Announced today at the Nintendo Direct and confirmed by rare the loveable bear and bird will be part of Nintendo Switch Online’s service in October. Currently, we are not clear whether this is the straight N64 port or if it’s the updated rare replay version that was modernized for the Xbox in 2015.
You saw it right – our '90s classic Banjo-Kazooie is heading to Nintendo Switch! It’s a pleasure to be ushering the bear and bird onto Nintendo's latest console, offering another modern way (alongside @XboxGamePass and Rare Replay) to savour its many collectibles and googly eyes. https://t.co/XAsA6x6svHpic.twitter.com/F8RV5J9bJ5
There is currently no word on the sequel game Banjo Tooie but this does show a willingness for Microsoft and Nintendo to play nice for game preservation and fans enjoyment with nostalgic re-releases like these
For more news as it happens please keep checking back with XboxEra.com
This is pretty cool, and I like being able to play Banjo Kazooie on the go! However, the XBLA version does have some pretty good quality of life improvements such as more consistent framerate and not nuking your note count upon death, so unfortunately this isn’t gonna be the definitive version.
I got enough nostalgia for the game though that I’ll probably do a runthrough of this for the portability alone though!
They did not develop the original, so why? I think Rare could do it if they wanted, then before greenlighting an AAA sequel you’d need a remake (a remaster already exists) of the first game to test the waters. Moreover Xbox should not deplete its exclusives roster to Nintendo any more imo, expecially when it’s still a point of contentious concerning the brand (the “Xbox has no games” is still strong among media, not only fanboys). This strange relationship with Nintendo as of now has done anything for Xbox brand growth, I still need to understand the ultimate goal.
Again, current day Rare is NOT the Rareware of N64 days. Much of the OG staff left soon after acquisition. Playtonic was founded by one such crew of people. Current Rare doesn’t wanna do anything with their old IP, they will just at max oversee certain things, and greenlight other studios wanting to make a game from the old Rare library.
And although Playtonic do understand Banjo the best cuz they made it originally, their games don’t seem to inspire confidence to me. Current day Rare might not be a platformer games developer, but Nintendo surely is, and they make some of the best in the biz, they understand Banjo to a good degree. I don’t personally want Xbox to just hand over lot of their exclusives to Nintendo, but I’m talking a case where Nintendo themselves would be the ones actually making the game, an unprecedented thing in the industry, which is why it’ll likely never happen, but all the more amazing if it could. A Nintendo made Banjo, that’s day 1 on both Switch and Xbox gamepass. That’ll not just move mad amount of switch sales and game sales, but also MS would rake in insane amounts of money from the publishing.
Outside obvious pipe dreams, I think Playful or Gears for Breakfast are the best candidates personally, even if Playtonic is the one with actual ex-Rare staff.
Is this anything new? I remember RARE making games on the GBA even after MS bought the corp. I do wish MS would allow or ask RARE to make sequels to the likes of Banjo or Kameo. The Xbox brand badly lacks quality Platformers that all the family can enjoy
