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Banjo Pilot has finally arrived on the GBA. Does it soar high or does it bite the dust?
February 8, 2005 | 7:00 PM PSTby: Agustin Olvera
There has been far too many Mario Kart kart racers out there for the GBA. However, none are able to even come close to the grandeur experience that is Mario Kart. Rareware did an amazing job on the Nintendo 64, releasing the acclaimed Diddy Kong Racing to the public. Now, they tried once again with their long-in-development game, Banjo Pilot. It has taken years for this game to release, and it has finally arrived on the GBA, complete with a mixed bag of goodies. Sure, the graphics are great, and the audio is superb, but there are many other factors that keep Banjo Pilot from being the perfect racer.
Playing with the Banjo
Banjo Pilot may have numerous similarities to the Mario Kart series, but it is far from being the same game. In this game you play as one of nine characters from the Banjo Kazooie universe, including Gruntilda, Mumbo Jumbo, Kazooie, Jinjo, Humba Wumba, and Banjo himself. Most of these characters have to be bought from Cheato, who sells you secret items and characters in exchange for pages you acquire at the end of each race. These extras are like bonuses acquired, except you need to buy them instead of them being awarded to you. This can pose a problem, however, as controlling the game is not so easy.
You may, and most likely will, find yourself crashing and even missing some items because of the awkward controls for this game, as well as the graphical limitations of the GBA. Since Banjo Pilot is not a kart racer (it is a “plane” racer), your hovercraft is, well... not on the ground. Because of this, you must control every direction that you move in, not only horizontally, but vertically as well. While the allotted roaming region may be limited, there are too many difficulties in moving and seeing what is coming up. This means you’ll be missing boosts and items frequently, forcing you to remember their location to pick them up on the next lap. These difficult controls don’t get any better later on when the races get harder, and only true determination will get you through it.
As you race around the tracks, you can collect musical notes which increase the amount of Cheato pages you get at the end of the race. There are four different game modes available to play in Banjo Pilot in Single Player Mode. These include Grand Prix, Time Trial, Jiggy Challenge, and Quickrace. In Grand Prix, your goal is to compete in various tournaments and accumulate enough points to face the guardian and win the cup. This is something very unique to this game, and a nice distraction from the race-only nature of the Grand Prix. In order to receive the cup, however, you must not only accumulate enough points to get a trophy, but you must also fight the guardian of that Grand Prix in a “dogfight”. By using items and pellets to injure the guardian, you must last long enough for the guardian to go down before he destroys you. You will have a certain amount of time to attack the guardian from behind as it throws items at you, so dodging and precision are key winning factors to these dogfights. After this, the perspective changes and you will be the one flying in front of him, allowing you to see behind you. Once the guardian is defeated, the cup is yours to admire in the Trophies Room. These dogfights gets harder as you progress through the Grand Prix but are all too identical to one another, making them enjoyable only the first few times.
In Time Trial Mode, your goal is to beat record times set by default in the game. You choose which race track and character you’re going to race with, as each track has a different time to beat. Jiggy Challenge is a mixture of a race and a scavenger hunt all in one. In order to win, you must go around the tracks collecting six jigsaw puzzle pieces (jiggies), all while having to beat the other character competing against you. Qucikrace allows you to just get acquainted with the tracks and practice against seven opponents in tracks you have unlocked.
Different color, same tracks
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Banjo Pilot is that the tracks are repeated from the first set of 16 tracks. Once you beat the Bottles Grand Prix, you have literally raced on all the tracks in the game. Once the Gruntilda Grand Prix is unlocked, you’ll have to race through the exact same tracks from the Bottles Grand Prix except they have a greenish hue that makes them appear different. The layout of the tracks are identical to the original 16 tracks, and the only thing that has changed is the difficulty level.
Some other useless functions in the game are the abilities to dodge incoming items. You are told that you are able to dodge incoming items by executing a barrel roll, yet you hardly have enough time to execute this move once the item is right behind you. If you successfully execute it, however, you are given a chance to get a boot by pressing the A button as soon as your plane is ready to return to its original position. This will thrust you forward, and can also be done at the beginning of every race. Think of this as the boost you get at the Start line in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! by pressing A at the right moment. Another similarity to the Mario Kart series is the use of Mario-esque items. Red shells, spiny shells, bananas, mushrooms, stars, and the thunderbolt are all included in this game, the only difference being their look.
It Takes Two to Banjo
Banjo Pilot features an engrossing multiplayer game mode that makes the game a little more appealing. Each player needs a copy of the game, however, so finding an opponent may prove to be difficult for some. In multiplayer mode, players are able to race and battle each other through Grand Prix Mode, Head-To-Head, and Dogfight. In Grand Prix Mode, players race each other in a league of four races trying to win the cup by being the ones with the most points at the end. In Head-To-Head, players just race one another in a desired track. Dogfight mode allows players to fight each other like in the Single Player Grand Prix boss battles.
Closing Comments
Overall, Banjo Pilot suffers from being too dull and repetitive. Each level might look different from the last one, and the layout may be different, too, but racing on them just isn’t exciting nor is it fun. The graphics are great, and each character is nicely animated, and the backgrounds are too. The sense of speed during boosts is present, and the music is very reminiscent of the console Banjo games. These boosts, however, are at times placed in the least preferable locations, making it even more frustrating to play. Banjo Pilot seemed very promising, but it didn’t fully play to its potential.
Playing with the Banjo
Banjo Pilot may have numerous similarities to the Mario Kart series, but it is far from being the same game. In this game you play as one of nine characters from the Banjo Kazooie universe, including Gruntilda, Mumbo Jumbo, Kazooie, Jinjo, Humba Wumba, and Banjo himself. Most of these characters have to be bought from Cheato, who sells you secret items and characters in exchange for pages you acquire at the end of each race. These extras are like bonuses acquired, except you need to buy them instead of them being awarded to you. This can pose a problem, however, as controlling the game is not so easy.
You may, and most likely will, find yourself crashing and even missing some items because of the awkward controls for this game, as well as the graphical limitations of the GBA. Since Banjo Pilot is not a kart racer (it is a “plane” racer), your hovercraft is, well... not on the ground. Because of this, you must control every direction that you move in, not only horizontally, but vertically as well. While the allotted roaming region may be limited, there are too many difficulties in moving and seeing what is coming up. This means you’ll be missing boosts and items frequently, forcing you to remember their location to pick them up on the next lap. These difficult controls don’t get any better later on when the races get harder, and only true determination will get you through it.
As you race around the tracks, you can collect musical notes which increase the amount of Cheato pages you get at the end of the race. There are four different game modes available to play in Banjo Pilot in Single Player Mode. These include Grand Prix, Time Trial, Jiggy Challenge, and Quickrace. In Grand Prix, your goal is to compete in various tournaments and accumulate enough points to face the guardian and win the cup. This is something very unique to this game, and a nice distraction from the race-only nature of the Grand Prix. In order to receive the cup, however, you must not only accumulate enough points to get a trophy, but you must also fight the guardian of that Grand Prix in a “dogfight”. By using items and pellets to injure the guardian, you must last long enough for the guardian to go down before he destroys you. You will have a certain amount of time to attack the guardian from behind as it throws items at you, so dodging and precision are key winning factors to these dogfights. After this, the perspective changes and you will be the one flying in front of him, allowing you to see behind you. Once the guardian is defeated, the cup is yours to admire in the Trophies Room. These dogfights gets harder as you progress through the Grand Prix but are all too identical to one another, making them enjoyable only the first few times.
In Time Trial Mode, your goal is to beat record times set by default in the game. You choose which race track and character you’re going to race with, as each track has a different time to beat. Jiggy Challenge is a mixture of a race and a scavenger hunt all in one. In order to win, you must go around the tracks collecting six jigsaw puzzle pieces (jiggies), all while having to beat the other character competing against you. Qucikrace allows you to just get acquainted with the tracks and practice against seven opponents in tracks you have unlocked.
Different color, same tracks
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Banjo Pilot is that the tracks are repeated from the first set of 16 tracks. Once you beat the Bottles Grand Prix, you have literally raced on all the tracks in the game. Once the Gruntilda Grand Prix is unlocked, you’ll have to race through the exact same tracks from the Bottles Grand Prix except they have a greenish hue that makes them appear different. The layout of the tracks are identical to the original 16 tracks, and the only thing that has changed is the difficulty level.
Some other useless functions in the game are the abilities to dodge incoming items. You are told that you are able to dodge incoming items by executing a barrel roll, yet you hardly have enough time to execute this move once the item is right behind you. If you successfully execute it, however, you are given a chance to get a boot by pressing the A button as soon as your plane is ready to return to its original position. This will thrust you forward, and can also be done at the beginning of every race. Think of this as the boost you get at the Start line in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! by pressing A at the right moment. Another similarity to the Mario Kart series is the use of Mario-esque items. Red shells, spiny shells, bananas, mushrooms, stars, and the thunderbolt are all included in this game, the only difference being their look.
It Takes Two to Banjo
Banjo Pilot features an engrossing multiplayer game mode that makes the game a little more appealing. Each player needs a copy of the game, however, so finding an opponent may prove to be difficult for some. In multiplayer mode, players are able to race and battle each other through Grand Prix Mode, Head-To-Head, and Dogfight. In Grand Prix Mode, players race each other in a league of four races trying to win the cup by being the ones with the most points at the end. In Head-To-Head, players just race one another in a desired track. Dogfight mode allows players to fight each other like in the Single Player Grand Prix boss battles.
Closing Comments
Overall, Banjo Pilot suffers from being too dull and repetitive. Each level might look different from the last one, and the layout may be different, too, but racing on them just isn’t exciting nor is it fun. The graphics are great, and each character is nicely animated, and the backgrounds are too. The sense of speed during boosts is present, and the music is very reminiscent of the console Banjo games. These boosts, however, are at times placed in the least preferable locations, making it even more frustrating to play. Banjo Pilot seemed very promising, but it didn’t fully play to its potential.
November 20, 2009
