How much can one bird and bear do with a vehicle?
That question is answered in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, the long-awaited
sequel to the eight-year-old Banjo-Tooie. If we had known that Tooie’s
duo-separating gameplay was an indication of things to come, Nuts & Bolts
wouldn’t have been much of a surprise.
But it is surprising – and exciting, depressing,
annoying, amusing, intriguing and disappointing all rolled into one disc. Your
patience will be tested, not because of an unexpected difficulty but for
something else entirely, while newfound joys make it impossible to put down –
even when a big part of you wishes you could walk away for good. That is the
essence of Nuts & Bolts; a game that will drive you nuts before it enthralls and
enrage before it entertains.
A Very Long Chapter
Your first encounter with Nuts & Bolts will not
be pretty. Not in a visual sense (aside from the frame rate issues, the graphics
are spectacular) but in the way the game sets up what will be a very long
journey. There are about 131 Jiggies to collect, besting the first game but not
by much. Instead of demonstrating this fact with a gorgeous view of each stage,
the game skimps on level glimpses and spends most of the introduction trying to
interject comedy.
Whether it’s your cup of tea or not (some parts
are funny) doesn’t matter because the first vehicle is about to be introduced.
With four wheels, one tiny engine, no weapons and a small storage bin, this
vehicle is the nightmare of trolley cars. The slow speed is not nearly as
appalling as the controls, which are clunky and slippery. You’d think that
moving something so small and basic would be easy. But there is no right way to
steer; when driving at top speed (which is very, very slow) the trolley can’t
take a turn without running into a wall. Walls are everywhere in Showdown Town,
the hub environment where players access each stage. The town is several times
bigger than it first appears – and when you first see it, you’ll think it’s
enormous.
This scenario is the perfect way to illustrate
the dilemma Nuts & Bolts presents to the gaming public. You will be disappointed
– and likely annoyed – by this first vehicle. And what you don’t yet know is
that while the vehicles do get better (thanks to player intervention), this is a
sign of things to come. Yet, while hating one element of the game, you’ll be
completely awestruck by the levels – their size, appearance and overall design
is really special. So begins the love/hate relationship.
Getting to the Good Stuff
Nuts & Bolts replaces the first game’s
exploration-emphasized, scavenger-hunting joy with several dozen vehicle-based
challenges that are as easy to find as the mini-map is to read. Very little
exploration occurs within the levels themselves, primarily because it just isn’t
necessary. So what exactly are the vehicles used for?
Well, think about all the different things that
can be done with a car, plane or boat. You can race them. Perform stunts. Ram
into things. Pick up and deliver packages. Race some more and … It’s the trail
off that sentence that must have stumped Rare upon deciding to populate – and
dominate – a Banjo game with vehicles. Because no matter how many ways you
present a race, it’s still a race. No matter how many times you play courier
service, it’s still a courier service. The amazing visuals and awe-inspiring
level scope do not change that undying fact.
When the game gets it right, Nuts & Bolts is an
adventure-based version of Grand Theft Auto plus a vehicle-building, tweaking
and perfecting tool that will blow your mind. The tool is not innovative for its
originality but for its implementation; never before has a video game creation
tool been this deep or user-friendly. Many have compared it to LEGO, but I like
it better than a toy – unlike plastic bricks, these pieces don’t have to
interlock. All you have to do is make them touch.
Multiple wings, wheels, engines, propellers,
ammunition types, ammunition canisters, fuel canisters, body armor, defense
mechanisms and an incredible amount of other pieces produce the most varied list
of creative options ever seen in a game. There are dozens of blueprints to work
with, allowing you to turn a decent car into something cool or turn a piece of
crap into perfection. The whole process may seem daunting at first. You might
compare it to a chore, if homemade vehicles aren’t your thing. But take it from
me, a guy who rarely touches the user creation tools in video games – Nuts &
Bolts will be remembered for this feature.
Somewhere along the journey you’ll realize that
while the levels are devoid of any true Banjo-Kazooie gameplay, the hub world
(Showdown Town) offers some of the fun we’ve been missing. As expected, the
levels are divided into various sections within the town. Most levels have six
different sections, and each section contains one to six Jiggy challenges.
After staying in the 50-Jiggy range for quite a
while, it became clear that there was nowhere else to go. The mini-map on the
bottom right corner of the screen shows exactly where any challenges are located
and none were showing up.
For the next hour or so, I wandered through
Showdown Town looking for a clue. Bottles (the annoying dude from the first
game) is supposed to offer information to those who are lost, but he was no
help. The directionless wandering wasn’t too exciting at first but the time
wasted here turned out to be valuable, as I used these minutes to go back and
collect extra Notes (they no longer earn Jiggies; instead, they’re used to buy
new vehicle parts), rescue Jinjos from prison (find a switch to unlock the door
and carry them home), and play a few Jinjo mini-games (found within each level)
to earn additional Bingo coins. Notes are awarded to those who rescue Jinjos –
new parts are awarded to those who win the ridiculous Bingo game. You can also
play a 2D side-scrolling mini-game inspired by… Well, I’m not sure exactly. It’s
more torture than fun, but additional Notes await those who are willing to
endure the suffering.
These moments were alright – not exciting but not
too brutal either. Then, while trying to snatch a part box from the top of a
crane (yet another way to acquire vehicle parts), I noticed a Game Globe stuck
to a giant magnet. Then it dawned on me – these are what the game uses to open
new worlds. The first three or four came so easily (the game practically gives
them to you) that their value hadn’t stood out until this time. After locating
the switch to release the Globe (which had to be dropped down a series of
tubes), the next world opened up. Now that it became clear that Nuts & Bolts
does offer some classic Banjo exploration (outside of the levels but it’s better
than nothing), I was eager to continue hunting for more secrets.
By this time the trolley car (the only one you’re
allowed to use in Showdown Town) had received a few upgrades, which made it
easier to handle along with the ability to jump, float and provide air to Banjo
while moving underwater. The spring (used for jumping) is invaluable. You’ll use
it to reach many of the game’s higher areas until something better comes
along…hint, hint.
Knock over 25 dominos or more to
win a Jiggy.
Artificial Flavoring
The last several paragraphs have covered the best
parts of Nuts & Bolts minus everything else. “Everything else” is sprinkled
throughout the game – all over the good parts, unfortunately – like a candy bar
with artificial flavors. The taste might be good but it’s no match for the real
thing.
Actually, that might be too kind of an analogy.
You see, for every time that Nuts & Bolts gets something right it gets another
horribly wrong. The vast majority of the base (pre-made) vehicles are slow, and
that’s not the worst part. They also very difficult to control. This is remedied
as soon as the player acquires the necessary parts to tweak them (or make their
own vehicles), but that is not an option the game provides willingly. During the
first few hours, or however long it takes you to get 20 to 30 Jiggies, Nuts &
Bolts doesn’t offer enough parts to create any substantial improvements. Even if
it did, you probably wouldn’t be able to afford them since there aren’t enough
Notes to go around. (And without a jumping vehicle, you won’t reach most of
them.)
That is almost tolerable. Imposed limitations are
not, however. I didn’t keep track, but it seemed that 1/6 of the challenges
required that the player use a specific pre-made vehicle. This not only goes
against the if-you-can-dream-it, you-can-build-it tagline but completely
diminishes the open-ended creativity Banjo promised to bring forth. Why give me
the option to tweak and build vehicles if you’re going to take it away?
Arguably, some levels justify the need for a
specific vehicle. But that too quashes the open-ended promise. If I’m locked
into something, it doesn’t matter if there’s a greater good at large or not –
the outcome is still a law imposed to prevent the player from doing something
when the developers deemed necessary. It would have been better to make a
suggestion and let the player decide if Vehicle X is right for the mission.
These missions, challenges or whatever you want
to call them are rarely more an amalgamation of driving-based mini-games. Almost
all of the 131 Jiggies will be obtained by racing, ramming or collecting
something within these challenges. None of them are particularly fun or
memorable. The cool part – and the only thing that makes them fun – is the
ability to exit a challenge, work on a vehicle, come back and blow your opponent
out of the water (literally in some cases).
The long jump challenge.
In one scenario, the goal is to carry a bunch of
inflatable sheep (giant balls full of air, essentially) across one part of a
stage. Three or four enemies patrolled the area, making it difficult to get
through. The pre-made vehicles were weak, so I decided to build an oversized
trolley with a reinforced cage. I also added an egg-shooting cannon to pick off
any intruders, which didn’t end up being necessary: the thick exterior was more
than enough to crush enemies as I rammed into them. It was also great at
protecting the sheep (which could be knocked out of the pre-made vehicles) from
attack.
When a stupid-sounding challenge (come ‘on,
inflatable sheep!) is suddenly entertaining because of an open-ended game design
– my solution was one of many paths that could be taken – you know the
developers have done something right.
But these stages are not the norm. Most are as
simple as adding a new engine to a slow vehicle to ensure you win a race, a long
jump or some collecting game. You’ll deliver pizzas, protect pool balls from
attack (you think that’s crazy? Just remember: inflatable sheep!) and perform a
few basic stunts on a pre-made bike – all with the enthusiasm of a sleeping
pill.
And given that the challenges make up the bulk of
Nuts & Bolts’ adventure, you can probably understand how it manages to blow
minds with its vehicle creation feature but infuriate players – and often fall
flat on its face – with everything else.
The dying frame rate was somewhat of a surprise
given how incredible the game looks. When in the 60- or 70-Jiggy range, you’ll
encounter a challenge with a dragon float that has to be popped. This is the
second time the dragon appears, actually, and is unfortunately his most notable.
The game insisted that he needed to be poked with a sharp object (as opposed to
last time where you had to shoot the patches off his body). In response to the
presumed objective, I attached a sticky ball – a handy object that throws a ball
forward, which sticks to most objects and retracts them for easy travel – to a
helicopter. I then shot the ball at the float.
Mechanically, it worked. The ball stuck to the
float, which I dragged over to a bunch of spikes. But physically the game was a
mess, dropping to a frame rate so low I could barely control my helicopter. Note
that this wasn’t the only time that the frame rate dropped – it just happened to
be the worst.
This is a small sampling of the troubles you will
have to endure while playing through Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. I haven’t even
gotten into the camera problems, the weak and repetitive enemy designs, or the
annoying police cars that serve no purpose other than to annoy us by knocking
things out of Banjo’s hands. Oh, and then there’s the lack of Banjo-Kazooie
gameplay, as almost every move they had together in the first game has been
removed.
See what I mean? It’s a pure love/hate
relationship.
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Gameplay: 8.0
It takes a special kind of gamer – likely the Banjo faithful who first
played the series in 1998 – to find enjoyment underneath an erroneous game
design.
Graphics: 8.0
This score would be MUCH higher if the frame rate never dropped.
Sound: 6.0
Old music? Check. Old sound effects? Check. Old voice gibberish? It’s like
we’re in 1998 all over again.
Difficulty: Easy
Easy challenges, typically with easy vehicle solutions.
Concept: 7.9
The vehicle creation tool alone is worth a 9.5. As an entire adventure,
however, Banjo’s driving-based gameplay is not at all original (or polished, for
that matter). The broken frame rate and lousy pre-made vehicle controls do not
help the situation.
Multiplayer: 7.0
Share game photos, homemade vehicles and battle against others via
challenges and mini-games that are similar to the single-player campaign.
Overall: 8.0
Joyous and hellish. Delightful and disgraceful. Too frequently annoying yet
capable of compelling the player to see it through, Nuts & Bolts is more of a
disappointment than it is a reward for an eight-year wait. But it’s a
disappointment that, for all the good it does, is actually worth playing.
