Banjo-Kazooie 3, released for Game Boy Advance in 2003, serves as an interquel and takes place two months post-Banjo-Kazooie but prior to her resurrection in Banjo-Tooie.
Gameplay in this series typically presents action from an overhead perspective and uses pre-rendered graphics, enabling players to jump, crouch and attack enemies while collecting golden musical notes found throughout levels.
Gameplay
Grunty’s Revenge is the third game in Banjo-Kazooie series and takes place two months post Banjo-Kazooie. Here, Mecha-Grunty attempts to prevent Banjo and Kazooie from meeting by altering time travel technology. Similar to its predecessors, this game utilizes platform jumping and collecting collectible items for gameplay. Levels are separated into hub levels and main stages; each stage contains an objective for players to meet in order to advance. This game brings back many of the Abilities from previous titles while adding some unique ones, such as using the Mumbo Totem to transform into a squid and access watery areas that he normally would not. Furthermore, its mouth can spray water out from its lips to kill Sharpnels and Whiplashes.
Spiller’s Harbor is the main level in this game and was turned into a polluted wasteland by Gruntilda and her minions. It features a lighthouse, oil pipeline and polluted water area as well as hosting Gruntilda herself in her robotic body Mecha-Grunty who wields two copies of herself during battle – Banjo must strike at her real ghost before taking down both copies at once to win!
Additionally to its main levels, this game contains multiple mini-games and a secret level in which the player must destroy a giant robot. Furthermore, there is also a card collecting system as well as public domain music soundtracks available within it.
Contrary to other games, in Bozzeye the player’s health bar does not automatically replenish. Instead, they must collect empty honeycombs from around the level and exchange them at Honey B’s Hive to open portals into different worlds or teach Bozzeye how to perform new moves.
Grunty’s Revenge presents several continuity issues due to its altered timeline. Although set between Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie, characters in Grunty’s Revenge act as though they never met either pair before; additionally, many of the gimmicks from earlier games (such as Wonderwing) have been eliminated since their position has altered in terms of time.
Characters
Banjo returns in this 2003 Game Boy Advance title titled Banjo-Kazooie Interquel as part of his adventures! Taking place two months post-Gruntilda’s defeat in Banjo-Kazooie but before her resurrection in Banjo-Tooie, Klungo created Mecha-Grunty as an interquel henchman to help free Gruntilda. Klungo used its power to kidnap Kazooie before traveling back in time – sending him back through time so he could stop her evil scheme and rescue Kazooie! Mumbo Jumbo saw this and sent Banjo back into time so he could foil her evil plan and save his beloved companion!
Honey B is back from previous Banjo-Kazooie and Tooie installments to run her shop on Spiral Mountain and offer hollow honeycombs as trade goods to extend health meter. Jiggywiggy can also open worlds when collected. Jinjo Oracle assists Banjo and Kazooie on their journey by giving helpful hints, offering rewards when players complete her puzzles successfully, as well as selling Jiggywiggys that open doors.
As well as Whiplashes and Recolored Gruntlings, some new creatures have been introduced such as Bleaters; sheep-like creatures that reside at Cliff Farm. Furthermore, captive Breegulls at Breegull Beach need help from Banjo and Kazooie while white Captive Breegulls need protection as well. Whiplashes still appear throughout each world as enemies to fight.
The main villain in the game is Gruntilda’s soul transferred into an advanced robot body called Mecha-Grunty, built with help from Klungo henchmen. She plots to use this machine against Banjo and Kazooie by jumping back in time so they will never meet! However, Mumbo Jumbo, the shaman, notices this from behind a bush and sends Banjo back in time just in time to save them both!
Story
Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge was developed and published by Rare for the Game Boy Advance as an interquel in the Banjo-Kazooie series, occurring after Banjo-Kazooie but prior to Banjo-Tooie. The game includes minigames called Jiggies (similar to Super Mario 64 stars) which serve as currency to open gates leading to new worlds; its music composer Jamie Hughes instead of Grant Kirkhope composed its score; recording voiceover characters using lesser sounds due to limited storage capacities on this handheld console platform.
Grunty’s Revenge takes place two months after Banjo-Kazooie, with Gruntilda Winkybunion still trapped beneath a boulder that fell upon her in that game. Her loyal henchman Klungo devises a plan to free her: He creates a Gruntilda-shaped robot known as the Mecha-Grunty into which Gruntilda transfers her spirit; now with her own body in hand, Gruntilda plans her revenge upon both bear and bird duo by kidnaping them and taking back time before they ever met, thus undoing any previous defeat and altering history altogether.
Banjo and Kazooie must join forces in their adventure against Klungo and his minions, Whiplashes and Gruntlings; which all appear in younger versions than in console Banjo-Kazooie games. Also included is an older version of Bottles who acts as the player’s guide through three new worlds.
Alongside fighting and collecting jiggies, the duo must also participate in various other activities including racing karts, a television game show and an epic battle against Mecha-Grunty at her castle – collecting sixty jiggies is required to defeat this robot and return her back into real world reality.
Banjo-Kazooie: Gronty’s Revenge is an exciting installment to the franchise, and features introduced in this game help make it stand out from previous entries in the series. Unfortunately, however, the platforming elements which made its predecessors so memorable weren’t featured as prominently. Furthermore, controls should have been more responsive to input from Game Boy Advance controller.
Ending
As part of his revenge plan against Banjo Kazooie Grunty, Banjo finds Kazooie at Breegull Beach and she rejoins him. Later on he heads back to Spiral Mountain where they meet Bottles’ ancestor Bozzeye; Bozzeye will teach Banjo and Kazooie some forgotten moves in exchange for musical notes; also warning about Mecha-Grunty’s plans to alter time space continuum by altering time travel plans and stopping him once and all. Finally he goes back in time in an attempt to stop Mecha-Grunty before traveling back through time in time in order to rescue his friend.
As with the first two games, players can move across worlds collecting items that help advance progress – including jiggies that reveal new moves for each world and maps showing player locations. There are five worlds and an overworld in total with 100 notes, five jiggies and other things scattered about; its isometric perspective makes gameplay enjoyable; however, height estimation may be difficult and field of vision limited in certain places.
The primary antagonists in this game are Mecha-Grunty and Klungo, who remain loyal to Gruntilda even while she remains imprisoned under her Lair boulder. Even while being restricted, Gruntilda still manages to use her power over time to manipulate it to keep Banjo and Kazooie apart; her sisters even help by taking over their bodies to help prevent Gruntilda from escaping her Lair imprisonment.
Banjo and Kazooie encounter Honey B, Mistress of the Bees during their adventure. Over the course of the game, Banjo and Kazooie can trade empty honeycombs to her to extend their health bar; different types of honeycombs possess specific powers; for instance a blue egg has projectile-firing capabilities while battery eggs open closed portals.
Certain overworld worlds feature recolored Bigfoot (possibly a Skunk Ape due to the marshy setting) and Yeti enemies who are stronger than in other worlds, like Bad Magic Bayou’s Ice Egg that can melt and freeze enemies, while Freezing Furnace’s Fire Egg causes them to burn. Furthermore, several new jiggies such as Tank Transformation offer additional challenges; such as demolish most enemies with just one shot while breaking steel doors!
Grunty’s Revenge on GBA may lack the power needed for full 3D platforming of Banjo-Kazooie games on N64, yet still manages to capture some of their gameplay and spirit. Although not as satisfying, but still an enjoyable game experience.
Set months after Banjo-Kazooie, Klungo fails in his attempts to free Gruntilda from underground and she constructs a robot body for herself in order to travel back through time and kidnap Kazooie. Mumbo Jumbo the Shaman overhears their plot and sends Banjo back in time in order to foil her evil scheme.
Characters
Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge is the third installment in Rare Ltd’s Banjo-Kazooie series and was released for Game Boy Advance in 2003. Set two months after the events of Banjo-Kazooie, this top-down platform game takes place two months later with Mecha-Grunty trying to prevent Banjo and Kazooie ever meeting by messing with time, as well as featuring many familiar characters like Bottles and Jamjar’s ancestor Bozzeye who helps teach them the moves due to time travel effects.
The game begins when Gruntilda Winkybunion becomes trapped under a large boulder that fell upon Banjo-Kazooie, with her loyal henchman Klungo taking steps to assist her by building Mecha-Grunty; her spirit then transfers into this robot body where it initiates its revenge plan by kidnapping Kazooie and traveling back in time to prevent their meeting altogether. She hopes this way they never encounter one another again and hopefully erasing any memory of any defeat due to her and erase their history altogether from history books!
Mumbo Jumbo overhears everything, and sends Banjo back in time to stop her. He transports him to the past version of Spiral Mountain where they meet Bottles and Jamjar’s great-great-great ancestor Bozzeye, who teaches Banjo the moves he forgot during his trip back. From there he travels throughout Isle O Hags in search of Kazooie while foiling Mecha-Grunty’s plans.
Other characters to appear in the game include Mrs. Squitter, who gives Banjo and Kazooie ice cream in exchange for returning her squids, as well as seedy businessman Mr. Ripovski and peacock-like Alfred P. Cock. Furthermore, Snowies appear as a recurring element that can be collected via Snazzy Sleds minigame.
Critics had mixed opinions of Banjo-Kazooie when it first released in 2003, with some appreciating its visual style and gameplay while others found its low difficulty and short length to be insufficiently challenging. Still, it proved hugely successful commercially, selling over 1.5 million units in the United States alone; later it was also released for mobile phones (Banjo-Kazooie: Grabbin’ and Jiggin’ Mobile), Nintendo DSs as Banjo-Kazooie 3D).
Gameplay
Banjo-Kazooie Grunty’s Revenge, originally released for N64 consoles as Gruntilda’s Revenge, made its Game Boy Advance debut as Grunty’s Revenge on Game Boy Advance and features an exciting story of Gruntilda kidnapping Kazooie before Mumbo-Jumbo discovered Gruntilda’s plot and managed to alert Banjo of its impending arrival.
Grunty’s Revenge’s gameplay resembles that of its N64 counterparts with some subtle distinctions, most notably with regards to navigation issues caused by an overhead view that makes navigation very challenging at times. Although technically a 3D platformer, the game uses an orthographic isometric perspective making distance and height estimation between platforms difficult; often making for difficult platform hopping tasks between platforms without losing your balance off the edge of the screen.
Many other elements of the game remain intact, including its vibrant graphics, wide variety of stages and fun minigames. There are also plenty of items to collect and enemies to defeat that keep gameplay exciting; its plot remains relatively straightforward but still fun; its characters well-designed and endearing.
Grunty’s Revenge does a commendable job of recreating the look and feel of Banjo-Kazooie on handheld devices despite its short duration. While it does present some issues in terms of its controls and story, overall it remains a fantastic game experience.
Grunty’s Revenge was originally planned as an N64 title when Rare was purchased by Microsoft, though development started after Microsoft had made their purchase decision. Over a period of several years it went through various developmental stages until finally being finished in 2003 as Rare’s inaugural Game Boy Advance release. Although its story and boss battles may leave something to be desired, this exciting platform adventure still makes an enjoyable gaming experience that should please any fan of Rare games!
Soundtrack
Grunty’s Revenge is the third entry in Rare’s Banjo-Kazooie series for Game Boy Advance, published by THQ and set between events from Nintendo 64 games Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie. The side-scrolling platformer boasts 3-D visuals while offering players the ability to collect Jiggies and notes; additionally it includes various minigames as well as character interaction features.
Starting six months after Banjo-Kazooie ended, Gruntilda Winkybunion still remains trapped under a giant boulder she was crushed under in Banjo-Kazooie. Klungo decides that in order to free Gruntilda she must build Mecha-Grunty for Gruntilda to inhabit and control; Gruntilda becomes angry over being defeated at hands of bear and bird duo so she kidnaps Kazooie back into timehops to prevent their meeting altogether thus undoing her defeat; however Mumbo Jumbo the witch doctor sent Banjo back into time in order to rescue his friend from defeating Gruntilda.
The game features music similar to its console predecessors, except reduced for Game Boy Advance’s limited sound chip capabilities. Tinny voice samples still exist but their pitch has been lower and pauses are much more prominent; additionally percussion has been reduced in volume but overall style remains similar.
Similar to its counterparts in the series, this game boasts a comprehensive arsenal of moves unlocked by collecting notes and Jiggies. Most moves are utilized for jumping purposes; however, other tricks exist such as using ground pound to shake items from high places or damage enemies below, swimming into bubbling areas by pressing R and then pressing R again will enable swimmers to rise to the surface more quickly, or teaching Kazooie how to flap her wings to extend midair flight time using these notes.
The worlds in this game resemble those of its console predecessor, yet are smaller in scale and have unique themes. Spiller’s Harbor, for instance, features oil spilled onto its coastal world; its walls and topography resemble those in Rusty Bucket Bay; it can be unlocked by collecting 24 Jiggies; while Freezing Furnace provides an icy version of Grunty Industries that needs unlocking by collecting 24 Jiggies.
Graphics
Rareware made a successful transition from Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Pilot to handheld devices with Grunty’s Revenge for Game Boy Advance, marking Rareware’s return to working on Banjo-Kazooie projects after being acquired by Microsoft. This third installment in the timeline released in 2003 saw Rareware return with this unique bear and bird duo!
Grunty’s Revenge’s gameplay resembles that of console releases very closely; however, due to technical restrictions on GBA platform it takes an overhead top-down perspective instead. Still, this implementation of Banjo-Kazooie remains impressively well done and retains much of its general feel from console releases despite these technical constraints.
Grunty’s Revenge features an overhead view that limits exploration to smaller worlds than console games but still provides ample scope. Furthermore, new characters and enemies such as Jinjo Oracle and Master Jiggywiggy make their first appearance, along with Bottles’ ancestor Bozzeye and young Mumbo Jumbo all joining Bottles on his journey through his kingdoms.
Although the game is somewhat shorter than its console predecessors, it still features high levels of detail and quality. While character models appear somewhat cartoonish in appearance, animations and voice acting remain top notch. Furthermore, there are some unutilized animations present in the ROM, including an unused placeholder sprite for Boggy riding his sled in World 2.
Grunty’s Revenge offers stunning graphics that make it an enjoyable entry in the series, yet fails to capture that sense of adventure on mobile platforms like the console versions do. Perhaps its limited controls make the experience less immersive; perhaps its an issue of empty levels or simplistic objectives – or both! Enemy respawning can become very irritating over time in Grunty’s Revenge which makes navigation difficult at best and often even makes things harder than in Banjo-Kazooie!