Topic: Ex Rare Staff Considering Banjo Successor

[Traveller]

Former Rareware members have some tasty ideas cooking.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/31900

Ex members of Rareware have banded together to form Mingy Jongo, a Twitter account expressing an interest in creating a spiritual successor to their acclaimed Banjo-Kazooie series. The intention thus far is simply to gauge public opinion and build developer interest in the potential project.

Core members of the original Banjo team including music composer Grant Kirkhope and 3D artist Steven Hurst are already invested in the group's activities. The game they're pondering proposes to be a 3D platformer in the vein of Banjo-Tooie, with the same kind of humour, silly characters and fun adventuring gameplay that the series was known for, while still being a new project with a new cast.

If this idea garners enough popularity, a Kickstarter could be initiated to make the game a reality. So far over 5000 followers have gathered. If you want to check out the buzz, head on over to their Twitter page and join in!

[the asylum]

Shame that Microsoft won't let Rare make an actual Banjo-Threeie instead of more Kinect garbage

[TJ Spyke]

Shame that Microsoft won't let Rare make an actual Banjo-Threeie instead of more Kinect garbage

Whether you liked the game or not, they already did make it (and it apparently bombed).

[NWR_insanolord]

I liked Nuts & Bolts quite a bit, but it really wasn't Banjo Threeie. Which, in my opinion, is a good thing, since I wasn't really a fan of the first two.

[S-U-P-E-R]

I liked Nuts & Bolts quite a bit, but it really wasn't Banjo Threeie. Which, in my opinion, is a good thing, since I wasn't really a fan of the first two.

Unpopular opinions up in here. Is your Pokemon team all Zubats?

[NWR_insanolord]

To be fair, I never played them on the N64 and started with the XBLA versions, and the games really don't hold up.

[EasyCure]

I've be happy for them if they can make it happen but I probably won't buy it..

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who played both games when they were first released but didn't like them. Maybe I hussy wasn't starved for N64 games like everyone else, but I instantly disliked the game when I realized it was.a massive collect-a-thon. I was only interested because most reviews compared it to Mario 64 with more polished visuals, but collecting stars in Mario never got tiring or stagnant. Even today its still a fun game to play, but I'll probably never go back to the Banjo series. Yes the graphics were nice and vibrant, the worlds were much grander than what Mario offered at the time, but it just never clicked for me. Even as a young gamer then, the colorful world and bubbly characters were off putting to me and traversing the levels felt as tedious as collecting everything.

I was saddened that I spent the money on Donkey Kong 64 when I realized too late that it followed the same path as Banjo. While I'm at it, I never could get in to Jet Force Gemini either, but I still want to give that one a shot again someday.

[Anth0ny]

They need to put that damn Kickstarter up and take all my money.

[famicomplicated]

I loved the original, but could never afford the sequel back in the day.
By the time I did have enough money the GameCube was just around the corner so I saved my money for that...
I don't intend getting a 360 just to replay them, but I might just get the carts if I can find them cheap. It's just I'm worried about the slowdown in Tooie, even back then it was supposed to be bad!


I'm all for this project though, hope it works out!

[Caterkiller]

Loved Banjo Kazooie and all it's collecting. It was DK 64 that just made all of it intolerable.

Banjo Tooie was ok, not as good as the first, but oh god... Canary Marry! Yuck!

[Traveller]

I really hope this goes somewhere, would be great to see these people work on a modern game with little to no meddling from a publisher..

Everyone be sure to follow that Twitter feed!

[roger6106]

I hope this is more like Banjo-Kazooie and not Tooie. Banjo-Kazooie was excellent, but Banjo-Tooie was just annoying. There was way too much running around huge, nearly empty areas. Banjo-Kazooie levels were still big, but they managed to put the items closer together, making the game much more enjoyable. There was less wasted time going half way across a level for something like a split-up pad, just to go back to where you were.

[Shaymin]

You'll have so many bafmadadds!

FOUR HUNDRED BAFMADADDS!

[S-U-P-E-R]

I would kickstart hundreds or more for a new Killer Instinct.

[the asylum]

I would give my left testicle for new Killer Instinct made by old Rare. Then I'd undergo stem cell therapy to re-grow it and give that one too.

[tendoboy1984]

Why would Rare go behind Microsoft's back just to Kickstart a Killer Instinct game? They wouldn't be able to do it anyways, since the series is owned by Microsoft (they'd have to get their permission to work on it).

[Spak-Spang]

You know to me...I thought Banjo and Kazooie was a poor substitute for Mario 64.  I couldn't get into the game.  I thought the locking away of abilities until you earned them didn't work in a platforming game.  I loved how Mario I could just use all his abilities all at once.  The game also felt slower and the overall level design less interesting...but again, part of that was the fact abilities were locked and I couldn't get to where I wanted to go.


That being said...I know many people loved the game, and my opinion is the minority opinion, so I welcome any project that gets the original Rare designer together to work on a project.  If I was Nintendo I would be willing to drop some money on a project like this...


Now hopefully, they can get some better character designs this time around.

[Spak-Spang]

Well...Killer Instinct is a dead franchise...however I wonder how much of that combat system could be copied and made into a new game...honestly NONE of the characters are memorable or worth keeping around.  Though, I will admit that they were fun.

I would think getting a good team to make a spiritual successor to KI could be done...and I think it would be an easier project in a lot ways to developing a good 3D platformer.

[Sarail]

While I'm at it, I never could get in to Jet Force Gemini either, but I still want to give that one a shot again someday.

*GASP* It's only the bestest game ever.

I would kickstart hundreds or more for a new Killer Instinct.

Ditto, good sir. A million times over. A MILLION.

EDIT: Spak, I disagree with you, man. When I think about Killer Instinct (granted, it's not a series that stays fresh on my mind like JFG does), I immediately think of three characters that stand out the most - Jago, Orchid, and Fulgore. With that said, along with my reply to Ty above, I'd kill to see a new Killer Instinct. There's so much that could be done with reinvigorating that series. Hell, if Street Fighter can keep modifying and adding more and more on top of what it already does so well, then KI has only just begun.

It's just a shame that Microsoft doesn't care about Rare's IPs. I wish Nintendo would swoop in and buy them all up. I wonder if ex-Rare employees would then seek out jobs working for Nintendo if that were to happen?

[Crimm]

And a question for you. I love googly eyes on everything, I 'm hoping you're the same #secretofgoodcharacterdesign

I had a Rare character of my own design as an icon for a while. People kept calling the wooden spoon a worm so I had to change it.


So I have no created the MOST Rare-est character ever.

[Ian Sane]

So the guy who doesn't like Super Mario World or A Link to the Past also doesn't like Banjo-Kazooie?  That is the same guy, right?  I'm not mixing up my forumers with horrible taste, am I?

Making a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie is a funny idea because I always saw the N64 games as spiritual successors to Super Mario 64.  So this is a spirtual successor to a spiritual successor?  The Banjo games exist because we all wanted more Super Mario 64 and EAD wasn't going to give it to us so Rare gave it to us instead.  These days Nintendo is so willing to release new Mario platformers that the value in a new Banjo game just isn't there.

DK 64 was the only "bad" 3D platformer Rare made on the N64 (it's really not bad; just a chore to 100% on).  The Banjo games and Conker were all fantastic.

[NWR_insanolord]

Yeah, that's me. The difference is when I'm not trying to upset people I'll admit that World and LTTP are well made games that I just could never get into, but I'd argue Rare's overemphasis on collecting that began with Banjo Kazooie is straight up bad game design.

[broodwars]

I said as much on Twitter already, but I'd much rather this team were interested in making a spiritual successor to Jet Force Gemini, especially given how far the 3rd person shooter has progressed since the original game.  3rd person 3D platformers have kind of plateaued over the years by comparison, so I'm not as interested in another Banjo game.

[Ian Sane]

Jet Force Gemini's controls would benefit greatly from dual-sticks.  It feels like they're trying to do it with the C buttons and it just isn't working too well.  I'm not one to call for remakes but a remake of that game with more conventional controls is something I'd be all over.  They need to remove the Tribals requirement as well and just make that collecting crap a bonus to get 100%.  There's a great game hidden away in there.

[NWR_insanolord]

Screw dual sticks, the game's controls would really benefit from the Wii remote pointer.