Thoughts on Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts

[Jessman]

Rare and all the previews have gushed about the potential of the user generated platforming.

Imagine Mario where you invented his powers (vehicles) instead of just picking up a feather and turning into a raccoon or a flower to get fireballs. All Banjo is doing is saying we're not going to decide the powers for you (flying, fireballs, etc) instead we're going to give you the tools (vehicle bits and pieces) and let you decide and create the powers (vehicles), so that you can progress through the game.

They're letting player creativity, rather than a designer's rigid rules, dominate the platforming.

To me that's close to genius.

It's really interesting reading people's opposition to Banjo not sticking to it's roots and the wtf reactions of many as it explains the Banjo conundrum perfectly.

Banjo does not appear to be a traditional platformer, and many seem to think it's not at all, but it actually fits the  generic (wiki) definition:

"Platform game, or platformer, is a video game genre characterized by jumping to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles. It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps. The most common unifying element to these games is a jump button; other jump mechanics include swinging from extendable arms, as in Ristar or Bionic Commando, or bouncing from springboards or trampolines, as in Alpha Waves. Games where jumping is automated completely, such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, fall outside of the genre."

The vehicles are merely user created powerups, instead of designer enforced powerups like mushrooms and feathers in Mario. Banjo without a vehicle is just like Mario without a powerup, you can platform like that or you can go get a mushroom (vehicle) to make things easier or solve a particular platforming level.

If any designers or developers have played Banjo Kazooie 3 I'd be interested in their thoughts, because if you deconstruct BK3's design philosophy the only difference from previous installments is that the player determines the composition of the platforming powerups rather than the designer.