I was playing a lot of Banjo-Kazooie a few months ago. Wow, Rareware sure made some kickass games in their heyday. Whatever happened to that?
In light of the excitement of Banjo-Kazooie now being a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, I thought it would be good to explore what made the N64 Rareware games so great.
Not just great in the sense that they made great games. I mean the finishing touches that made them so good they elevated the genres they explored into the stand-outs of an entire console generation.
Let’s break it down.
Exploration and the Sense of Adventure
In relation to Bartle’s Taxonomy of Player Types I’m an explorer. I play games to gain a sense of agency over my life. To feel empowered. To satisfy the wanderlust in me, my craving for adventure and new experiences.
N64-era Rareware games hit this home for me perfectly. Particularly the moment Bottles teaches you how to fly in Treasure Trove Cove.
The flying mechanic adds a whole new dimension to movement that adds to the experience of play. It opens a renewed sense of awe and joy you feel whenever you explore one of their worlds with vibrant color pallets and ordinary objects that have eyes on them.
Each skill or move you learn opens up new areas. They give you another perspective on a place that you didn’t have before.
That’s the kind of shit I like in a game.
Idle Animations
When people talk about how great Rareware games are, one thing I don’t hear them bring up very often is the cool idle animations they built into their games. The humorous and entertaining dances, movements, and jokes that trigger when you leave the controller alone for long enough. This is something A Hat in Time does very well I think.
The best example I can think of is in Conker’s Bad Fur Day. When you leave Conker alone in the overworld, he’ll start whistling along to the theme music and it merges into the melody. He’ll also juggle, play with a yo-yo and take out a Gameboy and start playing Killer Instinct.
Like this:
I remember seeing that for the first time and being blown away by how cool it was. Not only does the music put me in a good mood whenever I hear it, but the way it merges so seamlessly with the melody is impressive to watch.
The other example I can think of is in Banjo-Kazooie. After a minute passes, Kazooie will peck Banjo on the shoulder to tease him before Banjo comedically chokes her.
Talk about choking the chicken 🐔 amirite?
In all seriousness though. It’s little touches like this that really bring Rareware games to life. Stuff like this helped to fill out Banjo and Kazooie’s personalities with charm.
That right there is the extra mile they went to make their games the standouts of a whole console generation.
Dynamic Music
You know the other thing about Rareware games? They all have really great music. They have done ever since the Donkey Kong Country games on the N64.
What do I mean by dynamic music? Well, take Banjo-Kazooie for instance. When you’re walking around a level, the music will change as you move around the level depending on the setting or situation you’re in.
Like this clip right here taken in Mumbo’s Mountain on my last playthrough. You see how the music changes instruments and tone when you swim underwater? I think that’s pretty neat.
Going back to Conker’s Bad Fur Day for just a second. Quite apart from the fact that the overworld theme is toe-tappingly catchy and makes you feel like you’re in a Saturday morning cartoon, but the music also changes as you move around the overworld.
When you approach the beehive the music will start buzzing like bees. As mentioned above, Conker will sit down and whistle in time to the music. When you enter the barn level, it’ll start playing banjos and fiddles.
It’ll do all of this seamlessly from any point in the song without needing a load screen and without interruption.
I remember noticing this for the first time when I first played Conker’s Bad Fur Day when I was 17. I remember thinking to myself “wow…that’s really neat. How did they even do that?”
I dunno. Maybe it’s weird that I’m getting hung up on this, but it stood out to me. I can’t remember seeing this in any other games I’ve played.
The music was one of the things that made Banjo-Kazooie and other Rareware games special apart from the cheeky humor and fun gameplay. Grant Kirkhope really is a man of many talents.
Banjo-Kazooie and the Legacy of Rareware
When Microsoft bought Rareware in 2002 the studio took a bit of a downturn.
Grabbed by the Ghoulies was released in 2003 and it was met with mixed reviews. Viva Piñata did more favorably and was considered a step in the right direction.
When Nuts and Bolts came out, it was considered by many to have removed much of what made the series great, and the franchise was considered dead.
I think that’s why people were so excited when Banjo-Kazooie was announced as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. This is the love and attention to detail that the bear-and-bird duo deserve. Nuts & Bolts openly mocked what made the original games fun and special. Nintendo breathed new life into them and celebrated it, yodelling from the mountaintops “THIS IS HOW YOU DO THE BEAR AND BIRD JUSTICE!”
Rareware games were special. Some people might talk about how their worlds were bright and vibrant and full of fun stuff to do. Others might talk about how well they used cheeky humor and sarcastic wit. Those are indeed what made them stand-out from other games in their time-period, but the little stuff stuck with me too. Maybe I’m just weird like that.
What is your favorite part of any Rareware game? Comment below with your thoughts!
