It's been a long time since we have seen my favourite Bear & Bird duo in a video game. They did pop up in Super Smash Bros Ultimate back in 2019, but to me, that wasn't good enough. Yes, I know this rumor keeps going around every year, but now an actual company has come out and stated that they actually want to do something new with Banjo & Kazooie.
Developers Toys For Bob, who are best known for handling the remakes of the original Crash Bandicoot & Spyro Trilogy, including Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled, plus 2020's Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, was recently interviewed by the Youtube Channel Canadian Guy Eh, (watch the full video below). When asked what they wanted to work on next, Studio Head Creative Director Paul Yan responded,
""One company we'd like to work with is one we're already working with: Team Xbox. They've been a great partner, and they also have a very interesting roster of characters that Toys for Bob could have a lot of fun with. The honey bear is the first one that comes to mind - I think we can all agree Banjo's been hibernating long enough, right?"
He couldn't be more right. Despite being an unfortunately dead IP for the past two decades, Banjo Kazooie still has a massive following. Since Rare's changeover to Xbox in 2002, they have decided to move away from their classic characters and work on new original games instead.(can we pretend that Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts didn't happen?) Examples include 2018's hit Sea Of Thieves, which still gets updated today, and another upcoming game called Everwild, which seems to be in development hell as of late. Recently, Rare did allow Banjo Kazooie & Tooie to be ported to the Nintendo Switch Online service, and they were included in the smash hit 2015 collection game Rare Replay (as the Xbox Arcade versions).
Meanwhile, series composer Grant Kirkhope continues to try and destroy my childhood, by refusing to look outside of his Twitter fanbase, when it comes to people wanting a new Banjo & Kazooie game. For whatever reason, Kirkhope seems highly conflicted on the matter despite them not even trying first. But he did mention that if he was asked to score music to a new Banjo & Kazooie project, he'd "Certainly love to do it".
These days, most of the former developers on Banjo Kazooie created 2017's Yooka Laylee, which, for some bizarre reason, is getting a new remaster in 2025 with Yooka-Replaylee. To me, it's frustrating that many people want a Banjo Kazooie & Tooie remaster, so far we haven't gotten one yet and the BK team currently working on a Yooka Laylee remaster for a game that isn't even 10 years old yet.
Banjo Kazooie & Tooie still remain one of my favourite go-to games from my childhood that I always have fun with and can't put down. I'm also still playing Spyro Reignited Trilogy and Crash N-Sane Trilogy from Toys for Bob. I love these remasters. It would be great if Toys For Bob could do a Banjo Kazooie & Tooie remaster first, before making a new original BK game. I think i'd trust Toys For Bob to do a remaster with Banjo Kazooie over any other company. Rare don't seem interested at all with doing anything for the characters in the future, so why not give them to someone else that wants to?
At the mean time. Toys For Bob are still in development for their latest game, many people speculate that it is a new Spyro adventure.
No comments:
Post a Comment