Gamers were hoping that the release of Astro Bot would lead to more prominent 3D platformers coming out. That hasn’t happened yet, but with the Switch 2 coming out soon, it wouldn't be a surprise if we get another critically acclaimed 3D Mario game after the system’s release.
While we wait for Mario to rock the 3D platformer world again after Astro Bot reignited interest, it’s worth noting that Xbox could have been ahead of the curve. Before Astro Bot was getting all this love from gamers, fans were asking Microsoft for a new Banjo-Kazooie game after the duo appeared in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2019.
Naturally, Microsoft decided to ignore fans who wanted a new game and hasn’t done anything with the franchise.
It’s still amazing to see a company eat up other developers and make them work on games they weren’t known for. Sure, Xbox 360 got Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts from Rare, but that wasn’t the follow-up fans wanted, and it quickly faded to obscurity. Rare was then relegated to making Kinect games before finally getting a major win with Sea of Thieves.
Admittedly, Sea of Thieves is a huge success for Xbox and has even led to a PS5 port, but that’s not what fans wanted from Rare. Not right away, at least. Instead of working on those Kinect games no one remembers, the company should have made another Banjo-Kazooie platformer.
Why are fans so nostalgic for this bear and bird? Because their N64 games were good.
The original Banjo-Kazooie N64 game is still pretty playable to this day. Banjo controls like a dream, with a solid move-set that emphasizes platforming and exploration. Once Kazooie’s moves are added, these options expand even more and make going through these levels to find collectibles a ton of fun.
Banjo-Tooie isn’t as fondly remembered, but the game still has fans. This introduced even bigger worlds for the duo to explore, though it also resulted in some framerate issues. It was still plenty playable and this wasn’t the first N64 game to have framerate issues, but fans do prefer the first game overall.
Luckily, both games were re-released via Xbox Live, and they perform a lot better now. Xbox fans can also replay Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts if they want. It’s not a horrible game per se, but the focus on custom vehicles over platforming turned a lot of fans away from the title. Some would say it's an underrated 360 classic, but fans would have preferred another 3D platformer.
After Banjo was shown off in Smash Ultimate, many were hoping that Xbox would finally do something with this franchise. The character received a huge reaction and even got an Amiibo out of it. Nintendo and Xbox even agreed to re-release the N64 Banjo games on the NSO Expansion Pack.
Unfortunately, nothing happened, and Microsoft never got to show fans how much they were missing 3D platformers. Granted, other notable titles also tried to bring the craze back, like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Crash Bandicoot 4, but Banjo-Kazooie could have turned the tide a bit more.
Will we ever get a new Banjo-Kazooie game? Never say never, but it seems highly unlikely at this point.