What do you do with a franchise that has been dormant for nearly ten years? Microsoft-owned studio Rare Ltd. has decided to resurrect the Banjo-Kazooie franchise after its unforgettable success on the N64 in 2000 with Banjo-Tooie. Ever since Microsoft purchased the promising development team back in the early days of the original Xbox, Rare has failed to deliver a title that lives up to the quality that Rare was once known for. While games like Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero were by no means bad, they did not deliver the quality that one comes to expect from the team behind Goldeneye. Will the 360’s new Banjo game do justice to its N64 predecessors or once again miss the mark?
Based on what was revealed of the game last week, the hope for something superb was shattered. Rare decided to take the franchise in another direction and do something new, which don’t get me wrong is a good thing, but not when you turn a platformer into a digital erector set. That’s right kids, vehicle construction is the name of the game in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. Before I go any further let me make myself clear, this is by no means an attack on the creativity or quality of the game; the only question that plagues my mind is why Banjo? In all honesty, Rare should have poured all of that creative genius into creating a building game separate from the Banjo universe, or at least created an authentic platforming sequel and then released this as a spinoff sometime down the road. Banjo needs to be what Mario Galaxy has been for the Wii, and right now I’m afraid this idea has forced the series to take a turn for the worst. Please Rare, prove me wrong.
[via GameSpot]
