Banjo-Kazooie - A video game far ahead of its time

One of the most important transitions in the history of video games was in the mid-1990s, when many developers wanted to move from 2D to 3D. At that point in history, a huge number of games came out that were innovative in that way, including the classic Mario 64 or Crash Bandicoot.

However, among the many 3D games that were released between 1995 and 2000, there was one that was supreme in many ways, not so much in its graphics, but in the exploration and the way it had to be a 3D platform and adventure game, this was Banjo-Kazooie.

Prior to the release of Banjo-Kazooie, the Rareware development team was working on a project exclusively for the Nintendo 64, which was a 2.5D platform game, something very similar to certain Crash Bandicoot levels that were side-scrolling. Its main character was a bear with a small blue backpack on its back.

But something would completely change Rare's view of his game design. Nintendo decided to show them the advances that had a title coming out, this was Super Mario 64. Rare was impressed with all the new things that the plumber could do, this inspired him to create a new project, based on what they saw in Mario 64, but with his touch of originality.

That's how they started developing Banjo Kazooie, a title that was released two years after Super Mario 64, i.e. in 1998. It was inevitable that many people would see this game as being very similar to Mario 64 because it was released at a time when platform games were no longer an innovation, but Rare-san proved the opposite.

The game was designed in such a way that the player would use the sense of exploration in worlds that were large for the time, and its gameplay mechanics differed to some extent from the famous Nintendo game. Remember that in Mario 64, every time we got a star, we were forced to leave the world and come back in to find another one.

This gameplay mechanic was repeated many times in later titles, until finally in Super Mario Odyssey it was changed, now you could grab all the moons without having to leave the world, in this aspect Banjo Kazooie was the first to implement it, since it could culminate 100% in all its levels without having to leave them.

Another thing that impacted in Banjo-Kazooie was its sense of overcoming, in each level we learned certain special movements that allowed us to reach inaccessible places. From this point on, this movement was totally vital for future levels, an aspect that would be replicated in video games from other franchises.

The transformations were something very interesting in this game, thanks to these we could get certain advantages in different levels, this was used once again in Super Mario Odyssey, where our plumber would casually have some of the same transformations used in Banjo-Kazooie, among them we can highlight the T-Rex.

By this I'm not trying to say that Super Mario Odyssey is a copy of a 1998 game, but rather I'm giving credit to a video game that was ahead of many technical aspects for its time, which would serve as references for many video games in the future, including one of the Nintendo Switch's most famous video games.

Banjo-Kazooie will undoubtedly be one of the best titles to come out of the Nintendo 64, giving a legacy to future generations, delivering one of the most compelling adventures to inspire multiple developers, a work of art from the 1990s.

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