The Banjo-Kazooie series has been a well-known and beloved franchise for many years. The first one in the series, Banjo-Kazooie, was a groundbreaking success that tasked players with saving Banjo’s younger sister Tooty from the clutches of the evil witch Gruntilda Winkybunion. The witch was intent on stealing Tooty’s beauty, and it was up to Banjo and Kazooie to save her. Two years later, a new sequel game was released, titled Banjo-Tooie. This time around, Gruntilda had been saved by her witch sisters Mingella and Blobbelda and was looking to get revenge on Banjo and Kazooie for her previous defeat. With the help of a machine, called B.O.B., that could steal the life force of Banjo’s friends, Gruntilda Winkybunion aimed to restore her former appearance in order to take down the duo once and for all. Banjo and Kazooie were tasked with traveling to the top of Cauldron Keep to stop her and bring their friends back to life. In addition to the two main games the Banjo-Kazooie franchise includes two handheld games, titled Banjo-Pilot and Banjo-Kazooie Grunty’s Revenge. In Banjo-Kazooie Grunty’s Revenge, Klungo, who is Gruntilda Winkybunion’s henchman, creates a robotic version of the evil witch. This allows Gruntilda to possess the robot using her spirit and seek revenge on Banjo and Kazooie. She kidnaps Kazooie, whereupon Banjo must go back in time to save Kazooie and stop the witch’s plans one more time. Eight years after Banjo-Tooie, a third main game was released in the series, titled Banjo-Kazooie Nuts and Bolts. It took a departure from its predecessors, tasking players with building vehicles and taking part in Jiggy-Challenges to win the game. In addition, the game opens with Lord of Games, who settles Banjo, Kazooie, and Gruntilda’s conflict to determine the rightful owner of Spiral Mountain.
» Yooka-Laylee Series
A few years after the release of Banjo-Kazooie Nuts and Bolts, a new company named Playtonic Games was established. The company was formed by a small group of former Rare employees who aimed to revive the beloved Banjo-Kazooie franchise. To do so, they sought to recreate the nostalgic feelings that players experienced while playing the original Banjo-Kazooie games. Five years later, they released their first game, Yooka-Laylee, and received positive reviews from both fans and critics. In this game, players control two heroes, Yooka and Laylee, at the same time as they try to stop their antagonist, Capital B, from harvesting all the world’s books for profit. Capital B, similar to the witch Gruntilda in the Banjo-Kazooie series, wants to create a special book that will give him the power to change the future. Building on the success of Yooka-Laylee, Playtonic Games released a second game called Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, featuring similar gameplay mechanics to those in the Donkey Kong Country series. In this game, the protagonists are trapped in the game’s hub world Royal Stingdom while Capital B creates an Impossible Lair and takes over the Hive Mind and the Royal Beetalion. To stop him, Yooka and Laylee must enter Grand Tomes scattered throughout the game’s hub world, and rescue the Royal Beetalion. Each bee takes a hit for Yooka and Laylee, either from enemies or obstacles inside Capital B’s lair.