Where to start, where to start... well, here's a nod to all the gamers out there, who remembers the N64?
Yeah, what a beast. I got into games kind of late compared to my friends, so this was my first ever console. I still remember opening it up Christmas Day, only I don't think I was as energetic as that one kid.
Anyway, I want to just talk about one game in particular. That game, is Banjo Kazooie.
This is still one of my favorite games of all time. I even played through it again a few months ago, and a lot of it's charm is still there. It felt like such an adventure at the time. Walking through those caves or whatever while trying to find the levels, hearing the witch laughing. The worlds themselves were huge and each one had a very distinct feel and left an impression on me. The game had some pretty witty dialogue. It was just so awesome collecting notes, Jinjos, Jiggys, and all that other ridiculous stuff that seemed so important to get. And who could forget Mumbo Jumbo? It was also cool how when you did quit the game, it played a little cut scene showing your poor sister's fate. I remember being little and thinking, "No! I can't let that happen! I gotta beat this game!!!" I was quite young, so beating a game of this magnitude was a big deal for me, but who could forget that one last step before you got to the top of the witch's castle, the quiz show.
What an awesome idea. Quizzing you about the game. I remember it would play music or something and you would have to guess the level. Most of the time these weren't that hard as long as you paid attention, but the challenge was the witch squares. Those were the ones were you had to answer questions about Grunty, answers you only knew if you talked to her good sister when you found her throughout the game. I always talked to her, but it was still so hard to remember because every answer was just some stupid pun about how disgusting Grunty was.
I can still remember the satisfaction of beating Grunty and having all right with the world, only to be so disappointed at the end. They basically harass you if you don't get all the Jiggys and saw gee if you would have got them, we have pictures of the sequel to show you. What a bunch of jerks.
I did play and beat the sequel, but it just seemed too different and didn't leave as much of an impression on me as the first. There were so many new characters, Bottles was DEAD. It was just strange.
As for the 360 game, Nuts and Bolts, well I bought it. I played it for about 3 hours total. Then I put in another game. And well, I never put it back in. Banjo looked weird. You were so slow if you weren't in a vehicle. It just seemed so foreign, like it wasn't even a Banjo Kazooie game. It was just disappointing to me. I knew it would be very different from the first two, but I still gave it a shot just hoping it would be better. Well, it wasn't. Maybe I'll give it another try someday. Probably not. At least I'll still always have Banjo Kazooie.
And with that, I will be heading to Detroit tomorrow for the Bitter Cold Showdown. If you don't know what that is, prepare to be informed in my next posting, but unfortunately that won't come until after this weekend. Have a nice weekend and remember, less than a month until spring.
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