When Rare was purchased by Microsoft many assumed that there would be no more titles from the famed UK developer on Nintendo formats, but such fears proved unfounded - Rare continued to release titles on both the Game Boy Advance and its successor, the Nintendo DS, although in recent years the games have admittedly dried up.
One such title was Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge, which arrived on the Game Boy Advance in 2003. While this release occurred after Rare had become a Microsoft studio, the game's history goes back to the period when the company was sill very much under Nintendo's wing - 1999, to be exact.
Then-titled Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Curse, the game was intended to launch on the Game Boy Color. The story featured some radical differences from the one that we'd eventually see in Grunty's Revenge, with more levels, enemies and transformations planned for the game. Another big change was that Kazooie was to be turned into an evil version of herself by the titular witch and would ride around in her backpack, just as she does with Banjo. The planned GBC version also lacks the time-travelling elements which were so prevalent in the GBA release.
Grunty's Curse was in production for a handful of months during 1999, with Rare's artists going as far as to start work on sprite designs. However, the project was put on ice until the GBA arrived, when it was rebooted as Grunty's Revenge. The GBC edition would have remained forgotten were it not for kindly Nintendo Life reader and former Rare staffer Kirk Johnston who kindly supplied us with design documents for the game. These were passed onto Unseen64 staffer and Nintendo Life contributor Liam Robertson, who has put together the following video highlighting the key facts regarding the title.
Would you have liked to have played the game on the GBC, or are you glad it got held back for the more impressive GBA release?
Comments 11
I can't imagine a game like Grunty's Revenge working on GBC. It was frustrating enough on GBA with poor perspective plaguing the platforming sections! The question is, why didn't they just delay Perfect Dark GBC...
I have Grunty's Revenge, so this is really interesting! I'm happy enough with the game this GBC project eventually became.
I remember seeing an ad for Grunty's Revenge when I was just a wee lad...though I had no idea what Banjo Kazooie was at the time.
And yet, I've never even played the GBA version. It never really appealed to me. lol
Reminds me of the newest mario and luigi game style wise
I liked the game, I also hope Banjo-Kazooie for Smash Bros
The shading in the artwork looks late 2000s-like, because promotional art in general got more detailed from then on; before then, official artwork for games used a lot of rendering (Crash Bandicoot and Donkey Kong Country come to mind). Just wanted to point that out.
I loved the GBA one. Maybe it'll show up on the Wii U VC along with the old N64 ones (not likely I know)
This game didn't work too well on the GBA as is. I'm glad they held off
Had fun with Grunty's Revenge back in the day. Not so much today. It's still fun to hear about stuff like this. I'm glad they made that Conker game for GBC. That game gets a lot of hate and even though Bad Fur Day is better, Pocket Tales was a fun adventure that I've completed twice.
Interesting, as always! I must say I was quite impressed by Grunty's revenge back in the day. It was exactly what it should be: Banjo, but on a handheld. Graphics, music, transformations, everything was spot on. Only difference that it had a isometric view. But that wasn't much of a problem. Could have been longer though.
Tap here to load 11 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...