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| From: Microsoft
Category: Video Games
List Price: $39.99
Buy New: $33.99
You Save: $6.00 (15%)
New (19) Used (4) from $27.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  31 reviews
Sales Rank: 318
Platform: Xbox 360
ESRB: Everyone 10+
Media: Video Game
Operating System: Xbox 360
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: S73001
Model: 882224729765
UPC: 400009416411
EAN: 0882224729765
ASIN: B0019MLWL4
Release Date: November 11, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Tight December 16, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I like this game because it was a game mode that I've never played before, it was based off creating vehicles. I truely have never seen a game before that has this much vehicle engineering creatavity. This game has a great amount of creatativity.
For anyone who loves to design. December 16, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This games is something that "rarely" happens in the world of gaming. most games promise you that you can do anything you wish in their game, but Nuts and Bolts delivers with and honest physics engine that actually makes your vehicles react the way that gravity and momentum would in most cases actually work. the designer is simple being able to make vehicles from scratch by slapping parts together much like legos or start with a chassis and then customize it or take a vehicle already done and work on it. after reading the other reviews i want to point out that the leisure is still there it just takes place outside of challenges there are still switches that can give you extra jiggies with out going in to worlds and there is the hunts for the parts boxes and the notes. great game strongly recommend!!
Beautiful, whimsical, timeless, and euphoric in a very RARE fashion... December 14, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
It is hard to believe that nearly a decade has passed since RARE released a proper sequel to the Banjo Kazooie series. And if one thing has become apparent, it's that we've come quite far since the days of traditional Mario-influenced platforming. Originally conceptualized as an updated remake of the first game in the series (with a few modest tweaks), Banjo "3" quickly evolved into what would become an innovative shift in the way the team looked at the platform genre. And the changes, I'll have you know, are not only avant-garde, but also completely successful and utterly brilliant in execution.
The premise and cast of characters are more likely to grab a laugh than to sell you on any sense of epic scale or heroic bellicosity. And appropriately so considering the source material. After defeating their arch nemesis Gruntilda at the end of Banjo-Tooie, Banjo the bear and his bird sidekick Kazooie retired to a cottage on Spiral Mountain, becoming copiously fat and lazy on pizza and Xbox 360. Then one day Gruntilda`s severed head emerges nastily from a pile of rocks, confronting Banjo and his feathery pal with a seemingly unsolvable quandary (considering quite literally the sheer girth of our furry hero). Conveniently Banjo and his nemesis are approached by L.O.G (Lord Of Games), who is basically a floating green television screen with some kind of cape/drapery arrangement. He allegedly created all games - yes, even Grabbed by the Ghoulies. Anyway, L.O.G proposes a set of time-contingent events to take place in 6 worlds of his own authoring. Upon agreeing to L.O.G's proposal, Banjo is returned to his former fitness, and stripped of the classic move sets found in the previous two games. Apparently those are out-dated, so Kazooie is given a wrench with special telekinetic abilities, and we're off! Yeah, it's silly, but it's just RARE's humorous excuse to change up the formula and lead you to the core of this experience - the innovative gameplay design.
American McGee's Scrapland explored in a limited fashion vehicle customization in a vein similar to Nuts & Bolts. Players could purchase blueprints for ships and upgrade/trick out various aspects of their craft. But where that game barely scratched the surface of vehicle customization in an open world, Nuts & Bolts gives players an unparalleled degree of control over how their vehicle looks, moves, and handles by providing hundreds of unique unlockable parts, all utilized at the behest of the creator. Mumbo's Garage is the place you will visit when you want to build, paint, save and load vehicles, trade with fellow players over Xbox Live, or test out your creation. The Test-O-Track lets players try out their latest modifications to see if physics are on the side of their design theory - often with rather hilarious results. In the workshop you will find your basic frame parts that provide shape and support for vital components. Vitals include the basics like wheels, engines, fuel tubes, propellers, wings, floatation devices, and more. As with any design modification, going into your garage and changing something means that you must weigh and balance the effects that extra (or lesser) heft will have on your vehicle.
As you progress through the game, you will unlock a menagerie of gadgets, weapons, and components that can be attached to your vehicles. Some things, like the egg or laser guns, are of a more obvious use than something like a self-destruct ball. But, if you're an inventive type, maybe you'll take that self-destructing bomb thingy and strategically utilize it to get that extra edge in some of the more absurd challenges.
The game is completely physics based, so it emphasizes the dynamics of good design, meaning you can't be sloppy or your chance at obtaining a jiggy will be seriously endangered. Countless times I've gone back to the drawing board on all of my designs, honing different aspects of the handling and performance for the perfect balance that will ensure my victory. As you can probably imagine, the gameplay has its moments of severe frustration as you - the architect - must constantly study and try to decipher exactly why your designs just aren't banking the jiggies. I've never sworn so much at an E rated game! That is not to say that personal skill isn't involved here. On the contrary, sloppy play style will serve just as much to your detriment as any lemon blueprint. But all the same, much of the game will be spent in Mumbo's Garage, tweaking, testing, and contemplating. The upside is that, not only is it fun to tinker around, but when you finally realize that self-indulgent wonder craft of your dreams, you always get this wonderful sense of accomplishment, as the hard work you put into the game ultimately determines the fun you will get out of it. While true of most any title, in this case, the majority of enjoyment is dependent on the person behind the controller, not too dissimilar from a game like Little Big Planet.
The downside is...well, there isn't much of one, since you either like to tweak and customize, or you don't. And for those that don't, Banjo Team has thrown in a ton of purchasable blueprints for use in the game's various time based challenges. The design concept of Nuts & Bolts is based off of the theory that there are three different types of gamers who will play this game. The first is children, who will simply use the pre-built variety until they learn the necessary skills to craft their own. The second group are the "casual" players who will build vehicles, complete as much of the game as possible, and collect some of the parts. The third group are the "hardcore", who will unlock everything, seek trophies, and look for top rankings on the leader boards. For the most part I think the game's design is conducive to this theory. However, Nuts & Bolts is probably less than the sum of its parts, if only because of the perfected fusion, the wonderful synergy of gameplay elements. Not taking advantage of the experience as a whole seems a shame to me, but coming from someone who would fall into the "hardcore" player group, that's probably my limited perspective talking. Indeed, the game may be totally satisfactory to the younger crowd just based off of what's offered on the surface. But for those able and willing to dig deeper, you will be richly rewarded for your efforts. Besides, after giving a thorough tour of the game's feature set to my mother; it seems the broad appeal design might just click with the wider gaming population.
As you go about collecting and banking jiggies, numbered doors open up, allowing you to complete challenges in segmented "Acts." Once you collect enough jiggies, Mumbo rewards you with parts, and L.O.G gives you a special globe to be placed on its corresponding plinth - therefore opening another of the 6 worlds. The challenges contained within each Act can vary from fetch quests, to races, to sumo matches, to speed challenges, and more. Many of the events are variants of each other, but you will sometimes come across some more unique and, well...odd challenges. In one Nutty Acres challenge, I was tasked with transporting Klungo's giant egg to a volcano, dropping it in - cooking it - and then rushing it back to him as fast as possible for top scores.
For all the talk of leaving its N64 roots, Banjo Nuts & Bolts sure has a lot of platform/adventure activities. Each world is filled to the brim with little nooks and crannies. Whether walking or swimming, Banjo will find many secrets hidden, waiting for discovery. The swimming mechanic is a bit to get used to at first (you have to hold A down and direct with the left thumbstick) but when you do, you will find all sorts of neat little easter eggs. In a totally X-Files moment I even found a group of aliens, adults and children, lying quiet and still in pods. One nice feature in the adventure portions of the gameplay is that you are given a camera with which to take and store photos (optionally uploading them to Banjo-Kazooie.com for sharing and even competition). It sort of reminded me of the element used in Michel Ancel's Beyond Good & Evil. It's a lesser, more simple implementation, but works wonderfully for storing the more notable memories of your adventures.
The game is essentially hub based, with doors opening up as you bank more and more jiggies. However, if you're anything like me, you will spend hours in Showdown Town just collecting musical notes and walking tight ropes. The game actually gives you an incentive to explore since you can even find hidden "free" jiggies and spend your hard searched for notes on vehicle parts and blueprints, which are available from Humba. Once you obtain a jiggy or amass a group of jiggies, you will be required to visit the Jig-O-Vend units that are planted throughout Showdown Town. Each world has its own vendor so you'll need to do a bit of collection traveling in the event that you've completed challenges in multiple worlds without visiting the corresponding jiggy dispensers before entering separate worlds. It's also worth noting that you can upgrade Banjo's attributes if you're willing to fork over the notes. I found the speed and strength upgrades worth the cost in currency considering the amount of on-foot travel I did. Useful depending upon your play style, but by no means a bear necessity. Still, I must say that it would have been nice to see a more extensive upgrade system for our furry buddy. Maybe the team is saving up for a sequel?
The controls will take a bit of practice if you want precision, but everything feels extremely responsive and well mapped out. Instead of a traditional double tap, pressing and holding A makes Banjo jump higher. Banjo also interacts well with his environment, intuitively grabbing onto ledges to avoid a bad fall. Actually though, from my experience it appears impossible to actually die in the game. Your health is represented by a honeycomb on the HUD. Your honeycomb is always replenishing over time, eliminating the need for collecting little honeycombs. And because of Banjo's constantly replenishing honeycomb, suffering even a big fall won`t do much unless you`re in the middle of a challenge, in which case you forfeit. And if you do manage to, like, drown him or something really nasty, Kazooie will pop out of her blue pack and literally slap Banjo back to full honeycomb safety. I showed it to my mom and she burst out laughing. It's a child friendly design call, but the charm never gets old. Some criticism has been levied against the game for doing away with the classic move sets found in previous Banjo installments, but there are actually a few moves that Kazooie can perform with her wrench. It does indeed retain the feel of a platformer despite being limited in comparison to games of the conventional mold.
I have praised Nuts & Bolts for its vehicle creator, and it deserves the credit for being easy-to-use and deep. However, my main complaint is that frame parts, the stuff that is responsible for the core shape of your vehicles, are not varied enough. There are a lot of blocks and corners and wedges, but I would have liked to have seen more variety in the appearances and combination possibilities. While you can create any Star Wars vehicle imaginable, you are limited to a degree on the aesthetic side of things. Yes, you can add a coat of paint, mixing and matching if you wish, but I think there is a lot more to explore as far as variety and possibilities go. To Banjo Team's credit, it is a fine line to tread, considering that what players design has to stay within the confines of the established art style. And if anything, I can just imagine the inevitably massive host of tweaks and additions that will be made if this game gets a much deserved follow up.
While there is probably a lot more to say about the gameplay in respect to depth and details, the last dynamic that I would like to mention is the competitive side of the game. Every challenge in the game is time based, and if you're good at building vehicles and have the skill to drive them to victory, you might just end up on the leader boards. I've managed to place in the Top 40 in a few separate events, but even that takes a fair amount of time and commitment as you learn the challenge and exploit every second-shaving opportunity. If you check out the Top 20 you can even view how the best in the world did it. Watching the best excel just spurs you on to make better vehicles and become a better player. I've not played a game this addictive in the competitive sense since Halo 2. You can also play on Xbox Live, both in pre-built competitions where it's all skill based, or the deeper custom vehicle events. But finding myself on Banjo-Kazooie.com tracking the leader boards is something I never thought I'd be doing. If you want it to, the game really involves you in the communal experience whether you're going head-to-head directly or just looking for top honours on the boards.
Overall, the gameplay in Banjo Nuts & Bolts is a refreshing mixture of elements that not only satisfies those who fancy themselves the completist architect extraordinaire, but also forges new territory in what I hope will be a brave new world of evolved platform gaming.
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is one of, if not the best looking game on the Xbox 360 currently. So often videogames are polarized to one side or the other. Either they're praised for their technical brilliance, or lauded for their art design. Thankfully that trend does not apply to Nuts & Bolts, as Banjo Team has crafted a ginormous world full of vibrant charm, while at the same time taking full advantage of the latest graphical bells & whistles like specular highlights, parallax maps, next-gen polygon counts, and yes, RARE's famous fur (vertex) shading. The result is a game world that you could eat like candy!
As I noted in the gameplay section of my review, the game is split up into 6 worlds (excluding Showdown Town) each with their own unique magic and splendor. As an example, Banjo Land features all sorts of clever little (and BIG) set pieces. You'll see a giant ocean liner, statues, igloos, underwater alcoves, and various other goodies. Since a significant portion of the game involves aquatic travel, it is appropriate that the water looks, moves, and reacts as you'd expect it to. There's nothing like cutting through the waves in your own personal-built jet boat; taking in the pure and serene qualities of the expanse.
Though there is one area of concern that I must address concerning the graphics. The slowdown can be a minor annoyance in one instance, and an all-out gameplay interruption in another. It's the most frustrating thing in the world when you're just getting into your groove on a challenge you've worked really really hard on, only to have the game drop to 10 frames, throwing you off your game for the few precious seconds that would make the difference on the leader board. That said, supreme beauty of this rare kind does sometimes force a developer to forgo the ideal of a locked framerate, and in this case, I do make limited concession, but it must be noted nevertheless. While painstakingly modeling every nook and cranny in total high-res glory can take a century, RARE didn't neglect to add the cute little details that only they have executed so well over the years. Details like water splashing on the camera after a big dive or sharp turn, or the day/night cycle (which adds a starry storybook charm) give the world a resonant vitality that brings all of the magic and wonderment to the fore with a distinct elegance.
The animation is top quality in every sense of the word. Banjo himself looks great in action, with every little detail imaginable being incorporated into his moveset. He walks, jogs, runs, jumps, balances, flips, and swims, all in degrees of necessity or preference. He even has an animation set for the times he is in idle stance. Sometimes he'll flex his arms or shake after a swim. And (as previously mentioned) on the very rare occasion that Banjo drowns or is otherwise knocked unconscious, Kazooie hilariously pops out of the blue backpack and smacks him back to health! Alongside Banjo and his sidekick Kazooie, the entire game world is brimming with expressive and often gut-busting animation. In fact, Creative Director Gregg Mayles is always finding little touches that were incorporated totally unbeknownst to him by various members of the team. And that's just how they make their games.
Indeed, where some other next-gen offerings don't hold up under the scrutiny of more discerning eyes, this game is rife with small, less obvious (but wholly appreciated) details that serve to round out the visual experience - and then some! Once again RARE proves that it's all in the details. A total cotton candy spectacle. Shameless, RARE. Absolutely shameless.
RARE is well known for its quirky and vibrant soundtracks, and Nuts & Bolts is no exception to the oddball antics of the studio's wonderfully creative music team. No, it's not Katamari crazy, but it has a care-free whimsicality to it that provides a nice contrast to the glut of sci-fi/fps cliche scores currently hogging the shelves. That said, there are some darker, more menacing moments in the game that do provide opportunity for stirring, sometimes haunted musical flourishes. Each world has its very own unique loop, offering variety that some blockbusters curiously lack. There's no main theme that plays ad nauseam until you break down and import your own tracks. No. We can be thankful that RARE gives us all ample reason to crank up the volume and take in the layered and expertly crafted musicality of each and every unique world.
Sound effects are one of the high points in the sound department. This is one of those games where, for most every surface, there is a corresponding sound. So when Banjo jumps off a hill onto a plane of grass, it sounds as though he is hitting earth (or in some cases, wet earth!). This isn't a big deal, since any self-respecting team knows to include the obvious details. But I think we can all be thankful and appreciate the fact that Banjo has a different footstep sound for each foot, as opposed to the dreaded "one footstep sound" that sadly still curses some games. The sound design is so committed that, if you listen carefully, you'll hear Banjo's little grunts, moans, and strains as you go about your sometimes strenuous platforming business. He even gurgles while swimming and takes deep breaths as a result of exhaustion. Yeah, some gamers might not notice these little things, but this is the difference between "rushed" and `polished down to the last.' It is the amalgamate of little things that make the game shine so brilliantly. Vehicle noises are totally cartoony and fun, aswell. And sound differentiates contingent to a vehicle's individual design, easing fears that the great variety could have caused a dichotomy of sameness due to the game's vast array of creation variables.
The game features no voice acting in the traditional sense. Instead, Nuts & Bolts employs all manner of gibberish to tell the story and entertain players. While "proper" voice acting is so often missing in games, in Banjo it is hardly missed. In fact, I think it is a testament to the hard work and dedication of smart and funny producers at RARE that they can so effectively convey each dialogue scene by using simple intonation and inflection, without any need for traditional voice acting at all. This aspect of the sound design is fitting, and conducive to the style of humour Leigh Loveday and the team are going for with the series. In Banjo's case, little grunts, squeaks, and demented cackles say it all.
For RARE, it's been a long road to redemption in the eyes of seemingly many gamers. For me, it's a continuation of the consistency and endurance of this company in that they continue to make the products that they want to make. And because they are so talented, and so funny, and so passionate about what they do, it manifests into these magical experiences that can only be delivered by studios like RAREWARE. In a game like Banjo, you get the sense that there's a synergy of vital energetic forces at play. It's a whimsical, magical, and hopefully transcendentally universal experience that evokes nothing less than the epitome of pure wanderlust. When you get to the heart of what gaming is and what it began as, you realize that this is the culmination of every key milestone that bestowed upon us all the classic, historical experiences that would later fuel the nostalgic memories of our youth. This is one of those experiences. Bravo.
Bang for your buck December 12, 2008
In today's economy people want to get the most value for every dollar they spend. Banjo Kazooie provides just that, with fun and creative objectives in every level that keep you thinking.
It's like in-depth legos. Just so you know, while the game is a Banjo Kazooie title, it is VERY different from the first two titles.
But it is different in a good way and at $36 it has more content than most games out there. Plus I got the pre-order code for Banjo-Kazooie which is awesome alone.
UPDATE: The price is now around $26. There is no reason not to get this game for that price.
Best bang for the buck this holiday December 12, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
For 27$, this is an absolute steal! Huge beautiful worlds, plenty to do, very innovative gameplay, humor, charm, the works. I usually play big gruff shoot-em-ups like GOW2, but I still enjoy this game immensely. If you have an ounce of creativity, you will love this game. I spend at least half my time just building wacky vehicles.
PS: I paid 40$ on launch day.
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