I don't really like it that much. I liked it when I first played it at launch, but now it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I'm sick of being accused of "living in the past" and "a whiny fanboy who can't accept change." Although this is true to an extent, these are NOT the reasons I think the game is a disappointment.

1. The Banjo Kazooie name.

This, in my opinion is both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because of the characters, the humor, the story, and all that other good stuff. But it's main curse because Rare's brilliant vehicle adventure concept is bagged down by the platforming games of yore. What do I mean by this? I can't really explain it, but I get the feeling that if Rare didn't have to make this game as close to Kazooie and Tooie as possible, they could've done a lot more with this concept. What that could be, I dunno. But it's hard to shake that feeling. Now this is nitpicking, but I'm a hardcore Banjo fan and this ###### bothers me. The character's sizes are all ##### up. Most of the characters in the first two games towered over Banjo (Wumba, Blubber, Mumbo in the first one.) and all of a sudden Banjo towers over them? Not to mention the sizes of some of the objects. (The notes, the jiggies, the saucer of peril is enormous.) And finally, the one that bothers me most. If Spiral Mountain is so huge, what the hell happened to Grunty's Lair? It used to be so big and imposing, but now it's so small! You can fly to the top and make a plane bigger than the top of the tower. Did the final battle of the first one really take place in there? Whatever, again, I'm nitpicking and these aren't my main problems with the game.

2. The Challenges

This is where my main problems with the game are. The challenges, to be frank, suck. They were ok in Nutty Acres where they were getting you used to the games mechanics, but having the same ###### to the Terrarium was inexcusable. Throughout the game, (with the exception of some of the more creative Jiggaseum challenges and some L.O.G.'s choice challenges, which destroy the point of the game BTW) you mostly carried ###### around, raced, or raced while carrying ###### around. The racing would've been fine if they had custom made tracks for each race, but sadly, no. You're flying through rings. You're basically making your own Superman and playing Superman 64. Now is that a bit harsh? Yes. But I think you get my point. The races can be extremely frustrating, because you can't miss a single ring, and there is no rewind for if you miss a ring. So basically to get the TT Trophy or even the jiggy sometimes, you have to be perfect. You have to be flawless or start over. The DLC just cements this problem. Because the challenges weren't anything different from what you got in the game. I'm sure you could take every challenge in the lost challenges and find a direct correlation or even a copy of a regular challenge. They needed to go back to the drawing board with the challenges.

3. The supposed "Replayability"

This makes me mad, because this could've been one of the cooler aspects of the game. Because you could've been one of the best parts of the game. Let's pretend for a minute the challenges didn't suck, let's pretend that they were all phenomenal. You could always do what Rare wanted you to do and go back and play the challenges trying to get a better score/time and top the leaderboards. "Well Billy, you CAN do that!" You can. But why would you? The unfortunate thing about the system is that you can watch replays of the top scores. So you have a bunch of fags who watch the replays and say "I can replicate that!" and they do it. they flood the leaderboards and any room for creativity is gone. Not to mention it takes the puzzle solving element out of the challenges, because if you wanted to, you could go straight to the replays without needing a guide or sites like gameFAQs. Now you could always avoid this, but on some of the more frustrating challenges it gets tempting.

4. The Worlds

The worlds are big, but they have nothing in them. No secrets, no houses you can enter, just big empty plains filled with arbitrary structures. And once you get the proper parts, they aren't even big anymore. All I have to say about that.

5. The Multiplayer

So you can build vehicles to participate in a great deal of awesome multiplayer challenges? Sweet! That must be one of the best parts of the game, right? Nope. Why? They're pretty much the same ###### you get in the single player game. Just with other people! Even if you wanted to play it, I have a tough time finding people to play with online. Although hanging with your friends building crazy ###### in the Test-o-Track is fun, the challenges aren't fun at all.


I wrote this to put this out there. Not everyone who doesn't like Nuts and Bolts is stuck in the past and a fanboy. The game has plenty of problems even if the first two didn't exist. Keep in mind, I've played this game extensively. Look on my 360 profile, you'll see I have all the Achievements. So don't try to claim I haven't played it enough.

I like that you did this, it really shows that you just didnt like the game not that you are just randomly complaining. I dont have the game and I still plan to get it whenever I have a 360 but now I have a much better idea of some of the things wrong with it as well as the good.

A small note: The size thing reminds me of something that bugged me about DK64. It took an entire game to get across the island and suddenly it was 3/4s less of the size.

I enjoyed about half of the stages on this game. Jiggoseum and Nutty Acres were good, and the boss fight was okay too. I found that when this game succeeded in what it was aiming for it was brilliant, but unfortunately for most of it they went with the generic race challenge material stated in the original post.

And i agree also that it should not be a banjo kazooie game, there is no reason to make it one exept for market value.

Overall i think it was actually a pretty decent game, but was plagued by too many unforgivable generic missions

This is a really well-written review, and I agree with every aspect of it. While I think that Nuts & Bolts is a good game, and I understand that Rareware wanted to try something new for a change, I think that the vehicle were a bit over the top. To me, it seems like they ran out of ideas, and rushed a new gameplay method.

If a new Banjo-Kazooie game is ever to be released, then I want the vehicles eliminated, and platforming to return.

P.S. I'm new here at Rare-Extreme, and am promoting my new site. Check my sig.

Definatly need a return to platforming, Oh, and I'm new here too.

Yeah I don't like Nuts and Bolts either.

Yeah . . . N&B was a big let-down.

I hate people who just come and say something like "I didn't like N&B." I didn't thing it was that great either, but if you are going to make a post, at least post something worth reading. Post why you didn't like it.

Paul, some people don`t feel the need to nitpick at every nook and cranny as to why they have been disappointed with this game.......A straight forward "I DON`T LIKE THIS GAME" is sufficient Jesus christ man..unless of course it`s the DEVS asking...
which it obviously isn`t otherwise they wouldn`t of given the fans this peice of ######e.....(they would of been more concerned about the elements that people (fans) wanted in this game in the first place)

You really are pretentious....do one and go and PAUL the head off it...

I disagree. Nitpick, please. If you're going to give any kind of statement you have to back it up with evidence, otherwise you have no debate.

I`m not saying people don`t have an indepth analogy of why they don`t like the game, and maybe they just can`t be arsed.. I`m merely stating that it`s optional.....the Gestapo on here seem to think that it`s a must.

Little explanation on why it's a 'bad game' lends little credibility to your opinion. It's no harder to come up with a sentence or two as to why you dislike a game, as it is to come on here and argue with people because of your reasoning or lack thereof.

In fact, I find the latter more time consuming. What's the point of posting on this forum if you're doing little more than a troll would discussion wise? We're here to discuss video games, if you can't handle that, 4chan is only a click away.

Gestapo? Please, stop overreacting.

lol...maybe a little, I agree of course an explanation of missed opportunity is always welcome, but not everyone wants to...

I`m so passionate about the Banjo games, for me they we`re fantastic sometimes passion and anger get confused but...
RARE had the most amazing opportunity to make a glorious HD gaming experience instead they gave us a souless, empty shell of a Banjo game lacking in content......I can`t stand to see a brilliant francise get razed to the ground............

Well, Might as well give my 2 cents on N&B While it was an honorable attempt at something new I think this is a Fail. While the game looked amazing graphically. The missions were somewhat repetitive & partly do to the Number required to complete each world . Some worlds (TOT & Logbox 720 in particular)are just daunting half way through the acts so you don't want to complete them.


Vehicles:I feel the game relied on them far too much. While building the Vehicles is a good way to get you thinking. i just don't like the downtime of creating them.

Now on to the rape of all BK's moves was defiantly a negative mark & the fact that there would be no new moves because of it. Was disappointing but then again i can't see where some of them would fit in because of the games currant state. others could be used on the (annoying) enemies rather than just ramming them just to have parts of your Vehicle ripped off.



5 out of 10 stars

Batman AA anyone.....