Mark Mazzei
Banjo’s development, in 8 pages or less
Dive deeper into one of Rare’s greatest titles
A few days ago, Retro Gamer’s latest issue has hit European newsstands around, and as promised in Scribes, it contains a very well made feature about the making of Banjo-Kazooie. We’ve updated our long-stagnating Banjo-Kazooie page with the scans and a ZIP file of hi-res shots, but if you’re curious as to what you’ll see before you read, we’ll list some of the interesting tidbits here before you get off to reading (which you know you will):
- As mentioned in Scribes, ‘Project Dream’ (Banjo-Kazooie’s first incarnation) began life on the Super NES.
- Project Dream’s protagonist (mentioned in Scribes as well) was originally a boy titled Edison, who then became a rabbit, who then became the lovable hick bear we all know today.
- Dream’s story starred Edison as he got tangled with inept pirates, led by… you guessed it, Captain Blackeye. Explains a lot in Jolly Roger’s Tavern, doesn’t it?
- The game began development right after Donkey Kong Country 2 was developed (by the same team, no less), and used ACM graphics at the time.
- Jinjos were thought of during Donkey Kong Country as an “hard to collect collectable - one that would run away or camouflage itself instead of dumbly sitting around waiting to be collected.” Funny how things work out.
- Originally 10 people were assigned to the project, and 15 ended up working at the end of the title’s development: Seven engineers, five artists, two designers, and one musician.
- Kazooie didn’t even exist at first; her main reason to be was to justify giving Banjo a double-jump move.
- Again, as mentioned in Scribes, originally, Kazooie’s name was Kazoo, yet due to copyright issues, Kazooie’s name stayed how we know it today.
- Fungus Forest and Mount Fire Eyes were levels that were scrapped, but eventually made it into DK64 and Banjo-Tooie, respectively. Hammerhead Beach was thought to have something to do with Stop ‘n’ Swop.
- Stop ‘n’ Swop is surprisingly once again acknowledged by the lead team members, hinting that it may finally be brought to light for the 10th Anniversary of BK in 2008, the year in which BK3 is tentatively scheduled to be released.
A special thanks to Mike from B-T Hive for supplying us with the scans of the magazine.
related news
- Fleeting furry rumour ends? ()
- Lee Schuneman on Piñata and Banjo’s future ()
- 4J Studios developing Banjo XBLA, Stop ‘n’ Swop reconfirmed ()
- “Banjo’s new look is meant to be self-referential” ()
- Fans still prefer Banjo’s original look ()
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