Topic: The N64 Thread

I just finished a playthrough of Banjo-Tooie for the N64 (give or take 14 hour completion time), first time in many years, and it 100% holds up, my dudes. I used original hardware too so Jamjars' rhymes actually make sense, unlike XBLA. Shamelessly, I used the Nestking cheat from the very start, which massively cuts down on frustration. It's in Jiggywiggy's Temple so I say it's fair game! Grunty Industries is still by far the worst level, but thanks to foreknowledge it wasn't too bad. I'm still stunned by the ambition of the world's architecture and interconnected nature, something no other 3D platformer has ever accomplished in quite the same way.

What are y'all's thoughts on BT? Better than BK?

@ReaderRagfish Do you think the complexity is ever a double-edged sword? I'm thinking of the Dodgems in Witchyworld. You have to use Humba to access Mumbo, Mumbo to open the door to the Dodgems, and then Humba again to pay the Dodgems toll, and then you still have to play three rounds of a minigame to get the Jiggy. There's other examples too, like the Styracosaurus family and the pigs in Jolly Roger's Lagoon.

But yeah, overall I like taking Chuffy between levels and finding hidden shortcuts. It's such a huge jump over BK where you only needed to do one revisit.

@ReaderRagfish On this replay, it didn't bother me either, probably because I knew it was coming. I recall being more frustrated by those types of quests when I first played the game. Now, though, I really appreciate the complexity and how none of the level space is wasted.

I remember getting really confused about the pigs quest because I had completed Hailfire Peaks on the first trip, but didn't remember that I had to revisit it after using George the ice cube from Cloud Cuckooland to cool down the water.

@BlueOcean guess who is in Smash?

Yep, I saw the Nintendo's Direct, woah! It's awesome news. Now please a new Banjo-Kazooie game.

@BlueOcean Agreed. Now is the perfect time to announce that.

I'm so stoke for that, my dudes! I could barely contain myself at work when I saw the news and then the trailer had me grinning ear to ear. When I replayed Tooie recently I was thinking how perfect a smash character they would be but then I was like "nah it'll never happen." But Nintendo made this boy's dream come true!

Also side note, I usually love Inside Gaming Daily but yesterday Lawrence Sonntag was being v. antagonistic towards the Banjo franchise. Do better, Lawrence!

I heard somewhere that the N64 was made in such a way that makes emulation and clone consoles significantly more difficult than other devices. But they didn't go into detail. Anyone here know about that enough to give me the simple answer as to why?

@Heavyarms55 It requires a control stick that is frail enough to not last longer than three play sessions, but stubborn enough to not completely break after 20 years.

@Octane I'm either not drunk enough, or far too drunk, because I don't get it. XD

@Heavyarms55 He means that the Nintendo 64 controller sticks get loose after a while.

@BougieBeetle What do you mean that the rhymes don't make sense on the Xbox version of Banjo-Tooie? Needless to say, I think that both Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie are amazing and, in my opinion, the best 3D platformers ever created. Even Nuts & Bolts is great but the gameplay is just different, it's all about building vehicles, being creative, racing and having fun in a sandbox, the kind of game I would buy my kids if I had them. That and Viva Piñata, which I think is a masterpiece.

@BougieBeetle I have a RGB-modded N64 and an Xbox One X and all the 360 Rare games are now Xbox One X-enhanced, which means that they are 4K and performance is flawless. Not saying go buy an Xbox One X (or Scarlett next year) to play Rare's games as remasters but that's exactly what I would do. About Nintendo making your Smash Bros. dream true, it was more Microsoft that did since they own Banjo-Kazooie since 2002. I also enjoyed the hilarious reveal video. I think that we all did. It's the best Nintendo Direct I've ever seen.

I agree with @ReaderRagfish as usually. Banjo-Tooie has a high level of complexity but still is a great game for three big reasons. Firstly, just beating the story is not hard. Secondly, it's NOT like Donkey Kong 64 where getting 100% is exhausting and boring work. In Banjo-Tooie getting everything requires intelligence and memory, more than in Banjo-Kazooie which is a more relaxed experience overall. Finally, getting 100% is overwhelming at first because of what I just said and because of the things that you two said but if you look at it like an opportunity to play the same worlds several times and still find and solve enigmas that are logical, Banjo-Tooie has a lot to offer.

EDIT: Rare Replay has been included in Game Pass today!

@BlueOcean But what does that have to do with emulation or making clone consoles?

@Heavyarms55 It was a joke, but a stupid one

@ReaderRagfish Nah, I'll just a replacement stick. Some day. Haven't played my N64 in a while. I haven't actually played anything at all lately.

@ReaderRagfish Huh. So in short it is because of the video chip then?

@BlueOcean The rhymes got messed up for the 360 release because many of them depend on the buttons from the N64. For example, in the rhyme for Egg Aiming, Jamjars rhymes "B" with "Accuracy", but in the 360 version he says "Y" instead of "B", which doesn't rhyme.

@RedderRugfish Yep, I got 101% on Donkey Kong 64 too. I've never played Snowboard Kids. I know that Miyamoto praised the game back in the day and that you love it though. How does it compare to, say, 1080º Snowboarding? Does it have items like Mario Kart? It has a sequel, right? @BougieBeetle Oh well, that one yes.

I am enjoying Team Sonic Racing and I want to get Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled soon but I can't help longing for a Diddy Kong Racing remake.

@RedderRugfish Thanks for the explanation!

@BlueOcean Given Nintendo and Microsoft's recent cooperation, I would imagine they would do something with DKR somewhere down the line. Like if Rare Replay ever comes to Switch, they could put that game in as a Switch exclusive.

@MarioLover92 If that happens it is going to be an Xbox/Nintendo release since Microsoft owns Banjo and Conker and Nintendo owns Diddy.

Rare Replay on Switch I think is something that is not going to happen because the 360 games are played using the special emulator (not a standard one) that Microsoft developed for running 360 games almost natively on Xbox One by "repackaging" the instructions. That wouldn't work on Switch.