Banjo Kazooie Diary Five: Having the time of our lives.

Last week I was witty and rhetorical. Fuck doing that this week because I played;

Gobi’s Valley

Let’s play a game. ‘Never have I ever’. You take a shot if you agree with me. Ready?

Let’s go.

Never ever have I ever cursed at a game.

Never ever have I ever lost to unfair time trials because a secret technique was necessary.

Never ever have I ever died because I touched fucking sand.

Never ever have I ever had to restart and entire level when I had over 90 of the notes because the camera bugged out.

Never ever have I missed the water level in Ocarina of Time.

Never ever have I ever died in a maze merely due to the timer running out.

Never ever have I ever spat on a game developers graves.

Never ever have I ever thrown a controller.

Never ever have I wished I could put whatever genius it was that came up with the idea for time trial puzzles/races into a deep, dark pit of hell.

Banjo Kazooie Diary Four; The night before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through Feezeezy Peak,

Not a mole was stirring, not even a squeak.

The jiggies were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that the hero Banjo soon would be there.

The cubs were frantic with despair,

For lost was their poppa bear.

He left with the promise of gifts,

But never returned because he is a right old git.

Turns out he had something stuck in his tummy,

Which BMD found pretty funny.

Well I’ve run out of rhymes so I’ll just get on with this.

Freezeezy Peak.

Grifflon’s Top 10 video game tracks!

I set the task this week for the DLCD crew to compose a list of their top ten favourite musical scores and songs from any and all video games. I have to say this is not a simple task to do. It involves a lot of soul searching. Throughout your gaming experiences what songs have remained glued to your memory? What inspired you to push the buttons a little harder and quicker? What levels would you replay over and over just to hear that fantastic music forever indented in your mind?

These are mine.

               

10. POKEMON MYSTERY DUNGEON EXPLORERS OF THE SKY –

                     “MEMORIES RETURNED”

I am quite a fan of the Pokémon franchise and have followed it since the early stages of Pokémon Yellow Special Edition, right up to the recent Black and White 2 games. Spin offs are usually terrible, but in my eyes the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series is actually pretty good. Unlike the main games where the protagonist catches Pokémon and trains them to fight others you actually are a Pokémon. What type of Pokémon is left up to a personality test that at times seems to just spurt random nonsense. What these games have is emotion. Never in the main series has there been such attachment and an emotional plot line than the Mystery Dungeon games. You and your partner grow together, battling and becoming successful Pokémon Explorers, all while uncovering a deeper plot that involves the fate of the entire Pokémon World!

Banjo Kazooie Diary Three: Bubblegum Swamp

Bubblegloop Swamp.

 

Sounds appetizing don’t it? New range from Hubba Bubba Bubble Gum could be released any day now.

I did not like this level. Not one bit.

This level was beyond cruel and unforgiving for two reasons.

1. The swamp aspect that covered nearly the entirety of the level caused damage. This isn’t something new in gaming; lava and ice water usually have the same kind of properties and levels. I find the swamp hurting you was always a bit of a stretch. They did it in Jak and Daxter; The Precursor Legacy and I didn’t enjoy it there either. Some of the jumps were just made so you would fall in.

Banjo Kazooie Diary: Two. Waterin-cha glad I didn’t say Orange?

Well I was wrong. Dat water level.

Clanker’s Cavern.

Admittedly I was hesitant to believe I would actually do this level but low and behold I actually completed the level one hundred percent. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. That includes the honey combs. Not mentioning the time I almost drowned due to the crappy camera and REVERSED swimming controls. But Clanker’s Cavern surprised me in being a decent level overall. It wasn’t too difficult and although some bits had me wanting to rip out my hair, I enjoyed it.

I want to make that clearer this time. I may have come off in a Yatzie-ish tone last time where it might have sounded harsher than intended. That was not my intention. I actually enjoy this game quite a bit, in small segments of time at once but that is about it. I just can’t handle large doses.

Grifflon’s top 5 game soundtracks

Music can make or break a game. A good game needs to combine all the elements of entertainment and sensory perception; sound and vision must be fulfilled. The soundtrack of a game can be its defining feature that makes it memorable or blend with the gameplay and plot to make something magical. So I’m going to focus not just on what game has the best soundtrack but the games that are standouts BECAUSE of their soundtracks.

#5

 JAK AND DAXTER TRILOGY

Jax and Daxter series – Naughty dog

‘Jak and Daxter Theme’

Jak and Daxter the dynamic duo have their own share of fantastic music that evolved with the series, changing from the childish fantasy in the Land of the Precursers to hardcore teenage years in Haven City. As Jak grew and hardened over the years so did the music. From the very beginning, light hearted tone of Sandover Village to the desolate and defeated drone of Haven City.

Kingdom Hearts – The First of Many

With the announcement of Kingdom Hearts 3, the September release of Kingdom Hearts 1.5 and being my first review it seems only fitting that I start off with my childhood favourite game and introduction into the RPG genre; Kingdom Hearts.

 

Kingdom Hearts was like Christmas came early, Disney and Final Fantasy combined in one. It was in March 2002 that two fandoms collided and were never the same again.

Recently DDD played Kingdom Hearts for the first time and I found myself having to explain key elements of the gameplay and story to him until it really sunk.

“At first when I saw the Disney characters I thought it was a joke but as I dove deeper into the gameplay and the story I fell in love.”  -DDD