Top 10 Banjo Kazooie Worlds

Yuck. Let’s get this over and done with. Anyone who’s played Banjo-Kazooie will (hopefully) share my pain for Rusty Bucket Bay. If you’re sitting there thinking “Rusty Bucket Bay was fun – what’s nin10dave on about?”, then I suggest you seek immediate psychiatric attention. OK, a bit extreme, Rusty Bucket Bay does have some great parts – in fact – I’m quite fond of the rusted central ship and the different paths you can take both on and off the ship from the surrounding walls and warehouses. But all this fun is tainted, and completely destroyed, by the nefarious engine room. Platforming on older consoles can feel a little “clunky” by today’s standards, which is bad when this is combined with super-precise platforming moments. This deadly cocktail is nowhere more apparent in the game than in said engine room, which is complete with spinning rotor blades, bevelled pipes and sharp-angled rotating pathways. There’s no ground, so fall off – which absolutely will happen to you more than once – and you’ll need to start the platforming, and note-collecting, all over again. It’s a shame as I recently learned this room was only created for a promo poster (that barely shows the infuriating engine room!) but unfortunately the single, massive con of this world outweighs the many pros. 

Water levels on the Nintendo 64 are notoriously frustrating. From the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time to Super Mario 64’s Wet-Dry World / Dry Dry Docks / Jolly Roger Bay – the un-intuitive controls, restrictive camera angles and slow pace can sometimes leach out some of the game’s enjoyment. Clanker’s Cavern is another part of this crowd as Banjo-Kazooie’s main water world. Most worlds in Banjo-Kazooie include water elements in dribs and drabs, but not enough to infuriate. Clanker’s Cavern is 90% water, so you’re almost always swimming. It’s also the winner for the worst colour scheme across all the worlds as everything is a dull, rusted Grey/Brown-ish colour. There are some nice little platform sections around the outer edges, and I do enjoy the moments exploring inside Clanker himself, so it’s not all bad news!

Other than the frustrating Mr Vile mini-game, Bubblegloop Swamp has all the makings of a great platforming level. Bubblegloop Swamp is perhaps the most segmented of the worlds, as it’s diced into relatively similar portions. These include a frantic maze that requires the wading boots, a large and breakable egg, and a turtle with cold feet! However, my favourite of the segments is the Treetop Area where you need to use the Shock Jump Pads to climb the continuously rising platforms. There’s a hut donning the top of each platform which you’ll need to break open with the Beak Buster move, eventually leading to the Jiggie on the summit. With the majority of Bubblegloop Swamp being surrounded by piranha-infested waters, you’ll need to tread carefully as you traverse Banjo over some thinner ledges when compared to previous worlds. Bubblegloop Swamp comes in just before the halfway mark, and it’s this continuous piranha-shaped threat, and more precise platforming, that contribute to the elevation of difficulty, which you love to see in a traditional platformer.

Gobi’s Valley is an Egyptian, desert-inspired platforming romp complete with Sphynx, Magic Carpets and a Snake Charmer. Less subtle than Aladdin, Arabian Nights and The Mummy combined, Gobi’s Valley is made up of a plethora of pyramids for you to explore. King Sandybutt’s Tomb is perhaps my favourite of the pyramids, as you’ll need to make your way through the maze, and to the Jiggie, before the timer runs out – all whilst being chased down by a mummified nuisance. Gobi’s Valley introduces the Turbo Trainers, and whilst they’re used numerous times in this particular world, they’re sadly neglected later on in the game, only making a small number of reappearances. Gobi’s Valley manages to feel like a solid open-world, whilst simultaneously piling on the difficulty through the use of dangerous quicksand and tougher enemies in the Slappa’s and Scabby’s. Although there aren’t too many trickier platforming moments in Gobi’s Valley, the aesthetic, creative Jiggies and Banjo’s exploitation of Gobi, more than makeup for it, resulting in a superb middle-eastern themed world.

Click Clock Wood is a world for bargain hunters – I’m talking four worlds for the price of one…kind of. Click Clock Wood has a unique mechanic in that you can visit the world in each of the four seasons. These seasons are based on typical “British” seasons – so it’s mostly raining in Spring and in Autumn there’s an abundance of orange, red and brown foliage (I’m sure the Aussies were confused by all the snow in the winter version). It’s absolutely genius, as things you do in certain seasons directly affect what happens in the next. You can plant a flower in Spring, only to see it grow and require more water in summer. Whilst your actions affect the different seasons, the seasons get their own back by affecting how you traverse across the world. In summer there are large, luscious leaves you can jump up to climb the central, gigantic tree – but come Autumn the leaves are a third of the size, making using them a risky, near-impossible task. Using seasons in this way isn’t unique to Banjo-Kazooie, but other than perhaps the on-par Oracle of Seasons, I don’t think there’s another video game that pulls this mechanic off better!