Take Nuts n Bolts for a spin - you won't regret it.
Not so Awesome: Will likely disappoint Banjo purists; shaky land vehicle physics...
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We knew it was coming, but we didn't expect this. Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts n Bolts is the 3rd game in the main Banjo series and is also a huge departure from its forebearers. Is this a bad thing? Has Rare eternally screwed up its beloved franchise? Well, it depends on how you look at it.
Nuts n Bolts is the 360's take on Littlebigplanet. Namely, revolving a great game around user created content. While Littlebigplanet focused on the time consuming task of level creation, Banjo-Kazooie forces you to make the vehicles to traverse the world and complete missions. This game could have bombed big time if the vehicle creator wasn't easy or fun. Fortunately, Rare did it right.
It would take forever to explain, but making vehicles for each and every mission is both a blessing and a curse. It all depends on your tastes. I for one, can't stand being given a task and then being told that I need to be sent to some damn garage and work on a vehicle for ten minutes before I can make that task wish I had never come along. I like to jump straight into the action. It took some time, but I finally learned to be patient and really work on using the vehicle creator to my advantage (I'm a pretty creative person). It's very satisfying to know that your own creation just completed a very tough challenge, especially after what could be hours of trial and error. Call it dull, but that's the kind of game Nuts and Bolts is. If you aren't willing to look past the new system and have the patience to enjoy this amazing game, I suggest you keep on playing the N64 titles.
The missions themselves are usually a blast. I personally think there are too many races in the bunch, but they are well mixed in with some truly creative and unique challenges. I never thought I'd have so much fun pushing George Ice Cube up the Freezeezy Peak Snowman's scarf or driving a vehicle with backwards controls while avoiding dominos, but I guess anything can be enjoyable if done correctly. Some missions (about a quarter of them) actually give you a vehicle ready to go so you can just rely on your skill alone. This is a pleasant break from building as you'll find that you'd much rather be spending time in the game worlds than in Mumbo's garage.
Nostalgia is there, but in different forms. The main characters have returned and are for all intents and purposes similar to their N64 counterparts. The game also references the past titles A LOT. I also like how the game makes fun of video games and gamers in general. For example, at one point Grunty has polluted the LogBox720 glubber pool with cat poop and claims she will only leave if Banjo and Kazooie beat her in a race. At that point, Kazooie remarks, "So you're saying that if we beat you in a race you're going to call of the whole plan and leave?" and Banjo goes, "Yeah that is weird. I was in a similar situation once with a Genie and a giant pig." An obvious reference to Diddy Kong Racing. The game also has a tendency to mock today's gaming generation as obsessed with shooters and incapable of handling a real challenge, using the Rusty Bucket Bay level from 1998's Banjo-Kazooie as an example of a challenge that no modern gamer can complete. This kind of humor is priceless.
The visuals are outstanding. I really can't describe them in any way that would do them justice. Everything looks like it was sowed together and looks very artificial. It oozes with color and detail around every corner. These details do make you wish that this was your old platfomer back for round three, but the game's banter has hinted at part four being a traditional platformer, anyway. The game isn't selling too well, so I hope Rare might smarten up and put some effort into giving us what we want this time around. Either way, this game is amazing, but it does make you wish that these high definition graphics and crazy characters were put into a real Banjo game.
The real nostalgia comes from the music. You'll hear remixes of almost every track you've heard in a Banjo game. Cloud Cuckooland, Click Clock Wood, Freezeezy Peak, they're all here. Rare left out a few like Witchyworld and Terrydactyland, but I don't those levels were as revered as the aforementioned ones anyway. The character grunts aren't quite as pleasing as you'd expect, and Rare didn't put nearly as much effort into them as they did back in the N64 days.
Overall, this game is a satisfying one. Sure, the land vehicles can be a little off in the control department and a few missions can frustrate, but the pros just blow the cons out of the water to the point where they only serve to prove how good this game really is. It may not be the Banjo you remember, but bits and pieces of nostalgia pop in here and there and it's a nice touch to what would otherwise be considered an entirely new Intellectual Property. I don't care who you are, but you should take Nuts n Bolts for a spin - you won't regret it.