sales and critical acclaim, with praise to its detailed graphics, witty dialogue, dynamic soundtrack, colorful cast of characters, and improvements over the foundation laid by ''Super Mario 64'' across the board. Along with other recognizable titles such as ''[[GoldenEye (universe)|GoldenEye 007]]'', {{uv|Perfect Dark}}, ''Donkey Kong 64'', and ''Conker's Bad Fur Day'', this game cemented Rare's reputation as a top-tier developer for the platform. The eponymous duo became mascots for not only the company but also the Nintendo 64 itself. Owing to this success, a direct sequel titled ''{{s|wikipedia|Banjo-Tooie}}'' was released in November 2000, featuring a more elaborate plot with a darker tone, Mumbo Jumbo as an additional playable character, multiple new gameplay styles including first-person shooter segments, local multiplayer, and a large interconnected world. The duology confounded the gaming community for many years with the mysterious "Stop 'N' Swop" feature, originally meant to use an unintentional quirk of the N64 hardware to transfer data between different cartridges for unlocking special bonuses. However, the feature was removed at the last minute both at Nintendo's behest and due to newer N64 models making it infeasible. A Game Boy Color spinoff title called ''Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Curse'' was also in development at the same time as ''Banjo-Tooie'', but it ran into development issues and spent longer than expected before releasing.

While the ''Banjo-Kazooie'' intellectual property was initially a second-party Nintendo franchise, and Banjo and Kazooie were marketed as "Nintendo characters" alongside first-party creations such as the aforementioned ''Super Mario 64'' as well as ''The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time'' and ''Star Fox 64'', the property was transferred in full to [[Microsoft]] upon its purchase of Rare on September 24th, 2002. However, since Microsoft had no stake in the handheld gaming market, Rare was permitted to develop two spin-offs for the Game Boy Advance: ''{{s|wikipedia|Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge}}'', an "interquel" with a time-travel plot that takes place between the two N64 games, and ''{{s|wikipedia|Banjo-Pilot}}'', an airplane-based racing game retooled from a ''Diddy Kong Racing'' sequel following the 2002 acquisition. Neither of these titles were released outside of North America and Europe, marking the first time the series has not had a release in Japan.

While the ''Banjo-Kazooie'' intellectual property was initially a second-party Nintendo franchise, and Banjo and Kazooie were marketed as "Nintendo characters" alongside first-party creations such as the aforementioned ''Super Mario 64'' as well as ''The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time'' and ''Star Fox 64'', the property was transferred in full to [[Microsoft]] upon its purchase of Rare on September 24th, 2002. However, since Microsoft had no stake in the handheld gaming market, Rare was permitted to develop two spin-offs for the Game Boy Advance: ''{{s|wikipedia|Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge}}'', an "interquel" with a time-travel plot that takes place between the two N64 games and what became of ''Grunty's Curse'', and ''{{s|wikipedia|Banjo-Pilot}}'', an airplane-based racing game retooled from a ''Diddy Kong Racing'' sequel following the 2002 acquisition. Neither of these titles were released outside of North America and Europe, marking the first time the series has not had a release in Japan. Rare also teamed with mobile phone game producer In-Fusio to create a port of ''Grunty's Revenge'' titled ''Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge Mobile'' and a collection of minigames titled ''Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge Missions''. A puzzle game titled ''Banjo's Jiggy Juggle'' was also in development, but was scrapped and later became ''{{s|wikipedia|It's Mr. Pants}}''.

A third console entry was greatly contested within Rare, as the team initially struggled to find a central focus. Concepts for this third game included an expanded remake of the first game with certain gameplay segments altered, and a game focusing more directly on the duo's rivalry with Gruntilda wherein they would compete in a series of rapid-fire challenges. None of these ideas came to fruition; instead the team ~~landed on~~ the concept of constructing vehicles to traverse large, sandbox-like hub worlds and complete missions. This became the foundation for ''{{s|wikipedia|Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts}}'', released for the Xbox 360 in November 2008, which prominently features a 3D editor in which the player can construct a multitude of vehicles ranging from four-wheelers to hovercrafts to biplanes. The art style and character designs were also updated for this new game, as it was thought that using high-resolution versions of the Nintendo 64 models lost a lot of the charm in the translation. Thus, everything became more angular and cuboid to match the building-block aesthetic, and the environments and hub worlds were designed to complement the themes of construction. Though it received mostly positive reviews from critics, it was highly polarizing due to its deviation from the traditional 3D platforming formula of the original duology. The game became infamous in the following years as fans felt their expectations were subverted, and in the meantime, Rare temporarily shifted focus away from its original properties to develop games for the Kinect starting in 2010.

A third console entry was greatly contested within Rare, as the team initially struggled to find a central focus. Concepts for this third game, initially titled ''Banjo-Threeie'' according to what Gruntilda says at the end of ''Banjo-Tooie'', included an expanded remake of the first game with certain gameplay segments altered, internally called ''Banjo-X'', and a game focusing more directly on the duo's rivalry with Gruntilda wherein they would compete in a series of rapid-fire challenges. Another title titled ''Banjo-Karting'' was in development as an early Xbox 360 title. Unrelated to ''Banjo Pilot'', this title was a more standard cart racer with a high emphasis on vehicle customization.

None of these ideas came to fruition; instead the team took the afformentioned concept of constructing vehicles to traverse large, sandbox-like hub worlds and complete missions. This became the foundation for ''{{s|wikipedia|Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts}}'', released for the Xbox 360 in November 2008, which prominently features a 3D editor in which the player can construct a multitude of vehicles ranging from four-wheelers to hovercrafts to biplanes. The art style and character designs were also updated for this new game, as it was thought that using high-resolution versions of the Nintendo 64 models lost a lot of the charm in the translation. Thus, everything became more angular and cuboid to match the building-block aesthetic, and the environments and hub worlds were designed to complement the themes of construction. Though it received mostly positive reviews from critics, it was highly polarizing due to its deviation from the traditional 3D platforming formula of the original duology. The game became infamous in the following years as fans felt their expectations were subverted, and in the meantime, Rare temporarily shifted focus away from its original properties to develop games for the Kinect starting in 2010.

Between 2008 and 2010, ''Nuts & Bolts'' was followed up by downloadable HD remasters of the two N64 titles on Xbox Live Arcade courtesy of 4J Studios (while also implementing a retooled Stop 'N' Swop feature), as well as Banjo and Kazooie's guest appearance in the Xbox 360 version of ''{{s|wikipedia|Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing}}''. ''Banjo-Kazooie'' series characters also appear as downloadable skin packs in all versions of {{uv|Minecraft}}. Finally, at E3 2015, Rare shifted focus back to its intellectual properties when they announced ''{{s|wikipedia|Rare Replay}}'', a compilation of thirty titles from across Rare's storied history in celebration of their 30th anniversary as a development studio. Released exclusively for the Xbox One in August 2015, this collection featured all three home console installments in the ''Banjo-Kazooie'' series, including achievements, developer interviews, and remixed challenges. The original Nintendo 64 version of ''Banjo-Kazooie'' was released on the [[Nintendo Switch]] for subscribers of Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack on January 20th, 2022, making its first rerelease on a Nintendo console. It was the first release of any ''Banjo-Kazooie'' series game on a Nintendo console since ''Banjo-Pilot'' 17 years prior. However, apart from these rereleases, the ''Banjo-Kazooie'' series has stayed largely dormant since the release of ''Nuts & Bolts''. In that time, the majority of the original creative team had split away from Rare to form an independent studio, {{s|wikipedia|Playtonic Games}}; they crowdfunded and released their first project, a spiritual successor titled ''{{s|wikipedia|Yooka-Laylee}}'', in 2017 to generally mixed reception.

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 While designing a moveset for the titular [[Banjo]], the team experimented with various ideas on how to improve and expand upon Mario's moveset in ''Super Mario 64''; namely, the ability to double jump and run faster. As Banjo's character model did not apply itself easily to these ideas, they were initially accomplished by simply having wings and legs sprout out of his backpack when necessary. This eventually led to the logical conclusion of a separate character living in Banjo's backpack: a bird named [[Kazooie]]. Variation was added to the gameplay through the shaman Mumbo Jumbo, who transforms Banjo into different creatures and objects with unique abilities. With the game's pirate themes gradually diminishing, the role of antagonist was passed from Captain Blackeye to a green witch named Gruntilda. At one point full voice acting was considered, but the team quickly realized how much dialogue would have to be recorded and how much it would slow down development. Instead, they opted for garbled voice clips that sync up to the text, becoming a series staple ever since. To help promote the upcoming title, as well as fill in the vacant holiday release schedule, Banjo was added as a playable character and made his video game debut in ''{{s|mariowiki|Diddy Kong Racing}}'' in November 1997. While Kazooie is not present or mentioned in-game, she is mentioned in the instruction manual.
-''Banjo-Kazooie'' was initially released in June 1998 to strong sales and critical acclaim, with praise to its detailed graphics, witty dialogue, dynamic soundtrack, colorful cast of characters, and improvements over the foundation laid by ''Super Mario 64'' across the board. Along with other recognizable titles such as ''[[GoldenEye (universe)|GoldenEye 007]]'', {{uv|Perfect Dark}}, ''Donkey Kong 64'', and ''Conker's Bad Fur Day'', this game cemented Rare's reputation as a top-tier developer for the platform. The eponymous duo became mascots for not only the company but also the Nintendo 64 itself. Owing to this success, a direct sequel titled ''{{s|wikipedia|Banjo-Tooie}}'' was released in November 2000, featuring a more elaborate plot with a darker tone, Mumbo Jumbo as an additional playable character, multiple new gameplay styles including first-person shooter segments, local multiplayer, and a large interconnected world. The duology confounded the gaming community for many years with the mysterious "Stop 'N' Swop" feature, originally meant to use an unintentional quirk of the N64 hardware to transfer data between different cartridges for unlocking special bonuses. However, the feature was removed at the last minute both at Nintendo's behest and due to newer N64 models making it infeasible.
+''Banjo-Kazooie'' was initially released in June 1998 to strong sales and critical acclaim, with praise to its detailed graphics, witty dialogue, dynamic soundtrack, colorful cast of characters, and improvements over the foundation laid by ''Super Mario 64'' across the board. Along with other recognizable titles such as ''[[GoldenEye (universe)|GoldenEye 007]]'', {{uv|Perfect Dark}}, ''Donkey Kong 64'', and ''Conker's Bad Fur Day'', this game cemented Rare's reputation as a top-tier developer for the platform. The eponymous duo became mascots for not only the company but also the Nintendo 64 itself. Owing to this success, a direct sequel titled ''{{s|wikipedia|Banjo-Tooie}}'' was released in November 2000, featuring a more elaborate plot with a darker tone, Mumbo Jumbo as an additional playable character, multiple new gameplay styles including first-person shooter segments, local multiplayer, and a large interconnected world. The duology confounded the gaming community for many years with the mysterious "Stop 'N' Swop" feature, originally meant to use an unintentional quirk of the N64 hardware to transfer data between different cartridges for unlocking special bonuses. However, the feature was removed at the last minute both at Nintendo's behest and due to newer N64 models making it infeasible. A Game Boy Color spinoff title called ''Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Curse'' was also in development at the same time as ''Banjo-Tooie'', but it ran into development issues and spent longer than expected before releasing.
-While the ''Banjo-Kazooie'' intellectual property was initially a second-party Nintendo franchise, and Banjo and Kazooie were marketed as "Nintendo characters" alongside first-party creations such as the aforementioned ''Super Mario 64'' as well as ''The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time'' and ''Star Fox 64'', the property was transferred in full to [[Microsoft]] upon its purchase of Rare on September 24th, 2002. However, since Microsoft had no stake in the handheld gaming market, Rare was permitted to develop two spin-offs for the Game Boy Advance: ''{{s|wikipedia|Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge}}'', an "interquel" with a time-travel plot that takes place between the two N64 games, and ''{{s|wikipedia|Banjo-Pilot}}'', an airplane-based racing game retooled from a ''Diddy Kong Racing'' sequel following the 2002 acquisition. Neither of these titles were released outside of North America and Europe, marking the first time the series has not had a release in Japan.
+While the ''Banjo-Kazooie'' intellectual property was initially a second-party Nintendo franchise, and Banjo and Kazooie were marketed as "Nintendo characters" alongside first-party creations such as the aforementioned ''Super Mario 64'' as well as ''The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time'' and ''Star Fox 64'', the property was transferred in full to [[Microsoft]] upon its purchase of Rare on September 24th, 2002. However, since Microsoft had no stake in the handheld gaming market, Rare was permitted to develop two spin-offs for the Game Boy Advance: ''{{s|wikipedia|Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge}}'', an "interquel" with a time-travel plot that takes place between the two N64 games and what became of ''Grunty's Curse'', and ''{{s|wikipedia|Banjo-Pilot}}'', an airplane-based racing game retooled from a ''Diddy Kong Racing'' sequel following the 2002 acquisition. Neither of these titles were released outside of North America and Europe, marking the first time the series has not had a release in Japan. Rare also teamed with mobile phone game producer In-Fusio to create a port of ''Grunty's Revenge'' titled ''Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge Mobile'' and a collection of minigames titled ''Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge Missions''. A puzzle game titled ''Banjo's Jiggy Juggle'' was also in development, but was scrapped and later became ''{{s|wikipedia|It's Mr. Pants}}''.
-A third console entry was greatly contested within Rare, as the team initially struggled to find a central focus. Concepts for this third game included an expanded remake of the first game with certain gameplay segments altered, and a game focusing more directly on the duo's rivalry with Gruntilda wherein they would compete in a series of rapid-fire challenges. None of these ideas came to fruition; instead the team landed on the concept of constructing vehicles to traverse large, sandbox-like hub worlds and complete missions. This became the foundation for ''{{s|wikipedia|Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts}}'', released for the Xbox 360 in November 2008, which prominently features a 3D editor in which the player can construct a multitude of vehicles ranging from four-wheelers to hovercrafts to biplanes. The art style and character designs were also updated for this new game, as it was thought that using high-resolution versions of the Nintendo 64 models lost a lot of the charm in the translation. Thus, everything became more angular and cuboid to match the building-block aesthetic, and the environments and hub worlds were designed to complement the themes of construction. Though it received mostly positive reviews from critics, it was highly polarizing due to its deviation from the traditional 3D platforming formula of the original duology. The game became infamous in the following years as fans felt their expectations were subverted, and in the meantime, Rare temporarily shifted focus away from its original properties to develop games for the Kinect starting in 2010.
+A third console entry was greatly contested within Rare, as the team initially struggled to find a central focus. Concepts for this third game, initially titled ''Banjo-Threeie'' according to what Gruntilda says at the end of ''Banjo-Tooie'', included an expanded remake of the first game with certain gameplay segments altered, internally called ''Banjo-X'', and a game focusing more directly on the duo's rivalry with Gruntilda wherein they would compete in a series of rapid-fire challenges. Another title titled ''Banjo-Karting'' was in development as an early Xbox 360 title. Unrelated to ''Banjo Pilot'', this title was a more standard cart racer with a high emphasis on vehicle customization.
+None of these ideas came to fruition; instead the team took the afformentioned concept of constructing vehicles to traverse large, sandbox-like hub worlds and complete missions. This became the foundation for ''{{s|wikipedia|Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts}}'', released for the Xbox 360 in November 2008, which prominently features a 3D editor in which the player can construct a multitude of vehicles ranging from four-wheelers to hovercrafts to biplanes. The art style and character designs were also updated for this new game, as it was thought that using high-resolution versions of the Nintendo 64 models lost a lot of the charm in the translation. Thus, everything became more angular and cuboid to match the building-block aesthetic, and the environments and hub worlds were designed to complement the themes of construction. Though it received mostly positive reviews from critics, it was highly polarizing due to its deviation from the traditional 3D platforming formula of the original duology. The game became infamous in the following years as fans felt their expectations were subverted, and in the meantime, Rare temporarily shifted focus away from its original properties to develop games for the Kinect starting in 2010.
 Between 2008 and 2010, ''Nuts & Bolts'' was followed up by downloadable HD remasters of the two N64 titles on Xbox Live Arcade courtesy of 4J Studios (while also implementing a retooled Stop 'N' Swop feature), as well as Banjo and Kazooie's guest appearance in the Xbox 360 version of ''{{s|wikipedia|Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing}}''. ''Banjo-Kazooie'' series characters also appear as downloadable skin packs in all versions of {{uv|Minecraft}}. Finally, at E3 2015, Rare shifted focus back to its intellectual properties when they announced ''{{s|wikipedia|Rare Replay}}'', a compilation of thirty titles from across Rare's storied history in celebration of their 30th anniversary as a development studio. Released exclusively for the Xbox One in August 2015, this collection featured all three home console installments in the ''Banjo-Kazooie'' series, including achievements, developer interviews, and remixed challenges. The original Nintendo 64 version of ''Banjo-Kazooie'' was released on the [[Nintendo Switch]] for subscribers of Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack on January 20th, 2022, making its first rerelease on a Nintendo console. It was the first release of any ''Banjo-Kazooie'' series game on a Nintendo console since ''Banjo-Pilot'' 17 years prior. However, apart from these rereleases, the ''Banjo-Kazooie'' series has stayed largely dormant since the release of ''Nuts & Bolts''. In that time, the majority of the original creative team had split away from Rare to form an independent studio, {{s|wikipedia|Playtonic Games}}; they crowdfunded and released their first project, a spiritual successor titled ''{{s|wikipedia|Yooka-Laylee}}'', in 2017 to generally mixed reception.