Banjo-Pilot

Banjo Pilot
North American box art.
Developer(s)	Rare
Publisher(s)	THQ
Series	Banjo-Kazooie
Platform(s)	Game Boy Advance
Release date(s)	NA January 12, 2005 EU February 1, 2005
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: E PEGI: 3+
Media/distribution	128-megabit cartridge

Banjo Pilot is a 2005 handheld racing video game for the Game Boy Advance featuring characters from the Banjo-Kazooie series of video games. Banjo Pilot was developed by Rare and was published by THQ in 2005.

The game was originally planned to be entitled Diddy Kong Pilot and to be a sequel to Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo 64, but due to Rare being bought out by Microsoft Studios, the characters were changed from those of the Nintendo-based Donkey Kong series to those of the Rare-based Banjo-Kazooie series because Rare no longer gained the rights to the Donkey Kong characters. This was also the last Banjo-Kazooie game released for a Nintendo console.

The game was not given a Japanese release, making it the second Banjo-Kazooie game not to be released in Japan.

Development

The game was originally developed as Diddy Kong Pilot, in which it serve as a sequel to Diddy Kong Racing. The only known playable characters were Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong, Dixie Kong, Cranky Kong, a new kong named Redneck Kong, Krunch, and King K. Rool. However, due to Microsoft purchasing Rare, the game was changed to Banjo-Pilot. It is unknown if all the characters from Diddy Kong Racing were going to be playable, as Krunch was going to playable.

Characters

There are 9 Playable characters in the game, 4 in which are playable from the start and 5 who are unlockable by purchasing them from Cheato. Playable Characters for the game include:

Starter Characters

• Banjothe bear
• First Appearance:Diddy Kong Racing
• Latest Appearance:Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing (Xbox 360 Version Only)
• Top Speed-3/5
• Acceleration-3/5
• Handling-2/5
• Kazooie the red-crested Breegull
• First Appearance:Banjo-Kazooie
• Latest Appearance:Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing (Xbox 360 Version Only)
• Top Speed-2/5
• Acceleration-3/5
• Handling-4/5

• Mumbo Jumbo the masked shaman
• First Appearance:Banjo-Kazooie
• Latest Appearance:Banjo-Kazooie:Nuts and Bolts
• Top Speed-3/5
• Acceleration-2/5
• Handling-3/5

• A purple Jinjo
• First Appearance:Banjo-Kazooie
• Latest Appearance:Banjo-Kazooie:Nuts and Bolts
• Top Speed-1/5
• Acceleration-4/5
• Handling-5/5

Unlockable Characters

• Humba Wumba the Native American shaman
• First Appearance:Banjo-Tooie
• Latest Appearance:Banjo-Kazooie:Nuts and Bolts
• Top Speed-1/5
• Acceleration-5/5
• Handling-5/5

• Grunty the witch
• First Appearance:Banjo-Kazooie
• Latest Appearance:Banjo-Kazooie:Nuts and Bolts
• Top Speed-5/5
• Acceleration-1/5
• Handling-1/5

• Klungo, the loyal manservant of Gruntilda
• First Appearance:Banjo-Kazooie
• Latest Appearance:Banjo-Kazooie:Nuts and Bolts
• Top Speed-4/5
• Acceleration-2/5
• Handling-2/5

• Bottles the shortsighted mole
• First Appearance:Banjo-Kazooie
• Latest Appearance:Banjo-Kazooie:Nuts and Bolts
• Top Speed-5/5
• Acceleration-4/5
• Handling-4/5

• Jolly Roger, a frog and owner of the tavern 'Jolly's' in Jolly Roger's Lagoon
• First Appearance:Banjo-Tooie
• Latest Appearance:Banjo-Kazooie:Nuts and Bolts
• Top Speed-2/5
• Acceleration-4/5
• Handling-4/5

Cups

There are 4 Cups in the game,each with 4 tracks, in which they are unlocked winning the previous cup in Grand Prix. There are 16 tracks in the game, in which they are unlocked by racing in Grand Prix. Some of these tracks originated from various Banjo Kazooie games, such as Terrydactyland, which originated in Banjo-Tooie. Background Characters are seen in some of the tracks, such as Gobi the Camel, who appears in Gobi's Valley, and Expresso the Ostrich from the Donkey Kong Country Series, who appears in Jinxy's Dunes. Tracks for the game include:

Honeycomb Cup/Pumpkin Cup

• Spiral Mountain-Banjo-Kazooie
• Jinxy's Dunes-Banjo-Pilot
• Freezeezy Peak-Banjo-Kazooie
• Hailfire Peaks-Banjo-Tooie
• Boss-Kazooie/Jolly Roger

Jiggy Cup/Cauldron Cup

• Treasure Trove Cove-Banjo-Kazooie
• Clanker's River-Banjo-Pilot
• Grunty Industries-Banjo-Tooie
• Gobi's Valley-Banjo-Kazooie
• Boss-Humba Wumba/Mumbo Jumbo

Beehive Cup/Skull Cup

• Freezing Furnace-Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge
• Mayahem Temple-Banjo-Tooie
• Steamy Vents-Banjo-Pilot
• Jolly Roger's Lagoon-Banjo-Tooie
• Boss-Banjo/Klungo

Feather Cup/Broomstick Cup

• Witchyworld-Banjo-Tooie
• Breegull Beach-Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge
• Terrydactyland-Banjo-Tooie
• Cauldron Keep-Banjo Tooie
• Boss-Bottles/Grunty

Story

According to Rare, there is no story to the game, although it can be assumed that Cheato the Magical Spellbook lost all of his pages and Banjo and his friends must retrieve them by completing race courses.^{[citation needed]}

Game modes

Grand Prix

In this mode, the first player races against other characters in a series of tracks to earn points. There are four cups that each contain four tracks with an aerial boss fight at the end. The player is given a trophy determined on his/her rank. Different Grand Prixes include the Bottles GP, the Grunty GP, the Endurance GP, and the Jinjo GP.

Quickrace

In this mode, the player can do a quick single race with any character he/she has already unlocked. The player can choose tracks from the Bottles and Gruntilda Grand Prixes.

Time Trial

In this mode, the player races against the ghost of either Bottles or Gruntilda to try and beat their best time.

Trophies

Here, the player can view the trophies that he/she won throughout the game. There is also a photo album when the player completes all of the game's challenges.

Jiggy Challenge

In this mode, the player collects six jiggies on tracks from the Bottles and Grunty Grand Prixes while trying to finish in first place.

Cheato

Here, Cheato pages are used to purchase unlockables within the game.

Multiplayer

Head-to-Head

It's a multiplayer quickrace, with four players together in the same track.

Dogfight

Like a cup boss battle. Players can beat the opponent using weapons.

Music

Banjo-Pilot music was composed by one of Rare's well known compositor, Robin Beanland and Jamie Hughes. According to Rare, as the game title was first Diddy Kong Pilot, the game's music track are based Donkey Kong County's soundtrack.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	67.09% (22 reviews)[1]
Review scores
Publication	Score
GameSpot	7.2/10[2]
GameSpy	[3]
IGN	8/10[4]

Banjo-Pilot received mixed reviews. IGN gave it an 8, praising it as the second-best GBA racer.^[5] It received 3 out of 5 stars from GameSpy, who said it "wasn't worth the near half-decade wait."^[6] Generally, those who praised the game did so for its addictive multiplayer mode and large replay value, while those who criticized it did so for its simplicity in design and loose physics. Gamespot awarded the game a score of 7.2 out of 10.^[7]

See also

• Diddy Kong Racing
• Mario Kart Super Circuit

References

1. ^ "Banjo-Pilot". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/gba/516241-banjo-pilot/index.html. Retrieved 2010-11-24. 
2. ^ Banjo-Pilot Game Boy Advance Review - GameSpot.com
3. ^ GameSpy: Banjo Pilot Review
4. ^ IGN: Banjo Pilot Review
5. ^ IGN: Banjo Pilot Review
6. ^ GameSpy: Banjo Pilot Review
7. ^ Banjo-Pilot Game Boy Advance Review - GameSpot.com