"It's time for a controversial opinion! I've been playing Banjo-Kazooie again, thanks to the recent Rare Replay. I've always loved the game, but I was struck on this playthrough just how well-designed and memorable the game is, from top to bottom.

  Playing so much Banjo-Kazooie led me to start playing Super Mario 64 again. And while Mario 64 is clearly the more important game to gaming history — it's the first truly great 3D platformer — the developers at Rare took that structure and improved upon it for their game (which came out a little less than two years later).

  Banjo-Kazooie holds up remarkably well — which we mentioned in our Rare Replay coverage — but, more than that, it's one of the very few games that actually took its predecessor's formula and did nearly everything a bit better.

  Check out our opinion video, which compares the two giants of the Nintendo 64 era and counts the ways in which Rare's approach makes for a better experience."

  I don't really consider that to be a controversial opinion, but I think SM64 it's just slightly better than Banjo. Mario 64 simply has the smoother controls and I think the level design is also slightly better, but Banjo is still amazing thanks to its charm and due to the fact that it improved on some of the aspects that didn't work in Mario 64.

Article: http://www.polygon.com/2015/8/19/9175743/banjo-kazooie-super-mario-64-rare-replay-gameplay-video
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KefouzkH7k

I agree that it's not a very controversial opinion. I think a lot of people like Banjo-Kazooie more than Super Mario 64.

Personally, I think they're both masterworks, with Super Mario 64 holding a slight edge.

Polygon IS king of controversial opinions in gaming, so I'm not surprised to see this from them. I have some doubts as to whether the writer actually feels this way, because Polygon, but hey, believe what you wanna believe. I'll sit over here in my corner of "DK64 is good" with approximately nobody else.

I think I agree with them.

I think I agree with them. Rare took the formula and just did more with it. Mario 64 still felt a bit like an experiment in a lot of ways, and I don't think it's aged quite as well.

I don't agree. The 3d platformers by rare are pretty good but I think they suffer from focussing too much on 'collecting stuff'. Banjo wasn't as bad as DK64 when it comes to collecting but I prefer how Mario 64 approached 3d platforming.

But it is one of the better 3d platformers. To me the Mario platformers are better but not a lot of other games in the genre are. Good 3d platformers are pretty rare I think.

Mario 64 is way more revolutionary but I agree that Banjo Kazooie is more fun to play.

and Banjo Tooie is better than Banjo Kazooie

some things improve with time, I just hope Yooka Laylee can keep the trend

edit: thinking better, SM64 was the beginning of 3d platform. BK took another route making it very difficult to compare even both having similar aspects. I enjoy both regardless

I disagree, although there was a time when I might have agreed.

The more complex structure she mentions is something that differentiates Banjo from Mario 64 in a nice way, but it also limits the replayability of the game. Super Mario 64 is simply a lot better to pop in and pop out of, While in Banjo I feel like I have to do a whole world in one sitting. The way moves are implemented also makes it so that you can't hop into worlds as freely as you'd like or you'll frustratingly find many jiggies that will be frustratingly out of reach.

In controls I find Mario 64 better. Sure Banjo and Kazooie have a more interesting move set, but Mario feels much more agile and satisfying to control.

Both great games, but Mario 64's the one I want to go back to time after time. That being said, the video did make me want to play some Banjo.

BK is light-years better than SM64. Less repetitive, much more creative worlds, soundtrack is 10000x better, Gruntilda and her lines are memorable and funny and full of personality, Gruntilda's Lair is a much better hub, etc. 

Sure, SM64 is more influential, and I still have my boxed copy from 96, but it has aged liked poopy. 3D World and the Galaxy games stomp all over it, too.