One of the best games on the 64.
STORY: The story is pretty basic: some witch steals Banjo's sister for her beauty, and Banjo goes out to save her. Sounds like something you'd hear in a movie about drugs... Anyway, the story isn't exactly original, but it works. Hell, if you're playing a platforming game, chances are you aren't playing it for the story. However, the dialogue used in the game is very witty nd entertaining, so that gives the story a lot more edge. 9/10
GAMEPLAY: This is an old school 3D platformer, so basically you go jumping around trying to find shiny treasures to progress in the game. However, unlike Mario 64 or something, you get to learn new moves, sort of like Metroid. There are a LOT of new moves to learn in the game and they are all fun to execute. The only downside to this excellent formula of a game is perhaps the camera angle, as it can be difficult to turn the camera, since I'm used to the camera angles of Zelda games. Another bad part is how you must collect ALL of the notes in a level in one sitting for it to count that you got all of the notes. The same goes for Jinjos, another collectible item Rare placed in the game. And every time you die, you must restart collecting the notes or jinjos from the beginning. 8/10
MUSIC: The music in this game is absolutely superb, and very catchy. 10/10
GRAPHICS: The graphics are pretty good, but this IS the N64 we're talking about, so either way theres gonna be some rough edges. 9/10
All in all, this is a great game in the Banjo series, and the one that started it all. However, if you ask me which game in the series is superior, I'd go with its sequel, Banjo-Tooie.