If I were to tell you that I enjoyed collecting golden puzzle pieces with a bear named after a musical instrument, what conclusion would you draw? You would probably guess that I was a fan of “Banjo-Kazooie” on the Nintendo 64. Well, you would be wrong. I am not just a fan, but a loyal follower of the franchise. Stop selling my devotion short. I might have to go all Kung Lao on your ass.
In an effort to promote the release of “Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts,” Microsoft announced in August that pre-ordering the duo’s latest adventure from “select retailers” would net gamers a free copy of the Xbox Live Arcade version of the N64 classic. Unfortunately, those of us sporting major retro wood were left without a specific release date. Well, the wait is over. Microsoft has finally set the date. Follow me past the jump, but please wait until your manliness subsides.
Take a big black pen and mark Nov. 25 on your calendars. That is the day before the downloadable version of “Banjo-Kazooie” will appear on XBLA. See what I did there? Yea, I’m a prick. Deal with it. However, please continue to read my articles. Lono mails us rotten cheese when our stories don’t attract enough views. I have 30 lbs. of spoiled dairy products in my room. The smell is atrocious.
Horror stories and dirty tricks aside, CVG has confirmed that the classic platformer will be available to Xbox 360 nation on Nov. 26. Those who reserve a copy of “Nuts & Bolts” will get early access to the downloadable title.
In even better news, the game’s follow-up, “Banjo-Tooie,” will apparently launch on XBLA next year. This is great news for anyone who ignored the game when it originally shipped in November 2000. Though I don’t own a 360, I was able to procure a copy off of eBay earlier this year. The sequel, which was very similar to its predecessor, was an amazingly fun and addictive platformer. However, I was disappointed that Rare turned Mumbo into a chump. Seriously, standing on a switch and pressing a button is not fun. Though, the UK-based studio made it up by including some awesome boss battles and the ability to transform into a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
As someone who thoroughly enjoyed both games, I must say that they are definitely worth the 1200 Microsoft points that the Redmond-based giant is demanding. Some might not be too high on Rare’s recent work, but no one can deny that the company used to make awesome N64 games. Now, if you will excuse me, I have some more retro gaming to attend to. I just got to the castle stages in “Mega Man 9″ and there is a robotic dragon that needs a lesson in manners.
Source: CVG via Destructoid
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You are now my favorite SG writer since you obviously have love and respect for truly great platformers.
I love the old school N64 platformers (Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, DK 64, etc) so much that I’m actually looking forward to Banjo-Kazooie and Tooie more than Nuts & Bolts.
What I’m really confused about is the wording of every single article regarding this topic. Is the promotional code you get from pre-ordering the game allow you to download the game for free or does it just give you access to download it for $15 two weeks early? It’s extremely confusing on every official article because when they say “free” you can never tell if they’re talking about the promotional code being free or the actual game being free.
If you do get the original game for free then that is one hell of deal since Nuts & Bolts is only going to cost $40 to begin with.
“Reserve your copy of Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and receive a code for a free download of the original Banjo Kazooie title on Xbox Live.” from Gamestop. You can download two weeks early and its free. It works the same way the Pub Game codes worked. Which makes the new Banjo game a great value.
Alright, after further analysis it seems that you will in fact be able to download the original Banjo-Kazooie for FREE with the promotional code you get from pre-ordering Nuts & Bolts.
This however makes absolutely no sense because now you can just go into Lamestop, put down $5 for Nuts & Bolts, get your promotional code, go home, enter the code, download the original game for free, then go back to Lamestop and cancel your pre-order and get your $5 back. It’s not like they can ask for the promotional code back, you already used it.
Yousty, DK 64 is one of my favorite games of all time. A lot of people whined that it was just a collect-a-thon, but I found it to be a very enjoyable experience (even though I detest repeat boss battles and back-tracking). Glad to see you agree.
I didn’t really play many games on the N64 (I pretty much jumped from the Super Nintendo to the Playstation 1). But as I read about how much love you have for this game (and its series) I think I will have to give the DLC a chance. Thanks for helping to expand my gaming universe.
Apparently they removed any references to Nintendo from the XBLA edition..haha.
I thought that both of the Banjo games were better than Super Mario 64.