Low Poly - Banjo and Kazooie

[Virtua Sanus]

Haha oh God, that's pretty awful. See Virtua Sanus? It wasn't just Rare.

I seem to remember Mario looking a little weird in the Mario 64 CG renders too, but I could be mistaken.

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Oh no, I never said it was exclusively them and even if the game is a favorite of mine I will be the first to mention that the kids in NiGHTS into Dreams look terrible now. It just always surprises me to see certain people so positive of the original Rare designs but so aggressively negative of stuff like Nuts & Bolts and to a lesser degree Kameo (which barely changed from it's earlier stages).

I think Viva Pinata and even Sea of Thieves has a lot of the classic era of Rare in it aesthetically for better and worse. It is interesting that they have been somewhat able to keep that vibe even after the studio has changed so much. I do appreciate that, honestly.

 

[Herne]

I've never played Nuts & Bolts but I never liked the design they went with, deliberately angular for some reason. The Smash model is great but there's something not quite right with the eyes - perhaps they're a shade too big?

Also the Live & Reloaded version may have a steady frame rate but the Conker model somehow looks worse than the N64 original, and the additional censoring is weird - maybe they wanted as large an audience for it as possible? Did it have a lower age rating than the original? There are some other odd changes here and there - I'd love to have been a fly on the wall when all these decisions were being made.

Whatever about a stable frame rate, I don't know how anyone can claim it's the definitive version of the game when all of the amazing multiplayer modes are missing. My friends and I had so much fun with all of them... I even miss playing it today, though we wouldn't even if we had the option because I can't stand the frame rate these days, having been spoiled by my pc with 144Hz monitor.

 

[daTRUballin]

Whatever about a stable frame rate, I don't know how anyone can claim it's the definitive version of the game when all of the amazing multiplayer modes are missing. My friends and I had so much fun with all of them... I even miss playing it today, though we wouldn't even if we had the option because I can't stand the frame rate these days, having been spoiled by my pc with 144Hz monitor.

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And that's where the Rare Replay version comes in!

 

[mavericktopgun]

SSBU Banjo has a lot of polygons...

 

[Mekanos]

I like that Kazooie has her eyelashes visible on the Smash model, but not obviously so. I prefer how her original design's feminine traits were present but downplayed. The N&B model... not so much.

I truly think Kazooie is one of Rare's best designs. Fantastic mix of red and yellow.

 

[Deleted member 426]

It suffers from what I call "Sega Syndrome" in which it's a title that few people play and hype up despite it being just an above average title, and there aren't many people to call it out since not too many people have played the game.

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You've basically got a small number of people who love it, and an even smaller number of people who can't wait to tell you how bad the game is.

 

[dude]

I don't get what the big deal about this character's design, and there's so much fighting over it - To me, it seems to be equally bad to me in all games. It looks like the most generic 90's mascot I could imagine. The Nuts & Bolts design is the closest one to being good, as it's at least trying something with the whole angular style - but it's still pretty boring and uninspired. The Smash design is 100% creepy to me, those eyes will haunt me.

 

[SpankyDoodle]

And they say nuanced bideo game convo is dead

They put the N64 version in because of fan outcry which mainly came from complaints of censorship. But it has better frame rate, controls, and design changes.

Your post reads like something off of gamefaqs with "Lmfao" and "Proof", like it's just a game pal

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those were meant to be lighthearted to show I wasn't taking it a seriously as the list might have indicated ):

 

[Lant_War]

It's a bummer that they didn't also dip into the DS version of Diddy Kong Racing. Feels like a pretty incomplete episode of Low Poly with that and the Nuts and Bolts models missing. But I do appreciate the work they do.

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Diddy Kong Racing DS doesn't have Banjo

This is such a weirdly aggressive theory you have here. I think Jet Set Radio is super overrated too but uhh, what?

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This was not what I expected from a Banjo thread but alright

 

[KDR_11k]

What's with the Nuts & Bolts hate? It wasn't the sequel people wanted but it's a great game in its own right and way ahead of its time, after Minecraft blew up we saw countless block-based vehicle games pop up (most appearing and dying in early access) but N&B was a complete, varied and polished game.

 

[Elliott]

lmfao

Terrible redesign of the main character
Uses a baseball bat instead of a frying pan, stupid needless change that even Conker doesn't like
Worse animations, specifically facial animations
Inexplicably more censored than the original, both in profanity and in actual game content
Speaking of cut content, they removed all the amazing multiplayer modes from the original
They made the game easier

yeah ok

More proof: They put the N64 version into Rare Replay instead of the garbage remake

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The original controls like ass.

OT I didn't mind N&B's redesign. The blocky aesthetic was informed by the core mechanics of building lego-like contraptions.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

Haha oh God, that's pretty awful. See Virtua Sanus? It wasn't just Rare.

I seem to remember Mario looking a little weird in the Mario 64 CG renders too, but I could be mistaken.

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This looks good to me

and also this one

 

[EvilBoris]

What's with the Nuts & Bolts hate? It wasn't the sequel people wanted but it's a great game in its own right and way ahead of its time, after Minecraft blew up we saw countless block-based vehicle games pop up (most appearing and dying in early access) but N&B was a complete, varied and polished game.

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I'm not a big fan of Bk, despite being a proper N64 nerd, but I loved N&B for being a really great game. I actually preferred the team fortress styled look of Banjo too but I do like his more faithful representation in smash

 

[hotcyder]

What's with the Nuts & Bolts hate? It wasn't the sequel people wanted but it's a great game in its own right and way ahead of its time, after Minecraft blew up we saw countless block-based vehicle games pop up (most appearing and dying in early access) but N&B was a complete, varied and polished game.

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That's with the Banjo hate. But having repalyed Kazooie and Tooie on XBLA, Nuts and Bolts is the better game.

I perfer the N&B design to the Smash one too. It's classy and creative. The Smash one is the N64 key art - which works great for renders but not in motion.

 

[A Syrian Communist]

Having never played any of the games I actually like the Nuts and Bolts designs more. Something about the original just looks kind of odd to me, but same as Virtua Sanus said above I just don't really like old school Rare designs much.

 

[Ocean Bones]

Wish we had access to Steve Mayles's high poly Banjo promotional model. It's my favorite model with Ultimate right behind it. Wonder if he still has it?

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Yeah that's a beautiful banjo. Spot on. Love the ultimate one too tho.

 

[daTRUballin]

The original controls like ass.

OT I didn't mind N&B's redesign. The blocky aesthetic was informed by the core mechanics of building lego-like contraptions.

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No, it doesn't. You just have to git gud. ;)

Really loved the challenge the Spooky chapter provided where you had to find those keys and avoid/kill the zombies around the mansion. Seems like a lot of people struggled with the controls and I totally understand why. Conker is no modern shooter, but once you get used to the controls, I think it's a really fun chapter.

The fall damage in that game was very sensitive and a bit too much though.

 

[jerk]

Sometimes forget there's a loud minority of people who think nuts and bolts is the only good banjo game.

Is rare replay on god damn PC yet?