Clearly platform-oriented, Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie were, at the time of their respective releases, strong competitors for an exceptional Super Mario 64, but not really innovative in its foundations. The series from the British developer had managed to stand out from the adventures of the mustachioed plumbing specialist thanks, in large part, to a caustic humor and a rather crazy universe. Always with a concern for renewal and distancing from the competition, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts somehow changes direction by moving towards open play, the sandbox title, in which the player is "master" of his way of apprehending the software and its challenges. Here, there are no special powers, abilities to unlock or experience to gain, evolution is done by building vehicles, a kind of rolling, flying and floating extensions with the natural limitations of a plantigrade and a woodpecker. -green.
We have bolt on the board
Brought out of their burgeoning obesity by the failed return of Grunty, Banjo and Kazooie, as well as their lifelong enemy, soon realize that their time has passed and that they are no longer characters at the height of their glory. This is without counting on the messianic appearance of the master of video games (a sort of octopus surmounted by a screen continuously displaying Pong), who offers to put them back in the saddle with a new concept based on participation in challenges via the use of more or less eccentric machines. After a collegial agreement, the adventure begins in Duelville, a sort of root town with graphic inspirations located between Viva Piñata and Oddworld: Stranger. Everything here is just decor, a compilation of the Banjo-Kazooie universe. Whether within the different levels or in Duelville, each plot is built from scratch and each speaker comes from one or other of the duo's adventures. A spirit that manifests itself in an obvious way when we dwell on the realization of the game. The sets are made of metallic materials, large plastic plates, trying to simulate the usual places of the saga with an aspect "artisanal" very well felt. Admittedly, there are totally new levels like this parody interior of Xbox 360 with protruding screws, but most of them are based on variations with convincing artistic choices. The feeling of evolving in a world literally created from scratch quite fascinating then develops, directly echoing the scenario in a coherence tinged with self-criticism that we would like to see more often. Because of course, the acid humor of the series is topical with its various repartee dryly struck or its many amusing winks, like the allusions to the commercial failures of Rare or the references to low-end television series through the presentation of the various levels. You will also be advised to buy the original Banjo-Kazooie on the Marketplace if you don't like Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, a clever little pike summing up the general spirit of the software. It is on these almost usual bases that the novelty is grafted.
spare nut
During the first presentations of the game, and especially after the release of the demo, many were those who feared that the arrival of the vehicles would be a submission to the GTA IV hegemony, relegating Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts to a simple title. action/platform mounted on casters. If the presence of these means of transport effectively changes the approach of the game compared to its predecessors, they are not a simple possibility left to the player but indeed an element of the gameplay in its own right. In effect, they act as an additional ability. As the adventure unfolds, it is necessary to complete a defined number of tests per "level" which allow you, if you pass them in time, to obtain puzzle pieces which unlock accessories for your machines but also new worlds. However, depending on the type of challenge, you will have to resort to specific means to achieve your ends. A nut to fetch on a high hill? A race on a lake? A gigantic leap to accomplish to get to a given point? In an ordinary platform game, you should use what you have learned in a natural way. It is the same here with however a small additional reflection. Because instead of using a double jump or the power to hover, you will have to build your own specificities. An airplane, a helicopter, a car bristling with spikes, an air-cushioned vehicle, a leaping cart, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts playfully reuses Prévert-style inventory. Each of your creations corresponds to a situation, while leaving you the freedom to develop your prototypes if you feel like it. Managing physical laws very precisely, the title of Rare requires a good consideration of these parameters in order to get the most out of your inventions.
If the presence of these means of transport indeed changes the approach of the game compared to its predecessors, they are not a simple possibility left to the player but indeed an element of the gameplay in its own right.
A machine too heavy in the back and you can't move forward, a vehicle too long and not reinforced enough in its center and you end up with two halves for the price of one. It's up to you to try, to test, to really invest yourself in creation. A truly engaging activity which, in a much more limited register, refers to the LittleBigPlanet experience, while remaining more focused on the gameplay than on a sprawling whole. The inventiveness in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is indeed at the service of an already existing world which is waiting for you to be fully discovered. A discovery facilitated on the one hand by the existence of predefined models of vehicles (especially if you do not feel the creative soul, which it must be admitted makes you lose the main attraction of the game) and on the other hand by the ease of access of the construction system, resembling that of the Gummi ships of Kingdom Hearts II, in much more refined however. The collected parts can be assembled in an immense number of combinations, coloring themselves in different ways depending on whether or not they can be fixed on the existing chassis, making each action crystal clear. Especially since it is possible to rotate your vehicle as a whole. A possibility also applied to each of the components, making it possible to suffer only very rarely from frustration at the time of design. The only downside is the obligation to really have in mind what you want to build. The first wheels indeed define the direction of your machine and it is unfortunately impossible to rotate the driver's seat. A small oil stain in a tidy garage but on which our duo could easily slip.
Flat platforms?
Advocating originality as a hobbyhorse, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts does not forget that it comes from a line of pure platform titles and therefore tries to give regulars the union minimum in this area, which is really not much. Admittedly, many challenges ask you to fetch this or that object, to duel with an opponent in sorts of sumo fights or to collect different items, but you will never really have the impression of advancing, of passing a course taking you further, to simply explore. Certainly Duelville is gigantic and it is a pleasure to unearth the secret nooks and crannies, but the player has more the feeling of gaining new accesses than of discovering them. This turnaround will not please everyone, especially fans of the Rare series who were expecting more of a Galaxy-like Super Mario than a puzzle title with an amazing concept. Nevertheless and despite the redundancy of certain events, in particular those of pure racing, we find the side of progression through the experience of the platform game within the very construction of the vehicles which are in a sense the enigmas to be solved to go from before. Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts loses in intensity, in narrative, what it gains in depth of play and in simple empirical pleasure. It remains to be seen which side we are on.
