Banjo-Kazooie is a single-player platform game where the player controls the titular protagonists, an easy-going brown honey bear named Banjo and a troublemaking female red-crested "Breegull" Kazooie, from a third-person perspective.[2] The game features nine three-dimensional worlds where the player must gather musical notes and jigsaw puzzle pieces, called Jiggies, to progress.[3]
The player travels from one world to another through Gruntilda's Lair, a region that acts as the game's central overworld. Jiggies allow the player to complete jigsaw puzzles which open doors to new worlds, while musical notes are required to open doors to new sections of the overworld.[3] There are a total of 100 jiggies to collect (ten in each world), all of which are needed to view the proper ending, and 900 notes (100 in each world).[4][5] The door with the highest amount of required notes has 880, although 765 are needed to enter the final section.[4] Like Super Mario 64 (1996), Banjo-Kazooie is very open and allows the player to collect Jiggies and musical notes in a nonlinear order.[6][7] It is also possible to complete certain worlds out of order, assuming the player has enough Jiggies and musical notes to reach a world earlier than intended.[6]
Each world is composed of a number of challenges that involve solving puzzles, jumping over obstacles, racing, playing a bonus game, gathering objects, and defeating opponents.[8][3] Tasks include spelling words, helping lights get on a Christmas tree while protecting them from getting eaten, and looking for a pirate's gold.[7] The game features action-adventure elements, and the player must often interact with non-player characters and help them.[7] It is also possible to increase Banjo and Kazooie's health bar by collecting empty honeycomb pieces (of which there are two in each world), and extra lives by obtaining Banjo statues.[2][4][3]
Banjo and Kazooie can perform many abilities, such as jumping, climbing, ground-pounding, swimming, flying, and rolling into enemies.[3][4] The game has a total of 14 special moves, and some cannot be performed until conversing with Bottles the mole, who teaches them.[9][4] The breegull and the bear have unique assets. For example, while swimming, Kazooie moves faster but also has a harder time turning directions than Banjo, who only swims when above ground.[5][7] Kazooie can perform the Talon Trot, where she runs faster and up slopes too steep for Banjo, the Beak Bomb, a long and fast hit towards something with her beak that she pulls off while flying, and either shoot blue eggs from the front or rear.[5][4] In the middle of jumps or falls from great heights, Kazooie can use her wings to glide Banjo down at a slower speed for a few seconds.[4] She can also fly and jump way higher than Banjo, but these moves can only be activated by standing on pads signifying them; pads with red feathers on them activate flying, green Shock Spring pads the extra jump height.[4] Some abilities require specific items to be performed. For instance, red feathers allow Banjo and Kazooie to fly, while gold feathers protect them from damage.[3] There are two types of collectible shoes that provide temporary abilities. The Turbo Trainer shoes provide a speed burst used to reach a destination on time, while Wellington boots allows Kazooie to run on otherwise harmful ground, such as the piranha-filled waters in Bubblegloop Swamp and shifting sands in Gobi's Valley.[4]
Additionally, found in each world are five small creatures called Jinjos that Gruntilda imprisoned and, upon collection of the entire world's population, grant the duo a Jiggy.[3][10] For the camera, there are three choices of views and the ability to spin the camera around the player character.[8] However, some areas fix the camera to one angle, which sometimes hides items out of view, requiring the player to choose a first-person perspective to see them.[11]
Banjo and Kazooie are also aided by Gruntilda's sister, Brentilda, who provides information about the witch needed to defeat her, and Mumbo Jumbo, a shaman who used to be Gruntilda's teacher.[12][8] Mumbo Jumbo can use magical powers to transform them into several creatures. These include a termite, an alligator, a walrus, a pumpkin, and a honeybee. Creatures have their own abilities and allow the player to access otherwise inaccessible challenges, some of which are required to collect jiggies.[8] Before a transformation process is allowed, the player must find a required number of "Mumbo Tokens" in the worlds.[13] By finding a spell book called Cheato in the game's overworld, the player may also unlock secret codes that increase the capacity of Banjo and Kazooie's item inventory, such as the red feathers from 50 to 100 and the blue eggs from 100 to 200.
