Banjo Pilot is finally revealed, and wow, what a huge difference it is from Diddy Kong Pilot. The game's engine has been given a complete overhaul, and is now using a Voxel engine to give the game a more three-dimensional feel, as opposed to the Mode 7 style that was being used for Diddy Kong Pilot. Players now have to navigate through chasms as well as wide open areas during the race.

Speaking of levels, multiple areas have been revealed in the initial batch of screenshots, as have three level names. The grassy green area with a river, which was initially thought to be Spiral Mountain, is actually called Clanker's River. As you may remember, Clanker was Gruntilda's friendly Mechanical Garbage Disposal seen in Banjo-Kazooie. Has he freed himself from Grunty's Lair? Perhaps there will be a shortcut where you can fly through Clanker himself!

Another more familiar level is Treasure Trove Cove. Treasure Trove Cove was also seen in Banjo-Kazooie, and featured Captain Blubber's pirate ship, snapping treasure chests called Lockups, and of course, the infamous 'Sharkfood Island.' Perhaps they'll show up on the course. There's also Chilly Chasm, which appears to be located somewhere in or near Freezeezy Peak. It looks like this level takes place entirely in a trench. There are also two images for which the level names are not known. The first one is Mumbo racing in a lava level, which looks suspiciously like Banjo-Tooie's fire side of Hailfire Peaks. The other level, with a fountain in the foreground, looks like it might be the dark, spooky Mad Monster Mansion from Banjo-Kazooie.

The lineup of playable characters for Banjo Pilot looks promising, too. Banjo and Kazooie are playable as separate characters, rather than being stuck together. The rivalry between the lovable shaman Mumbo Jumbo and Humba Wumba continues as they square off against each other. A Jinjo has turned up for some reason (although it probably would have been better to have King Jingaling rather than a regular Jinjo). Covering the villain's field is non-skeletal, non-mechanical Gruntilda, and the cult hero Klungo. And finally, in the home stretch, we have Bottles the Mole, and the fairly obscure Jolly Roger, from Banjo-Tooie. There seems to be some space for hidden racers as well. Given the overwhelming popularity of Tiptup from Diddy Kong Racing, I'll be surprised if he doesn't turn up again. But there's room for more, and if Jolly Roger can make it in the regular lineup, then Roysten the Goldfish can be a hidden character, driving the plane from inside his fishbowl -- especially seeing as he's been in more games than Bottles.

Banjo Pilot appears to have three modes of play -- the first is the regular Grand Prix mode, where you aim for top position. THQ has mentioned that each character has their own story, so this is probably where you'll play it out. Second is Time Trial mode, which is tragically missing T.T., the Chronomaster himself. The third mode is called "Jiggy Challenge". Seeing as this is the psuedo-sequel to Diddy Kong Racing, perhaps it could be similar to the 'Silver Coin Challenge', which involved collecting eight coins littered around the course, as well as coming first. Cheato the Spellbook can also be seen in the main menu, so naturally, he'll be in charge of the unlockable cheats.

It looks as though existing Banjo-Kazooie fans will get a kick out of Banjo Pilot, as there are plenty of nods and obscure references to the previous games. You might even be able to fly through Sharkfood Island with a pink egg teasing you. That Ice Key and those Mystery Eggs seem to have become an in-joke. Here's hoping it plays as well as it looks!