Banjo-Pilot
A kart racer where characters pilot airplanes instead of go-karts.
Banjo-Pilot is a 2005 kart racing game for the Game Boy Advance and the fourth installment in Rare's Banjo-Kazooie series. It was originally announced as Diddy Kong Pilot, a sequel to Diddy Kong Racing, but after Microsoft acquired Rare the Nintendo characters were replaced with Banjo-Kazooie characters. THQ published the game in January 2005 to mixed reviews.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Rare
- Publisher
- THQ
- Composer
- Robin Beanland, Jamie Hughes
- Series
- Banjo-Kazooie
- Platforms
- Game Boy Advance
- Released
- 11 January 2005 (NA); 18 February 2005 (EU)
- Genre
- Kart racing
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Banjo-Pilot is a kart racing game with characters and environments from the Banjo-Kazooie series. The player views the action from behind the character's back and must maneuver their vehicle around tracks. All races are three laps long and include offensive power-ups. Golden music notes, a collectible from the Banjo platformers, are scattered on tracks. Unlike other kart racing games, the player controls airplanes instead of go-karts, allowing vertical movement. However, the planes behave like karts in some ways, such as slowing down over rough ground. Planes are equipped with bullets that can be shot at other racers, and a barrel roll can dodge attacks. Nine characters are available: Banjo, Kazooie, Mumbo Jumbo, and a purple Jinjo are initially playable, while Humba Wumba, Gruntilda, Klungo, Bottles, and Jolly Roger are unlockable. The game has 16 tracks across four single-player modes. Grand Prix has players race through four consecutive tracks and ends with a Champion Challenge, an aerial dogfight against a boss. Jiggy Challenge involves collecting Jiggies for points while racing Bottles. Quickrace lets players choose any track, and time trial challenges them to finish a course as fast as possible. Multiplayer modes for up to four players include a Grand Prix variant, a one-on-one race, and a dogfighting game. Competing earns Cheato pages, which can be traded to the book Cheato for bonuses like new modes and characters.
Development
Rare developed Banjo-Pilot for the Game Boy Advance over nearly five years. Originally titled Diddy Kong Pilot, it was intended as a sequel to Diddy Kong Racing and would have featured characters from Nintendo's Donkey Kong and Mario franchises. The cartridge contained accelerometer technology similar to Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble, allowing tilt controls. Rare focused on planes to differentiate the game from other GBA racers. Nintendo and Rare announced the game at E3 in May 2001 and showed demos at Nintendo Space World in August. Journalists praised the visuals. Nintendo planned a release date of 4 March 2002 but became concerned about quality around Space World. A programmer recalled Nintendo felt the tilt controls did not work well, the GBA LCD required proper alignment with a light source, and a plane racing game was pointless without a 3D world. Rare was expected to finish by October 2001 but still had to implement many game modes. Company politics complicated development, with the programmer saying Rare was micro-managing and disregarding hardware and cartridge space limits. By September 2002, the game was unreleased, and Microsoft acquired Rare. The buyout did not affect Rare's GBA plans, but it lost access to Nintendo's Mario and Donkey Kong intellectual property.
Reception
Banjo-Pilot received mixed or average reviews according to Metacritic. Many reviewers found the game lacked originality and felt the plane setting was insufficient to distinguish it from other GBA kart racers. GameSpy and Nintendo World Report noted the planes still exhibited go-kart behaviors like slowing off-track. NWR argued the planes' maneuvers were worthless, and Eurogamer thought the planes made the game favor luck over skill. NWR believed the game lacked what made Rare's earlier racing games great, and VideoGamer.com wrote that removing Nintendo characters and tilt controls prevented innovation. The game was often called a Mario Kart clone. Critics generally considered it one of the better clones—Cubed3 and IGN called it the second-best GBA racer after Mario Kart: Super Circuit—but wrote that players would be better off with a Mario Kart game. Eurogamer suggested players try it before buying, while GameSpy and VideoGamer.com said there was no reason to own it when better games like Mario Kart and Konami Krazy Racers existed. IGN argued the similarities to Mario Kart allowed balanced design, and GameSpot called it entertaining, comparing it favorably to Super Mario Kart. Eurogamer and VideoGamer.com questioned its appeal, noting Banjo characters were relatively obscure.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was Banjo-Pilot released?
Banjo-Pilot was released on 11 January 2005 in North America and on 18 February 2005 in Europe.
Who composed the music for Banjo-Pilot?
The music for Banjo-Pilot was composed by Robin Beanland and Jamie Hughes.
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