Banjo-Kazooie

Banjo-Kazooie
Console: N64
Release Date: 1998

Elevator Pitch: BANJO-KAZOOIE is a mascot platformer that I somehow missed until it was included on 2015’s RARE REPLAY. Forgive me, for I have sinned… because this is an excellent game that mostly holds up. Gifted an arsenal of killer movies, you control a bear and a bird tasked with thwarting the plans of an ugly witch — so far, so good. Even to a first-time player, I still found 100% completion a time-worthy challenge and, most importantly, not at all a chore. Capped off by a final level that asks you to beat the same area four different times — one for each season of the year — BANJO-KAZOOIE’s world design still mostly feels ahead of its time.

Even better, the game ends by quizzing you on mundane information previously collected throughout your journey. Seriously, you finish the game by identifying pixelated, zoomed-in frames, the inarticulate sounds of NPCs, and remembering numerously disgusting facts about your antagonist. So, yes, this holds the hell up today.

Nostalgia/Stickwitu: 77/100
Gameplay/Does It Hold Up: 72/100
Replayability/Multiplayer: 63/100
Revolutionary/Uniquity: 68/100

Total: 70/100