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The Official Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Thread

J

JSnake

Member
BK_NAB_Boxart.jpg


---------------
BASIC INFO
---------------

Website: http://banjo-kazooie.com/

Platforms: Exclusively for Xbox 360

Developer/Publisher: RARE/Microsoft Game Studios

Release Dates:

North America -- 11/11/2008
Japan -- 12/11/2008
Europe -- 11/14/2008

Players: 1-4 (offline and online)

Demo on XBLM: Yes

-------------
THE GAME
-------------

Story as written by Wikipedia:

Set eight years after Banjo-Tooie, the plot of the game involves Banjo and Gruntilda competing to determine the true owner of Spiral Mountain. Banjo wishes to preserve his home while Gruntilda hatches an urban development scheme to replace the vegetated area with towers and malls. A new character named Lord of Games (also known as LOG) attempts to settle the conflict between the two by devising a series of worlds and challenges. LOG transports the other characters to Showdown Town, his headquarters, and starts the contest. The winner would be set to own Spiral Mountain; the loser must endure eternal hardship at LOG's video game factory. While Banjo and Kazooie seek to win by completing the challenges, Grunty uses her powers and abilities to try and stop the duo. An army of mechanical Gruntbots also assist the witch in her goal.
Click to expand...

Gameplay:

Nuts & Bolts is a bit of a departure from its predecessors which were adventure-platformers ala the 3D Mario games. While this game retains some of the platformer elements of the previous two games, there is one huge change: vehicles. Banjo and Kazooie have been stripped of their special abilities (such as flying or talon-trotting) and must now use the vehicles either provided to them or created by the player as their new means to an end.

Players can use a flexible vehicle editor to create lots of different vehicles depending on what the situation calls for. This opens up all sorts of different possibilities for completing a challenge. The developers frequently say that their testers keep coming up with solutions that the designers never thought of.

Xbox LIVE features (taken from Wikipedia):

...Players will be able to take their custom built vehicles to Xbox Live and compete in online races and activities. One of the game modes is a variant of King of the Hill called "Queen of The Knoll". Another is "Sumo", where two players have to knock each other out of the arena. An announcement also stated that the game features a co-operative mode and offline multiplayer options.
Click to expand...

Stop 'N' Swop

Stop 'N' Swop has a long and detailed history but basically it was originally planned for secrets found in Banjo-Kazooie to unlock special features in its sequel, Banjo-Tooie. This fell through due to technological barriers but Rare is bringing Stop 'N' Swop back for Nuts & Bolts. The original Banjo-Kazooie is being released for XBLA and secrets found in that game will unlock special features in Nuts & Bolts.

For the full history (it's pretty interesting!), go to its Wiki.

What's this about pre-ordering and getting the original for free?

Yup! If you pre-order at select retailers (go to the game's Xbox.com page for a list), you will receive a redeemable code to download the original Banjo-Kazooie off XBLA two weeks before it officially releases and at no extra charge!

------------------
SCREENSHOTS
------------------



IGN images

------------
REVIEWS
------------

NZGamer - 9.0

GamePro Magazine - 4/5

IGN - 8.3

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is a game that never stopped being fun for me. It's an odd duck that doesn't fit into any conventional game genres and probably isn't right for everybody. Despite its friendly appearance, Nuts & Bolts isn't exactly easy to pick up and play and might be over the head of some small children. There's a lot of depth here and the vehicle creation tools allow you to flex your mind and your fingers at the same time. This is a great change of pace from the usual Xbox 360 fare and a game that will offer a lot of fun to those willing to invest some time in it.
Click to expand...

Team Xbox - 7.4

Eurogamer - 7

But whereas a traditional platform game could survive a sequence of poor levels, or even succeed in spite of a majority with a world as lovely as this, with characters so delightful and secrets so pleasing to uncover, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is not a platform game. The game it has become instead demands thoughtful, exciting challenges that inspire the player to pitch in and help get the most out of each level, but it fails to provide them, and even though it's worth persevering with for the occasional hurdles race, egg-and-spoon and a game-world in aptly Rare form, ultimately it's a brilliant shell with a mostly hollow centre.
Click to expand...

1UP - A-

The combination of a surprisingly lengthy single-player game and a robust multiplayer mode make this one game that just about anyone can enjoy. While the challenges get a little repetitive, the ability to create and operate custom vehicles -- both online and off -- make Nuts & Bolts a unique, entertaining spin on the everyday platformer.
Click to expand...

VideoGamer - 9/10

Current MetaCritic score: 80%

-----------
THE END
-----------

Well, that's that. Man I can't wait for this game, I am so hyped. Been anticipating this baby for eight years. :D

This is my first official thread so be gentle. :)
 
G

GreekWolf

Member
Not bad. For a first timer, you did a really good job by sticking to the basics.

Have to admit, though, that I would have liked to see the Bruce Lee treatment on such a beloved franchise.
 
P

PepsimanVsJoe

Member
Here's a thought:
Let's fill up the first page with posts about "why isn't the OP super-giganto huge with a dozen posts and a thousand megs worth of pics?" instead of the usual "awesome OP omg".

Regardless uh...nicely done?
 
B

bryehn

Member
Only played the demo about 30 minutes before I deleted it. I'd been playing a lot of LBP that day so I had it on the brain and couldn't get into N&B.

So I decided to just go into it fresh on Nov. 11. Great graphics except the dithering in the shadows, that bugs me. I also found a few things going into overstaurated "needs more bloom" territory, but the draw distance & anti-aliasing are gorgeous.

Wish they had speech, I tend to disconnect with the "simlish" type speech these days and end up just skipping through the text.

Pretty much a no-brainer for $40 though, especially with the free original.
 
H

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
EmCeeGramr said:
The Official Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Thread of Freeing Crushed
Click to expand...

so true. I was arguing against him and i thought it was bullshit. damn u ami
 
P

Psychotext

Member
Nice job Mr Snake. I will likely grab the game on pre-order as I'd have picked up the XBLA remake anyway at some point.

Enjoyed the demo and I can see myself putting a chunk of time making up some fiendish creations. :D
 
F

fernoca

Member
Nice thread, clean and direct to the point. :)
By the way, you should add the "Preorder the game and get the first/original game for free" thing. :p
 
J

JSnake

Member
fernoca said:
Nice thread, clean and direct to the point. :)
By the way, you should add the "Preorder the game and get the first/original game for free" thing. :p
Click to expand...

Thanks! :)

Good idea, I'll add that.
 
N

Nicktals

Banned
EmCeeGramr said:
The Official Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Thread of Freeing Crushed
Click to expand...

BANJO CAN'T JUMP.


Nice job on the thread.

This is such a gorgeous game. The gameplay changes don't appeal to me, but I hope that what's there is fun, and I'm interested in seeing what kind of critical reception this title gets. I'm also curious where the franchise will go from here.
 
LiquidMetal14

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
I wish this game well. I cancelled my paid preorder and switched it for Left 4 Dead. I did get a voucher for the original on XBL though.
 
A

Aladuf

Banned
I did enjoy the demo so I think I'll pick this up sometime down the road. Or I might just preorder it to snag that Banjo code and just play it later on this year.
 
S

Shins

Banned
I didn't like the demo at all. Props to any developer giving me a chance to try something and decide for myself though.
 
D

Dabanton

Member
BobFromPikeCreek said:
Day one bitches. First person to shed "shoulda been a platformer" tears will be beheaded.
Click to expand...

Yeah i hope they keep out of here i think we've all heard enough of their moaning in the demo thread.
 
D

dejay

Banned
Man there's a lot of official threads around at the moment - crazy time of year.

It's nice to have one that doesn't have a wanky, viral-sounding subtitle, 50 MB worth of JPGs and a heap of useless stuff I'll never read.

The demo kinda speaks for itself really - if you give it a go that is and not give up after five minutes because you haven't been bothered to get past the surface. I'd urge everyone who plays the demo to get as many parts crates as you can, get into the vehicle editor, design your own stuff to suit different challenges and mess around with the vehicle editor and test track before passing judgement.
 
B

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
The official thread of that game that comes with a free copy of Banjo Kazooie High Rez!
 
C

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
Still not sure about this one! Didn't like the demo at first, but after some tinkering with the editor I warmed up to it a bit. The challenges given in the demo were pretty lame though, I hope these get more fun.

I might go for a third run of the demo to find that set of blocks that's supposed to be on top of LOG's building. Are these new parts there or more basic ones?
 
J

JdFoX187

Banned
I'm excited for it. Took a while to get used to the demo, but I'm having a lot of fun. Can't wait for the final game.
 
B

Blimblim

The Inside Track
Reviews
None yet? I dunno! If there are any, please post them in a reply along with a link so that I may post them here. If a print mag you read has published a review, please provide the score as well as a short excerpt.
Click to expand...
Review embargo is on November 5.
 
N

Ninja Kn1ght

Member
What's the deal with the pre-order codes? When will Gamestop be sending them out for online orders. Also, I hate how it seems to be a full-price release in Europe.
 
T

TheFightingFish

Member
dejay said:
I'd urge everyone who plays the demo to get as many parts crates as you can, get into the vehicle editor, design your own stuff to suit different challenges and mess around with the vehicle editor and test track before passing judgement.
Click to expand...

The sad thing is...who out there in the gamer world actually will? I'm 100% looking forward to it, but I fear that I'll be looking at a sea of used B&K boxes at Gamestop after Christmas for those who purchased it and didn't bother to get deep with the vehicle creation. I'd love to be proven wrong though and the $40 price tag earns so much good will from me it's not even funny.
 
F

Fantastical

Death Prophet
I didn't finish the demo (where does it end?) but I enjoyed what I played, and I actually like building the vehicles, which I thought I wouldn't like.

Getting it for Christmas. :D Already preordered.
 
J

JSnake

Member
Fantastical said:
I didn't finish the demo (where does it end?) but I enjoyed what I played, and I actually like building the vehicles, which I thought I wouldn't like.

Getting it for Christmas. :D Already preordered.
Click to expand...

It ends after you get the four Jiggies in the first part of Banjo Land and attempt to enter the second part.
 
F

Fantastical

Death Prophet
The Amazon page is complete fail.

First of all, they do this:
B0019MLWL4-4-sm.jpg

The Lord of Games (LOG) has built many worlds to determine the rightful owner of Spiral Mountain.
Click to expand...
That's the first game, for anyone who doesn't know.

Isn't this Resistance 2?
B001EVNV5K-6-lg.jpg


JSnake said:
It ends after you get the four Jiggies in the first part of Banjo Land and attempt to enter the second part.
Click to expand...
Oh... well I got 3 jiggles and then just played around the level after that.
 
R

rohlfinator

Member
Darunia said:
I might go for a third run of the demo to find that set of blocks that's supposed to be on top of LOG's building. Are these new parts there or more basic ones?
Click to expand...
IIRC that one has the homing missile launcher and a box of ammo. There's another crate on top of the garage that has 10 more of each basic body part (cubes, slopes, etc).
 
B

Blimblim

The Inside Track
dejay said:
Have you started playing it yet and if so are there any hints you can drop about the game at all compared to the demo?
Click to expand...
I didn't have time yet to play the full game. And I barely tried the demo since I know my review build would be there today.
 
V

VALIS

Member
I was quite impressed with the demo. Banjo Land is one of the more visually unique and appealing worlds I've seen in gaming, up there with the best level designs from Psychonauts, Ico and God of War. The game plays like one part Banjo-Kazooie, one part Diddy Kong Racing and one part Lego Mindstorm toys. I'm really looking forward to it.

Even though the demo thread was far more positive than I thought it would be, it has been very amusing to read anyway, as this is a game where you're going to get as much enjoyment out of it as you put into it, and a lot of people's criticisms would have been met if they bothered to experiment with the game. Such as...

"Where's the platforming?!"
There's a good deal of traditional platforming in the demo, it's just not right in front of you. Jumping on platforms, balancing on ledges, climbing, hitting or jumping on enemies -- it's all there. Climb up on top of the L.O.G.'s house, or the other houses in Showdown Town. Fly up to the top of Banjo Land and navigate the narrow cat walks up there.

"Banjo has no moves, he can only run and swing Kazooie. It's so obvious they want you to spend all your times in vehicles!"
Don't forget this is a demo. There's a gym in the final game where Banjo trains for more moves.

"The vehicles control like shit!"
Obviously they're supposed to be a bit clunky and floaty, they're toy-like vehicles you build with a magic wrench from parts in a box, you're obviously not playing Forza Motorsport here. Also, you have to make the vehicles control better by tweaking them or building new ones from better parts.

"The objectives are too hard! I can't do (x)!"
Did you try to build a vehicle specifically designed to accomplish your goal? Or sometimes you can just complete objectives on foot instead. It's a sandbox game. There are multiple approaches to everything.

The two criticisms from the demo I think are reasonable is the nature of the challenges -- the ones in the demo are too brief and simple, and the small text seems to be a big issue for those with smaller TVs and/or SDTVs.
 
M

Mifune

Mehmber
I already pre-ordered this one, so I've stayed away from the demo. I want things to be fresh come release day.
 
J

JBuccCP

Member
This game completely depends on the jiggy challenges being varied and fun. I liked the soccer one ok, but the two race ones were dull, and the eye was one annoying. I had a ton of fun messing around with vehicles though. Also in the other thread someone suggested a "junkyard wars" mode. DO THIS RARE. BEST IDEA EVER! If it's not in the game already make it DLC.
 
B

Blimblim

The Inside Track
JSnake said:
Detailed impressions please! :D
Click to expand...
I'm still in the middle of moving to my new place (and cleaning up the old one thouroughly) so I'm very busy. But hopefully I'll have a few hours tomorrow evening for some quality time with this game.
 
S

Shadowlink

Member
Guys, are those jiggy challenges only for the Demo? I want to know because I want to find jiggys myself like the first 2 games and I don't want to talk to anyone to do a challenge for the jiggy.
 
F

Fantastical

Death Prophet
Shadowlink123 said:
Guys, are those jiggy challenges only for the Demo? I want to know because I want to find jiggys myself like the first 2 games and I don't want to talk to anyone to do a challenge for the jiggy.
Click to expand...
Pretty sure that is the game...
 
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