Banjo-Kazooie Nuts and Bolts is the latest installment in the Banjo-Kazooie series, developed by Rare in 2008 for Xbox 360. In this game, players must complete Jiggy Challenges to earn Jiggies, which are required to unlock new worlds and progress through the game. To succeed, players construct various vehicle types, with Mumbo Crates scattered throughout Showdown Town unlocking new vehicle parts in Mumbo’s Motors. Additionally, completing a Gruntilda Challenge in a world unlocks a new part for Banjo and Kazooie’s trolley, allowing access to new sections of the game’s main hub, Showdown Town. Also, it is the first game in the franchise to feature an online multiplayer mode, where players worldwide can participate in races and battles using their custom vehicles. A few months after release, L.O.G.’s Lost Challenges was released, taking place in the Test-O-Track world. This expansion includes six difficult Jiggy Challenges where twelve additional Jiggies and T.T. Trophies can be obtained. Beating all challenges with a Jiggy Rank grants access to a sequel of Klungo’s Arcade game, titled Hero Klungo Sssavesss Teh Universsse. The expansion also added six new multiplayer game types and ten achievements worth 250 gamerscore. Additionally, the game features Stop ‘n’ Swop functionality that unlocks additional crates in Showdown Town after collecting them in the re-released version of Banjo-Kazooie, including a part that cannot be obtained through other means, while most are used for decoration.
» Game Prologue
The game takes place eight years after Banjo-Tooie, in which Banjo the brown bear and Kazooie the red breegull defeated Gruntilda. During this time, the protagonists have become lazy and out of shape due to their lack of adventuring. Suddenly, Gruntilda Winkybunion’s detached head returns to Spiral Mountain seeking revenge, and another fight against the protagonists is about to begin. However, their confrontation is interrupted by the appearance of Lord of Games, the creator of all video games. He explains that he has come to settle the conflict between them by devising a series of Jiggy Challenges. Gruntilda agrees to the idea and asks him what the prize will be. The Lord of Games replies that the winner gains ownership of Spiral Mountain, while the loser must work in his video game factory for eternity. He uses his powers to give the witch an artificial body and restore Banjo and Kazooie’s physical fitness, but not their moves from previous games, stating that they will not need them. After that, he summons two vehicles, with Gruntilda pushing the protagonists to take the larger one, leaving them with a trolley-like vehicle. Both parties enter a portal leading to the game’s hub world called Showdown Town, where the contest begins. In Showdown Town, Kazooie asks Lord of Games how they should participate in the game since he has taken all of their abilities. In response, he summons a special weapon called Magic Wrench, allowing them to attack and perform longer jumps if cast in the air. Without hesitation, the witch asks what she’ll receive instead, and Lord of Games summons a cat named Piddles. Gruntilda is shocked and kicks Piddles far away, causing her to attack Gruntilda. Following this, Banjo and Kazooie must participate in Jiggy Challenges and receive Jiggies to progress in the game, while Gruntilda attempts to stop them from succeeding with the help of Piddles and her Gruntbots.
» Gameplay Mechanics
One of the key differences between Nuts & Bolts and its predecessors is that it’s not a traditional third-person platform game. Instead, it uses vehicles to transport the protagonists around levels where they must beat Jiggy Challenges in order to progress. According to Gregg Mayles, around twenty percent of the game retains traditional platforming elements. This means players of previous Banjo-Kazooie games have to adjust their expectations and play style when approaching Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts. Another significant difference is that Banjo and Kazooie have a limited set of moves available to them. In previous games, they had a wide range of abilities, including Beak Buster, Breegull Blaster, and many others. This time, however, many of these abilities have been removed, and the characters can only perform a few basic actions. For example, they can attack using Kazooie’s Magic Wrench they receive from the Lord of Games, but they cannot use most of the abilities learned in previous games. To compensate for this, the game emphasizes creating and customizing vehicles. Players must use a variety of parts to construct their own vehicles, which they can then use to beat challenges and explore the game’s levels. The game’s soundtrack was composed by Robin Beanland, Grant Kirkhope, and Dave Clynick, who worked on previous games in the series. The music features remastered versions of existing soundtracks from the franchise, as well as new compositions performed by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Notably, Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts was the final game that Grant Kirkhope worked on for Rare, making it a bittersweet moment for fans of his beloved work. In 2009, the developers announced that all the soundtracks from the game were available for purchase on Amazon and iTunes, released by Sumthing Else, allowing fans to listen to the music whenever they wanted.
