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Let's discuss our childhoods, folks.

Ovaltine

Smash Master
Joined
Dec 7, 2018
Messages
3,905
The bear and bird have finally made it to Smash Brothers. It's been a horrible and torturous wait, but it's all been well worth it. These two have meant so much to all of us here, and I am definitely no exception. I'm elated that they've finally come back home... and now, I want to revisit some old memories with y'all. I'm sure everyone else has plenty of nice memories to share, as well, so let's go on a trip down nostalgia lane and reminisce.

I was around six, seven years old when B-K came out. I remember seeing the old commercial for it (that I think has still since been lost to time) with the dudes on a picnic, getting 'assaulted' by a bear, that bear being Banjo. That's what my memories tell me, but I don't know for sure if that's really what it was. I wish that thing could be found, because that hits my right in my little ol' heart, let me tell you.

Whatever the case, I'd wanted it as soon as I saw them. I thought they were cool and cute in my simple, young mind, and seeing it as a platformer like Super Mario 64, I knew I'd love it. I got it on my birthday after its release, I think, or some time or another around that. I played that game for hours and hours on end, often getting into trouble with the parentals because I'd play past bed time, haha. The day I finally beat Grunty, rescued Tooty, and sent the witch to her rocky grave, I was ecstatic. I doodled all sorts of B-K art in my big ol' construction paper pad with crayons and crappy pastels from some cheap, general art kit I had as a wee one. I wore pigtails in celebration, pretending to be Tooty. It was wild.

A funny story with them, too, is when I'd witnessed B-K freeze. The console must have overheated is my guess, given I was playing for hours prior to the crash, and the game came to a halt after I'd left it to eat dinner. I came back to find Banjo in Click Clock Wood's hub room, completely still. The game was dead silent with no cheery music playing. Everything had just halted. Children are scared of the tiniest things, let me tell you, and that scared the heck out of little me. I restarted my game and prayed that it'd be fine, and indeed, it was. I never left a game idle unpaused again during my childhood, and I was reluctant to do so even WITH pausing. Needless to say, that left my parents none-too-pleased if I refused to listen to any orders because my game was on. I was too scared of it crashing again.

Man, that last one is hilarious to look back on, all things considered. Now I love to dig into gaming code and mess around with what makes it tick. Crashes are not unfamiliar to me, and in fact, they're EXTREMELY common, especially if you enjoy corrupting the games intentionally. What a change.

So, any great memories, weird memories, cute memories, or funny memories? Let's take a little trip downstream, you and I. I'll play my banjo while we talk among the river waters and the buzzing bees.
 
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Gallerian

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
89
Man... I couldn't be happier at this reveal. It's one I never thought was possible ever since Microsoft bought Rare. Those hopes were even further dashed after the franchise was put on ice after the disaster that was Nuts N' Bolts. However... It happened. They're here, where they belong.

Banjo-Kazooie is a game that I have very fond memories of. Not only was it one of the very first games I beat, it was the very first game I 100% completed. I can go to most of the levels in the game right now and acquire all of the jiggies relying on nothing but memory.

Seeing this reveal. It not only made me happy, it made the child in me happy. I legit shed a tear.

Welcome home, you kooky duo.
 

TheCJBrine

Smash Legend
Joined
Jul 28, 2013
Messages
12,054
Location
New World, Minecraft
I remember Banjo-Kazooie being one of the first, if not the first, videogames I ever played when I was 4 years old (and even if it wasn't the first, there were only like 2 other games that I barely remember and were NES games or something). I don't remember much from then, but I remember getting to Clanker, seeing his face, and becoming really scared. I later got Grunty's Revenge while I was still 4...I think...

I don't think I ever finished the games until I was 6-9. When I was around 7 my N64 was unfortunately stolen or something, as well as the B-K game and a PS1 my uncle let me have; later he let me have the N64 and B-K game he had. I also have a memory of playing and going through the room with the big Grunty statue at my great grandmother's, but I can't seem to remember much else aside from playing through Banjo-Tooie while I was still in elementary school and Nuts & Bolts while in 4th grade (I guess that's also elementary but we had it at our middle school). I love Banjo-Kazooie and they'll always be part of my childhood, as well as other games and characters I still enjoy such as Mario, Pokemon, Zelda, and Minecraft (been a Minecraft fan since 2011, so I guess it was late in my childhood; technically my first Zelda game was late in my childhood, too, as well as Pikmin, Smash Bros., and I believe EarthBound (I guess I actually played Smash 64 while in a hospital when I was 4 but I only played and remember a small bit of it, so Brawl was basically my first Smash game)).

The Banjo-Kazooie reveal made my day, and I can't wait to play them this Autumn.
 

Dan

Smash Lord
Joined
Dec 26, 2013
Messages
1,937
The only Banjo commercial I remember is him jumping out of the plane...

 

Ovaltine

Smash Master
Joined
Dec 7, 2018
Messages
3,905
The only Banjo commercial I remember is him jumping out of the plane...

Yep, that was for Tooie! The one I recall was for the original B-K. It's a shame that it seems to be lost, but maybe one day, we'll find it.
 

Rosalina suporter

Smash Ace
Joined
Jun 9, 2011
Messages
912
Location
Pac-World
Banjo Kazooie was one of my favorite video games on the 64 i got it for Christmas in 1998,I believe i was 10,I had hoped for 20 years he'd end up in smash,I'm still in disbelief it has finally happened ,

I hope we end up seeing his first two games on switch .
 

Gallerian

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
89
Banjo Kazooie was one of my favorite video games on the 64 i got it for Christmas in 1998,I believe i was 10,I had hoped for 20 years he'd end up in smash,I'm still in disbelief it has finally happened ,

I hope we end up seeing his first two games on switch .
Not just seeing them on the switch, but what this duo needs is a complete remake. A remake in the vein of Spyro and Crash.

They should call it Banjo-Kazooie: Gettin' Jiggy With It
 

A-money2121

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Dec 30, 2014
Messages
352
Location
Watching you through your window
I cannot emphasize what this means to me. As strange as it may sound to some to be overly excited about a generic video game addition, for me it goes a lot deeper than that - and I'm sure a lot of people on this thread can concur. Banjo Kazooie holds a very dear place in my heart, not only as a video game, but as a big part of my childhood. I was born in 2000, the time when the Gamecube was the It thing for Nintendo. A kid my age likely hasn't picked up a SNES or Sega Saturn controller. But thanks to my older brother, I grew up in a household with these type of consoles. Among them was an N64, which was the first console I got my hands once my parents allowed me to play video games. The very first video game I've ever completed on my own was Banjo Kazooie, at only 6 years old. Because of it, I was a MASSIVE fan of the series. I beat the first game and Banjo Tooie too many times to count, and I even based my 6th and 7th birthday party around Banjo Kazooie. My birthday cake had little wax figurine Jinjo candles, and we even had a little scavenger hunt to find Jiggys - I even remember my dad having a custom made Gruntilda mask, lol. Once all the pieces were found, everyone would build the puzzle together tp create the image. This time for my 7th birthday, the puzzle was a map leading me to my "birthday treasure surprise". We followed the map's instructions and found my dad hiding in our backyard shed with the largest gift wrapping I've ever seen. I ripped it open, and found a little Beagle puppy in the box. I was immediately enamored, and I suppose you can guess what we named the dog - we named him Cooper.... 7 year old me really wanted the name Banjo, even thinking that it fit in really well, but nooo, the family voted for Cooper, lol. Nonetheless, I was a die-hard fan on the series growing up. I played every single title produced, and was super stoked for Banjo Threeie, which ultimately made me heartbroken never seeing it come to being. I of course played the accursed Nuts and Bolts, which I can fairly say is an insult to even consider this title as apart of the franchise...

As my gaming interest grew overtime, I eventually find my way here, Smash Brothers. I started once Brawl first came out, and I got super invested into this franchise. I was hyped for any new possible addition. Personally, I never cared who got into Smash Bros. - I thought every new combatant added more uniqueness and intensity to this already massive crossover. I never had a wish list of characters for Smash, But the only, ONLY characters I every wanted in Smash was King K. Rool and Banjo Kazooie. King K. Rool was an incredible reveal, which had me stoked for days. I would literally rewatch his reveal trailer dozens of times a day to contain the hype (as I'm sure I'm probably going to do with Banjo's trailer, lol). But prior, I never really had too much hope for Banjo, to be honest. Nor do I like reading leaks, as they tend to give me expectations, only for those expectations to be ruined by false hope. I went into this E3 presentation completely blind - I didn't even know the Dragon Quest character was leaked before being revealed. I honestly thought the entire Smash segment of the presentation ended with Hero's reveal, but good ol' Nintendo always has a card hiding up their sleeve. Unfortunately, I was working at the time of the direct - I'm a pool cleaner, which has good demand here in Florida. The best part of my job is that I get to take a break whenever I want. I made sure to catch my lunch break at noon on the dot. I stopped somewhere nearby and ate in my truck, eagerly waiting for this presentation to commence. Everything about the presentation was awesome, but of course I was a bit upset to see nothing about Banjo Kazooie. Don't get me wrong, I think the DQ Heroes look awesome, but of course I couldn't really deny my slight disappointment in not seeing Banjo show up, especially with the hype I've seen him getting these past few days prior to the direct. I assured myself that there's three more fighter passes left, so the ride ain't over. Of course all of this went through my head all too soon. Right when I thought the direct was about to end, a very familiar trailer popped up. I couldn't believe they were announcing another Smash feature after revealing Hero. There were the villains again - in my head I thought they were adding another villain from some other series - Eggman came to mind, but I thought that was a bit of a stretch. I thought that maybe it was another Kirby villain, like Daroarch or Magalor. Donkey Kong showed up, and I'm thinking that maybe it's Dixie Kong, or perhaps the evil Walrus dude from Tropical Freeze as he is a villain. But then the undoubtely iconic Jiggy bounced across the screen... There I was, a lone 19 year old in his work truck screaming in excitement in the middle of a plaza parking lot. I haven't realized it before, but I have been waiting for this exact moment for 10 years, ever since I got into this community. This hope I had in my heart for this one character, who played such a pivotal role in my childhood to make an appearance in Smash, has lasted a whopping 10 years. I've never cried during any sort of video game related trailer, cutscene, or anything similar, but this got to me. I couldn't help but reminisce of all that series has done for me as a kid, such as the birthdays, the room decorations, the stuffed animals I had of the characters, even the playground games I used to play based off Banjo and Kazooie. I loved how they incorporated Donkey, Diddy, and King K. into this trailer, to reference Rare's involvement in the Donkey Kong series. Seeing Banjo Kazooie again in 2019, after so long, holds a very special meaning to me, and not in that awful look they had in Nuts and Bolts. Upon joining the Smash fandom, I was very enthusiastic seeing a large majority of the community supporting Banjo Kazooie - perhaps that's part of the reason I feel so at home here.

From the bottom of my heart - Thank you. Thank you to the community, to Sakurai, Nintendo, Microsoft, Rare, to all whom it may concern - thank you. While other people may scoff at the idea of being so overly hyped over some video game addition, it really is bittersweet seeing how much this has meant to everyone of you, as well as reading the stories you post. We've waited years for this, and now we raise our glasses high, friends!
 
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Megadoomer

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When my family got the Nintendo 64, it was the first console that my brother and I had which wasn't a hand-me-down. The system was packaged with Banjo-Kazooie and Zelda: Ocarina of Time (it came from a bulk store called Costco), and it's telling that we played Banjo-Kazooie FAR more often than we did with Ocarina of Time.

During the lifespan of the Nintendo 64, we were too young for games like Conker's Bad Fur Day or Perfect Dark, or even Goldeneye, but we still got a lot of playtime out of Rare's games - particularly both Banjo games, DK64, and Diddy Kong Racing. After Rare was sold to Microsoft, I gave up hope on Banjo for a while - it would be amazing, but I figured it was impossible. For my brother, Banjo was still his most-wanted character. He figured that Banjo was a long-shot, but I thought the same thing about Bayonetta, and somehow, she managed to get in.

Now Banjo's actually in Smash by some miracle, and we both couldn't be happier. After nearly two decades of Rare's properties being virtually ignored under Microsoft outside of re-releases, missteps, and the new Killer Instinct (which is pretty good), the bear and bird are back home.
 
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SilentSentinel

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Aug 21, 2014
Messages
87
BK is the first video game I ever played. I didn't have a 64 as a kid and didn't get my first system until the Gameboy Advance's release, so I had to go to other kids houses if I wanted to try playing games. I switched off playing Banjo-Kazooie with my friend Chris at his house along with Mario Kart 64 and TMNT on the NES. When I went to college a roommate had an N64 with the game and we ended up playing through it together my freshman year.

Pretty amazing that they finally made it. I'm hoping the games come to the Switch sometime so I can play Tooie for the first time.
 

StupendousMike

Smash Ace
Joined
Oct 15, 2007
Messages
624
Location
Los Angeles, California
Childhood? Well, kind of...

I was 12 when Banjo-Kazooie launched, but I didn't have an N64 (still had my good ol' Sega Genesis and didn't trade up until the Dreamcast) and most of my friends had PlayStations, so I didn't get to play a ton of N64 games in their actual heyday. I didn't play Banjo-Kazooie until I was I was a senior in college, close to ten years later. I did fall in love with the game, though. I've played Banjo-Tooie, but never got to spend too much time with it. I've been hoping for BK to pop up in Smash, somehow, for about a good long while based on the strength for that first title alone.
 

Swop

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Dec 1, 2014
Messages
342
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I can't believe this is happening in the first place, its been well over 12 hours since they were revealed and im still shaking.

Banjo-Tooie was my First Ever video game and because of the Bear and Bird they are the reason why I'm replying in this thread today, Banjo and Kazooie are the reason why I have a deep passion for Video games and the reason why I'm going to play as much Competitive Smash as I can to make sure I represent the Two I love so very much, even if they turn out to be Bottom tier, I'll main them until the day I die.

"Guh-Huh!"
 

Strong Badam

Super Elite
Administrator
Premium
BRoomer
Joined
Feb 27, 2008
Messages
26,545
To put it simply, the first two games are a big reason why I'm a gamer, and why I also make video games professionally.

I have fond memories of many N64 games (Smash, SM64, DK64, Vigilante 8, Mario Kart, Diddy Kong Racing) but my all time favorite is absolutely Banjo-Kazooie. This game is magical and it holds up really well in a lot of ways. It has a lot of charm. The Rare eyes on everything makes it super fun. Cute bouncy and boingy noises, classic gibberish SFX talking heads, silly humor. Each new attack feels like a critical upgrade to Banjo's kit that you can't believe you were without for so long. The worlds are varied, vibrant and colorful, with many different themes, and incredible music. The levels feel like an ADVENTURE without feeling like a slog. You have to explore them sufficiently to get the collectibles you need to proceed through the overworld. The combat is simple but the final boss is satisfying to defeat.

Aaaaa I love this game to bits. In fact, Banjo-Kazooie is what made me consider playing a game I had already beaten. I've beaten it like 15 times now! Honestly, the biggest bummer about this duo was not seeing them in Smash for two decades. So pumped that he's actually coming to a genre/game series that means so much to me.

btw Furnace Fun sucks!
 

MonkeyDLenny

Smash Lord
Joined
Aug 11, 2018
Messages
1,559
What Banjo-Kazooie means to me huh?

Well I had an N64 growing up; I never actually owned the original Banjo-Kazooie but I DID rent it more than once from Blockbuster, and while I literally had no idea what to do or where to really go the game just grabbed me. I never really made any progress; I just kinda screwed around with whatever save file was there on the cart whenever I rented it.

Banjo-TOOIE on the other hand I DID own, and that one hooked me hard. I had the strategy guide for it and while I never 100% it I did beat it, and I would always play it non-stop or jump back in to just explore the worlds.

But if I think about why this game means so much to me... while nostalgia is definitely a part of it; there's a certain moment that sticks out to me in my life. When I was in 7th grade just around the mid 2000's, my appendix ruptured. I was rushed to the hospital and while they removed it just fine my body reacted badly to what they use to put you under and I was rushed to another hospital and put in the ICU. I was in there for a week fading in and out of consciousness and my time there is a mental blur these days; however I do remember that they would sometimes wheel in a TV for me that had an N64 plugged into it, and would you know it Banjo-Kazooie was the game in the system.

Again, I didn't exactly make progress but I remember messing around on Treasure Trove Cove and playing the game really broke up the repetitive nature of my stay. Banjo-Kazooie got me though a rough and scary time in the hospital, where I could barely walk without clinging to something.

It was around the time of Brawl that I felt that Smash Bros really needed Banjo-Kazooie in its roster, and after years, and years championing their inclusion... the day has finally come

So yeah, the duo are a big deal to me.
 

MAtgSy

Smash Ace
Joined
May 12, 2006
Messages
974
You people are making me feel like an old fart for being 13-14 at the time :p
 

NintenRob

Rising YouTuber
Joined
Feb 8, 2014
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Australia
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While I always had memories of Kazooie, it was Topic I really played. Seeing Tooie still get plenty of references was great and I'm looking forward to the music.


And Spiral Mountain, you couldn't have a more obvious and definitive choice for a stage AND ITS GORGEOUS
 

spoilerowl

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jun 20, 2018
Messages
328
I was about 5 or 6 when I received an N64 and played my first two games ever: Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo-Tooie. Fell in love with both of them, but again, I was 5 or 6, so I don't think I made it past Klungo at first in Tooie, or anywhere beyond Jungle Japes in DK64. Eventually, as the years went on, I was introduced to more and more games, but I'd always finding myself going back to DK64 and Tooie. It wasn't long until I got the original Banjo-Kazooie as well and gave that a play.

DK64 was the first one I beat; I was still young, but I remember struggling with the boss battles, particularly Dogadon in Fungi Forest and the final K. Rool battle. K. Rool was probably my first experience with "game rage", lol. But I beat it, and eventually I beat Banjo-Kazooie as well. Tooie was another story, it took me years of gaming to get the necessary 70 Jiggies for the final battle, and a couple more years on and off beyond that to actually defeat HAG 1, which was quite an accomplishment for me at the time.

These days, the Rareware N64 collectathon trifecta as I like to call them (B-K, B-T, DK64) are still very near and dear to my heart. And now, all three are represented in some way in Smash. Smash is also a series near and dear to me, having played since the 64 and Melee days. I remember looking at Melee's roster and being confused. "Where's Diddy? Banjo and Kazooie? K. Rool? Mumbo?" Diddy, Banjo, and K. Rool were the three characters post-Melee that I considered my most-wanted to join the roster.

In Brawl I got Diddy, and I was satisfied at that point. I was in college at the time Smash 4 came out, so I was somewhat less invested, but nevertheless I followed the newcomer announcements and bought the game at launch. The Smash 4 newcomers were mostly pretty good, just none of them catered to me personally, except I guess Lucina/Robin because I really liked FE Awakening at the time.

And then Ultimate happened. Every single veteran. I never played Metroid, but I wanted Ridley because of his Smash fanbase, and he got in. I dared to get my hopes up for my long-dead Kremling King, and Sakurai and team delivered. To focus on K. Rool, I pretty much put my hopes for Banjo aside - until the Grinch leak happened, but we all know how that turned out. But with the Fighters Pass announced I only really had one character that I deeply wanted. Everything else was just gravy.

And today (I guess yesterday at this point), my dream roster was completed. I welcome Joker, Hero, and whoever the last two characters are to the roster with open arms, but all of them are nothing to me compared to the bear and bird.

Rant over. I definitely went quite a bit past childhood lol, but it's a summary of my personal history with Banjo and Smash.
 

PK-remling Fire

Smash Ace
Joined
Sep 22, 2018
Messages
751
Location
The Warp
The Nintendo 64 was the first video game console I ever had as a little kid and Banjo-Kazooie was one of the first games I ever played. I remember sinking countless hours into exploring every nook and cranny of the game's vibrant colorful world and loving every second of it. Honestly, I'd consider Banjo-Kazooie to be one of, if not the, game of my childhood. I've wanted them in Smash Bros since Melee, and until now I thought it was just a pipe dream. But watching their trailer and seeing them back in their classic design alongside all the other greats of gaming made me legit tear up, something that not even my other favorite reveals (being Ridley and K Rool) were able to do. It's the most emotional I've ever been or probably ever will be about seeing a character revealed in a party fighter roster. Welcome back old friend
 

Ridrool64

Smash Lord
Joined
Jun 21, 2013
Messages
1,398
Location
New Jersey
I'm an interesting case: I got into Banjo and Kazooie's games because when I was a kid, the Xbox 360 was how I could play them. I didn't have an N64 or BK for it yet, instead I had an Xbox 360. I remember buying Banjo Tooie out of temptation with my parents' credit card, and while I still feel bad about it, I can say that it was worth it. As for how I discovered the two, well, it was because of the internet. I got into some guy's videos (I think it might've been NintendoCapriSun, but it might've been somebody else with a Banjo let's play) and he had a let's play for a little game called Banjo Kazooie. It looked interesting and fun, so I bought it around the age of 11, I think? Might've been 12. It's still probably one of the best platformers I've ever experienced. Now, if only I could get my hands on Tooie again...
 

Shira907

Smash Rookie
Joined
Mar 2, 2019
Messages
10
Banjo and Kazooie were my most requested character for smash. I adore the bear and bird sooo much! From their design to their dichotomous personalty traits. Banjo being the friendlier and more laid back character and Kazooie being the insulting and sarcastic character who loves adventure. (Btw Kazooie is actually my favorite character in BK for that reason :3). Even despite how contrary their personalities were to each other, they were both best of buds. I could also go on and on how I love the other characters from Banjo but I digress. My point is that these characters are special to me and the fact they got in smash just shows I'm nowhere near alone in this. Me and two buddies of mine while we were in a discord call couldn't believe it. We literally yelled and cheered in excitement. I almost never cry but man I'm not gonna lie, I teared up a little during their reveal trailer. For a very long time before brawl even came out, I've been wanting them in smash.

I guess now with that out of the way I'll go into how I got to know Banjo and Kazooie. I was around 5 or 6 (so back in 2002 or 2003 around the gamecube era) Me and my brother would go over to my aunt and uncles and I'd be able to just hang out and play with my cousin. we both owned an N64. However he had a lot of games that I didn't. Two of those games were Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie. At the time I had owned and played DK64 and absolutely loved that game to bits. Banjo-kazooie and Tooie were no exception to this. Unfortunately when you're that young you can't really appreciate the dialouge those games had to offer to their fullest, so I never really remembered much of the dialouge at the time. I do remember being scared of some of the enemies in those games and I was absolutely terrified of Clanker. Nonetheless I still remember loving Banjo and Kazooie's character design though (still do of course).

I never got to own a Banjo game unfortunately till much later on when I was 14 or 15 (can't remember exactly) and managed to get Banjo-kazooie and a year after that Banjo-Tooie. I replayed Kazooie first after so long and was unsure if the game had aged well or not. Boy oh boy! Not only did it age well, the game was even better than I remembered it being. I loved everything from the humor, to the worlds and fun level design, and the music (Grant Kirkhope is phenomenal!). I then played Tooie and adored that game as well. It was better than the first one in almost every way! (I personally think Kazooie's worlds were better and more well designed). Overall these games are a big part of my childhood and the characters themselves are right up there for some of my favorite characters in gaming. Now that they're in smash we can see Rare hopefully Reboot the series. I could gush about BK forever honestly, but I'll just stop it at here hehe ^w^

Oh yeah on a side note. I enjoyed Nuts and Bolts even despite the amount of hate it recieved. I would've much prefferd Banjo-Threeie though dont get me wrong, but the game wasn't bad. Though I am glad they didn't use Nuts and Bolts design for smash. I hated that redesign.
 
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I cannot emphasize what this means to me. As strange as it may sound to some to be overly excited about a generic video game addition, for me it goes a lot deeper than that - and I'm sure a lot of people on this thread can concur. Banjo Kazooie holds a very dear place in my heart, not only as a video game, but as a big part of my childhood. I was born in 2000, the time when the Gamecube was the It thing for Nintendo. A kid my age likely hasn't picked up a SNES or Sega Saturn controller. But thanks to my older brother, I grew up in a household with these type of consoles. Among them was an N64, which was the first console I got my hands once my parents allowed me to play video games. The very first video game I've ever completed on my own was Banjo Kazooie, at only 6 years old. Because of it, I was a MASSIVE fan of the series. I beat the first game and Banjo Tooie too many times to count, and I even based my 6th and 7th birthday party around Banjo Kazooie. My birthday cake had little wax figurine Jinjo candles, and we even had a little scavenger hunt to find Jiggys - I even remember my dad having a custom made Gruntilda mask, lol. Once all the pieces were found, everyone would build the puzzle together tp create the image. This time for my 7th birthday, the puzzle was a map leading me to my "birthday treasure surprise". We followed the map's instructions and found my dad hiding in our backyard shed with the largest gift wrapping I've ever seen. I ripped it open, and found a little Beagle puppy in the box. I was immediately enamored, and I suppose you can guess what we named the dog - we named him Cooper.... 7 year old me really wanted the name Banjo, even thinking that it fit in really well, but nooo, the family voted for Cooper, lol. Nonetheless, I was a die-hard fan on the series growing up. I played every single title produced, and was super stoked for Banjo Threeie, which ultimately made me heartbroken never seeing it come to being. I of course played the accursed Nuts and Bolts, which I can fairly say is an insult to even consider this title as apart of the franchise...

As my gaming interest grew overtime, I eventually find my way here, Smash Brothers. I started once Brawl first came out, and I got super invested into this franchise. I was hyped for any new possible addition. Personally, I never cared who got into Smash Bros. - I thought every new combatant added more uniqueness and intensity to this already massive crossover. I never had a wish list of characters for Smash, But the only, ONLY characters I every wanted in Smash was King K. Rool and Banjo Kazooie. King K. Rool was an incredible reveal, which had me stoked for days. I would literally rewatch his reveal trailer dozens of times a day to contain the hype (as I'm sure I'm probably going to do with Banjo's trailer, lol). But prior, I never really had too much hope for Banjo, to be honest. Nor do I like reading leaks, as they tend to give me expectations, only for those expectations to be ruined by false hope. I went into this E3 presentation completely blind - I didn't even know the Dragon Quest character was leaked before being revealed. I honestly thought the entire Smash segment of the presentation ended with Hero's reveal, but good ol' Nintendo always has a card hiding up their sleeve. Unfortunately, I was working at the time of the direct - I'm a pool cleaner, which has good demand here in Florida. The best part of my job is that I get to take a break whenever I want. I made sure to catch my lunch break at noon on the dot. I stopped somewhere nearby and ate in my truck, eagerly waiting for this presentation to commence. Everything about the presentation was awesome, but of course I was a bit upset to see nothing about Banjo Kazooie. Don't get me wrong, I think the DQ Heroes look awesome, but of course I couldn't really deny my slight disappointment in not seeing Banjo show up, especially with the hype I've seen him getting these past few days prior to the direct. I assured myself that there's three more fighter passes left, so the ride ain't over. Of course all of this went through my head all too soon. Right when I thought the direct was about to end, a very familiar trailer popped up. I couldn't believe they were announcing another Smash feature after revealing Hero. There were the villains again - in my head I thought they were adding another villain from some other series - Eggman came to mind, but I thought that was a bit of a stretch. I thought that maybe it was another Kirby villain, like Daroarch or Magalor. Donkey Kong showed up, and I'm thinking that maybe it's Dixie Kong, or perhaps the evil Walrus dude from Tropical Freeze as he is a villain. But then the undoubtely iconic Jiggy bounced across the screen... There I was, a lone 19 year old in his work truck screaming in excitement in the middle of a plaza parking lot. I haven't realized it before, but I have been waiting for this exact moment for 10 years, ever since I got into this community. This hope I had in my heart for this one character, who played such a pivotal role in my childhood to make an appearance in Smash, has lasted a whopping 10 years. I've never cried during any sort of video game related trailer, cutscene, or anything similar, but this got to me. I couldn't help but reminisce of all that series has done for me as a kid, such as the birthdays, the room decorations, the stuffed animals I had of the characters, even the playground games I used to play based off Banjo and Kazooie. I loved how they incorporated Donkey, Diddy, and King K. into this trailer, to reference Rare's involvement in the Donkey Kong series. Seeing Banjo Kazooie again in 2019, after so long, holds a very special meaning to me, and not in that awful look they had in Nuts and Bolts. Upon joining the Smash fandom, I was very enthusiastic seeing a large majority of the community supporting Banjo Kazooie - perhaps that's part of the reason I feel so at home here.

From the bottom of my heart - Thank you. Thank you to the community, to Sakurai, Nintendo, Microsoft, Rare, to all whom it may concern - thank you. While other people may scoff at the idea of being so overly hyped over some video game addition, it really is bittersweet seeing how much this has meant to everyone of you, as well as reading the stories you post. We've waited years for this, and now we raise our glasses high, friends!
Dude, your story is so very touching that it makes me almost want to cry. :sadeyes:
I'm very happy that you got your childhood dream character in smash at long last bruh.
I would feel and act the same way if geno finally got revealed.
 

Dan

Smash Lord
Joined
Dec 26, 2013
Messages
1,937
Damn, Banjo's inclusion even transcends paragraphs.
 

Penguinbowler

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Jan 11, 2019
Messages
142
Never played it, as i was born one year before the gamecube came out. Glad you guys are happy though.
 

SmashBro99

Smash Champion
Joined
Dec 21, 2007
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2,199
Location
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3DS FC
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Disbelief is all im still feeling, i've wanted them in since melee, for so long...I still cant believe they did it.
 

Dan

Smash Lord
Joined
Dec 26, 2013
Messages
1,937
I'm glad some people younger than the game have still played it... I don't necessarily buy that that should be a factor when deciding a character.

I was born in '94 and played plenty of games and know plenty of characters before my time... it's just a foolish argument; everyone does stuff before their time.
 

Ovaltine

Smash Master
Joined
Dec 7, 2018
Messages
3,905
I'm glad some people younger than the game have still played it... I don't necessarily buy that that should be a factor when deciding a character.

I was born in '94 and played plenty of games and know plenty of characters before my time... it's just a foolish argument; everyone does stuff before their time.
It is rather silly. Super Mario RPG was way before my time, for instance (well, more like just a couple of years after I was born, so I was JUST too young to even get an SNES, haha), but I played it and loved it later in life. My grandpa always loved the Mario RPGs, so that fondness certainly helped with visiting the older classic.

Age isn't a determining factor. Anyone can love a game, no matter how old it is and no matter how young they are. I've seen a lot of younger folk who know what a 'Banjo-Kazooie' is. It'd be silly to deny that they exist or judge them for their age in comparison to the game. People of all ages love the bear and bird, and it does my weary heart so good.
 

thirsty-pocket

Smash Ace
Joined
Sep 7, 2018
Messages
702
when I was a little kid I wouldn't touch a video game that didn't have Mario or his friends on the box, or at the very least a cartoon character that I recognized from TV. I only ever got two games a year if I was lucky, so I had reason to be picky. This actually changed later, because of Super Smash Brothers. It exposed me to these other characters that I thought were cool, and so I would go on to try their games. But that's a completely different story, and one that is predated by my introduction to banjo.

Christmas of 1996 came around, I was 9 years old, and my brother convinced me to take a peek at one of the Christmas presents before we opened it. so I did, greeting me under the wrapper was an N64 logo. We were ecstatic. We covered up our crime by putting the ribbon over what we tore. We didn't hide it very well, cuz my dad knew that we peeked. But he was still happy to hand us Mario 64.

The game was phenomenal. I spent a good year exploring every nook and cranny of it in a most of my free time, it took me a very long time to collect all the stars. And I still played for a long time after that. Of course I still wanted more Mario goodness. too bad there was never a Mario 64 2, because the Platformers We're always the thing I cared about most. They still are. But at the time the only other Mario outing available was Mario Kart 64, which is what I wanted for Christmas the next year.

I didn't get it. What I got instead was Diddy Kong Racing. I was slightly bummed at first, but I quickly got over it because I love Donkey Kong Country, DK is adjacent to Mario anyways. this game had this funny looking bear with a silly hillbilly Voice. I liked him a lot, I really wanted to play as him, but I just couldn't get a handle on his controls, so I I'm Mained tiptup the turtle instead. in the end I think I got a better deal. I was more of a single-player focused kid, and Diddy Kong Racing had more content for somebody who's more into you single player than Mario Kart had to offer. but like with all my video games I scoured the manual for arts and character bios. it caught my eye that banjo was set to go on adventure with a character named Kazooie, who wasn't pictured anywhere in the manual. So it seems like banjo was a character to keep an eye on.

One day a school friend of mine saw me drawing pictures in class, shame on me, I know, but anyways, it was Diddy Kong Racing fan art, and he identified banjo from the game Banjo Kazooie. I had no idea this game existed yet, he opted to let me borrow it the next day, and I was blown away immediately before The game even started.

I was thrilled to find out that banjo had a lot in common with Mario 64, though in my opinion, it was much better. At least in terms of presentation, their characters were full of more personality than anyone in Mario 64. The music was dynamic. The characters were all more animated. The promise of unlocking new abilities made progression feel more rewarding. I was deeply in love with this game.

I beat the game, but I never quite owned it. that didn't make me adore it any less though. I begged my dad for the strategy guide even though I didn't own the game, I had a banjo a mumbo plush that I took with me to school ( I took Kazooie out of the backpack and sewed tail feathers and little felt legs on her once Banjo-Tooie came out ). I was constantly drawing banjo in the margins of my notebook at school. Much to my teachers dismay. And I would beg for Fruit by the Foot and Keebler chocolate chip cookies because of banjo was on the box, and I could have potentially one my own copy of Banjo-Kazooie. I was obsessed.

I did however get Banjo-Tooie for Christmas of 2001, and much like Mario 64 before it, I spent a good year exploring every nook and cranny, just messing around in the game world, And collecting all that I could. took me a long time to get everything because of that cheat, Canary Mary in Cloud Cuckoo Land. A friend of mine let me borrow his turbo controller to take care of that little problem. If Nintendo 64 track play time like modern game consoles do, I reckon Banjo-Tooie would be my most played game. I wish I still had the game cartridge, but it got lost Due to unfortunate circumstances. but now I have an everdrive 64 and both banjo games so I'm good, I've already replayed Banjo-Kazooie twice since last year, and in the middle of my second playthrough of Banjo-Tooie. I'll buy re-releases on the switch in a heartbeat though. Or better yet remasters.

I was devastated to hear that Microsoft had acquired rareware. I really like the GameCube, but there was definitely a giant hole in the library where rareware games use the fill a niche. We had Star Fox Adventures, which despite not being a Star Fox game originally, I still enjoyed, but no banjo, no Conker, and even Donkey Kong went into limbo, It just didn't feel right.

And then they released the trailer for the next banjo game. Banjos design was hideous, but I was willing to look past it, because the music and that beautiful spiral Mountain was just breathtaking. I actually bought an Xbox 360, my first-ever non Nintendo console, With the intention of buying rareware games. But my console suffered the red ring of death twice before the game could release, and I decided it was not worth fixing again. Besides that, all the wind was taken out of my sails by the official unveiling of the game and it's a vehicle baste premise. That's where banjo and I basically parted ways. I couldn't even watch a Let's Play on YouTube, I just could not stomach all the self-deprecating humor after the extreme disappointment I felt, waiting so many years for banjo threeie, only to get... that.

Believe it or not, I originally bought my Xbox 360 for the sole purpose of playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2006. It looked dope in the trailers. And then play magazine gave it a 9 out of 10, calling it the best Sonic game ever made, 3D or otherwise. Well most people know how that turned out. And yet I would still say The existence of Banjo Kazooie nuts and bolts is still the biggest disappointment I have ever felt in gaming.

I was pretty much ready to move on at that point. I would still have the memories of the N64 games. When Super Smash Bros brawl released, that's when I got into the character speculation scene, but at that point I figured banjo was just a pipe dream so I never bothered supporting him very much, it wasn't until Super Smash Brothers ultimate came about, when things started to seem to line up a little more. and fan-favorites like Ridley and K rool were added to the game, that's what made me dare to dream that banjo could have one more appearance in a truly great game, I kind of gave up hope a little bit toward the end, but I'm so glad I hung in there, there have been a lot of Smash Bros characters that have excited me, But none of them have ever made me feel as Giddy and enthusiastic as the banjo reveal did.

It's been an emotional couple of days. First with the reveal trailer, and then, all those lovely people associated with banjo expressing their emotions on Twitter. I don't know why, but somehow the only game developers I follow on Twitter are all Rareware and playtonic. I've been binge-watching Reaction videos for the past few days. Partly so I can take comfort in the fact that I'm not the only one that became a feral Beast when banjo was revealed, but also because I am feeding off of everyone else's passion for the same thing that I am passionate about. A dumb cartoon bear that I've loved since I was little.

I really don't mind if there isn't a banjo threeie or remasters on the way. those would be very nice, but if they don't happen, this feels like the best closure I could ever hope for with Banjo and Kazooie.
 
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shackamaxon

Smash Rookie
Joined
Dec 12, 2007
Messages
8
I was ten years old when B-K first came out.

1998 was a tough year because my dad passed away. He was always very strict with us, not allowing us to have video games at home aside from a Sega Game Gear he kept in a brown paper bag on top of a very high, unreachable cabinet, that were were only allowed to play for very limited amounts of time as rewards for finishing homework and chores. The only games I remember were Sonic and Jurassic Park. Most of my memories of video games before that were played outside - Sega Genesis at my cousin's house down the street or Super Nintendo at my best friend's house. I'd also encounter both of these consoles and the occasional NES at other friends' houses. I knew plenty of arcade games from pizza shops, the dentist's office waiting room, actual arcades, etc.

My mom felt bad for us losing our father, so that's when the floodgates opened to other consoles. Pokemon was huge, so I got a Gameboy Color. My older brother got a Playstation.

My first introduction to N64 was at a neighbor's house. They had three boys just a bit younger than my brother and I, so we got along very well. We spent those long summer days playing Ocarina of Time, Diddy Kong Racing, Super Smash Bros 64, Superman 64 (for about three minutes), and of course, Banjo-Kazooie.

I loved the game. I loved the cute and wacky characters, I loved the "collecting" aspect, I loved the witty humor, I loved the colorful and interesting worlds, and of course, I loved the catchy music. Nothing from that summer is more nostalgic to me than the sound of Mumbo's Mountain or the Diddy Kong Racing themes on the start screens as we waited to start playing. We played it together, taking turns, biting our nails through each boss battle, gradually progressing day by day until our friends' mother forced us to go outside.

Still, it wasn't perfect. I remember we reached Grunty's Furnace Fun late one evening and being extremely excited. We begged our friends to wait for us to come back first thing the next morning to complete it together. I remember the disappointment of finding out they couldn't keep their promise and beat it without us. I remember having to imagine the funny "party" cut scene because there was no way to see it without playing it over again.

Luckily, the following Christmas, we got our own N64. We got our own copy of the brand-new Banjo-Tooie! Thanks mom! My brother and I even faked sick to stay home from school at least twice over the course of playing that game. I remember the tease of a Banjo-Threeie.

I remember how much Rare ruled the N64 era. Goldeneye 64's multiplayer mode was *the* party game of all party games. B-K and B-T were the best platformers. Diddy Kong Racing was a top-notch racing game. Perfect Dark... Jet Force Gemini... Donkey Kong 64... I never owned them but I knew of them.

I remember the Fruit Roll-Ups (or Fruit-By-The-Foot) in my school lunches having miniature strategy guide maps for Banjo-Kazooie and other N64 platformer games.

I remember getting Gamecube and imagining how cool it would be to see Banjo and Kazooie fighting Mario and Link and Yoshi and Pikachu on Super Smash Bros. Melee. I remember the utter sadness and disappointment of learning that Rare was bought out by Microsoft, and took Banjo and Kazooie with them (despite the characters being linked to the broader world of Donkey Kong and by extension, Mario, making them as first-party as could be prior to the Nintendo-Rare divorce).

Since then, Banjo and Kazooie were always a pipe-dream for Smash Bros. I remember sitting in my college dorm room waiting for Brawl's "Dojo" to update new content in the period before its release, reading countless forum posts lamenting Rare's Microsoft buy-out.

I remember the hype at seeing the first Nuts and Bolts teaser. I remember the disappointment of Nuts and Bolts, with its blocky, creepy character designs and its... cars. It might not have been a bad game (I never owned any X-Box consoles, so I never had a chance to play it), but it wasn't the B-K we knew and loved.

I remember watching the ending cutscene to Nuts and Bolts on Youtube, and feeling optimistic about another, *real* B-K game later on down the line.

Then came the long B-K drought.

Then came news of a Diddy Kong Racing sequel for DS with Tip-tup, but no Banjo and no Conker.

Then came the Smash Ballot.

Then came Bayonetta as the final DLC for Smash 4, leaving the Banjo in Smash dream an even more distant possibility.

Then came Phil Spencer's approval of Banjo and Kazooie for Smash and a glimmer of distant hope. "Nintendo doesn't want them. Too old, too irrelevant to the present, too Western, too obscure for most Japanese, including Sakurai and his team..."

Then came Grinch Leak disappointment.

Then came that fateful trailer. I couldn't believe it. I teared up. I still can't believe it. I still question whether or not I'm dreaming a very lucid dream when I see Banjo and Kazooie in Ultimate.

To me, Smash is complete now. Banjo and Kazooie are the only thing left I really wanted.

Sure, I'd be happy with a few remaining unsung heroes of Nintendo - Toad, Dixie Kong, Pauline, obscure-but-popular Geno, a F-Zero echo fighter to make Falcon a bit less lonely (Black Shadow? Jody Summer? Goroh?), Kamek or Poochy, Ashley or Mona... But I'm content with my bird-and-bear duo.

Considering all DLC has been third-party this time around, I wrack my brain thinking about third-party characters I'd like to see... Tails would be nice. Chun Li would be good. Ms. Pac-man would be acceptable. Scorpion or Sub-Zero? Heihachi? Ivy Valentine from Soul Calibur? I prefer more cartoonish characters, so... Crash Bandicoot? Boy and His Blob? Chocobo? Frogger? Suezo from Monster Rancher? Actually, as an N64 Rare fanboy, I'd be thrilled to see Joanna Dark...

...Still, nothing can ever top Banjo and Kazooie for me. They've been my favorites for over two decades now.
 
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