Banjo-Kazooie (universe): Difference between revisions

|title = Banjo-Kazooie (universe)

|image = [[File:Banjo Kazooie logo.png|300px|center]]

|developer = [[Rare Ltd.]]<br>4J Studios

|publisher = Nintendo<br>THQ<br>[[Xbox Game Studios]]  

|genres = Platformer

|originconsole = [[Nintendo 64]]

|latestinstallment = ''{{s|wikipedia|Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts}}''  (2008)

|interwiki = wikipedia

|interwikiname = Wikipedia

}}

The '''''Banjo-Kazooie'' universe''' ({{ja|バンジョーとカズーイの大冒険|Banjō to Kazūi no Daibōken}}, ''Banjo and Kazooie's Great Adventure'') refers to the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series' collection of characters, stages, and properties hailing from the series of platformers created by the UK-based development studio [[Rare Ltd.]] The games feature the titular duo, the bear [[Banjo]] and the bird [[Kazooie]], collecting various items in sandbox-like environments in order to progress. They are often considered to be among the most popular and recognizable titles Rare has ever developed, alongside the original ''[[Donkey Kong (universe)|Donkey Kong Country]]'' series, ''[[GoldenEye (universe)|GoldenEye 007]]'', and ''{{s|wikipedia|Sea of Thieves}}''. Originally a second-party Nintendo franchise, the series and its developer have remained under the ownership of [[Microsoft]] since their acquisition on September 24th, 2002.

With the massive critical and commercial success of the first two ''Donkey Kong Country'' games, recognized for their use of pre-rendered CG graphics created on {{s|wikipedia|Silicon Graphics}} workstations, developer Rare wanted to produce more titles utilizing this advanced graphics technology as their groundwork. Among the new games in production was ''Project Dream'' (also known as ''Dream: Land of Giants''), a role-playing game being developed in tandem with ''Donkey Kong Country 3''. Inspired by other action-adventure titles like Nintendo's own {{uv|The Legend of Zelda}} series, this game would have starred a lone human boy named Edson<ref>[https://twitter.com/RareLtd/status/578965642822447105 Rare on Twitter:] Not sure if that's news, but the boy hero of Project Dream (pre-Banjo) was called Edson, not Edison.</ref> in a pirate-themed fantasy adventure to stop the ambitions of Captain Blackeye and his band of pirates. The game was planned to be Rare's swan song for the SNES, but as the console neared the end of its lifespan and the game's size and scope increased, it was eventually decided to move production to Nintendo's then-upcoming console, the [[Nintendo 64]].

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.

The kart racer project was ultimately the basis for the team's final concept: 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.

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.

====Original Tracks====

Arrangements and remixes unique to ''Ultimate''.  

*'''{{SSBUMusicLink|Banjo-Kazooie|Spiral Mountain}}''' ([[DLC]]): A faster-paced orchestral arrangement of the theme of the starting area from ''Banjo-Kazooie'', Spiral Mountain, while also incorporating elements of Treasure Trove Cove, Freezeezy Peak, Gruntilda's Lair, and Rusty Bucket Bay from ''Banjo-Kazooie'', as well as Mayahem Temple from ''{{iw|wikipedia|Banjo-Tooie}}''. Arranged by Grant Kirkhope, the long-time composer of the ''Banjo-Kazooie'' series.

*'''{{SSBUMusicLink|Banjo-Kazooie|Mumbo's Mountain}}''' ([[DLC]]): A faster-paced jazz-inspired remix of the background track for the first level in ''Banjo-Kazooie'', Mumbo's Mountain. Arranged by Hiroki Hashimoto.

**The first of two playable character-based universes to have been created outside of Japan and owned by a Western publisher - the series was created in the United Kingdom and is published by Microsoft, an American company and current hardware competitor of Nintendo. {{uv|Minecraft}}, also owned and published by Microsoft, is the second universe with this distinction.

**One of three primary third-party universes with games published by Nintendo worldwide, as Nintendo published the original Nintendo 64 releases of the first two games; the other two being {{uv|Final Fantasy}} <!--Nintendo published Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles for the GameCube worldwide, hence why it's listed here.--> and {{uv|Bayonetta}}.

**The second third-party universe with a playable female character, the first being Bayonetta.

**The only primary third-party franchise to have never had a game released on a PlayStation console.

==External links==

{{Universe}}