My experience replaying Banjo-Tooie: The fish of my nightmares
I've been a huge Banjo-Kazooie fan since I was young, boy what gem of a game! From its level design and music to its characters, Kazooie is a total diva. How could I forget those days when I could spend hours watching videos of the game's mysteries, its most chaotic animations, and of course, the magic of replaying it. It's one of the games I've replayed the most... although, I can't say the same about Banjo-Tooie, a game I didn't try until much later.
It's been over 10 years since I played this game for the first and only time, and be me, a banjo kazooie fan at heart, decided it was time to give this sequel a replay. I remembered nothing about it but the mental pain of figuring out that you needed to use the train to access Gruntys Industry, oh silly me, at least I would feel like its a new experience again.
The first thing I noticed when I checked the save files was that my original save file was incomplete, only 71 Jiggies. The shame! Oh the dishonor! To have completed Banjo-Kazooie many times but not Banjo-Tooie, I decided to take on the task of completing it 100%, and for an extra challenge, attempt a full 2000s run: no guides, no tutorials.
Everything was going just fine, I started the game normally: Gruntilda is back, she destroys our house and Banjo has to stop her revenge plan. This is where the tragicomedy begins, along with the main story of the game: they present a problem to solve with a character, Roysten (well, aside from the death of the least charismatic character, but anyway, c'est la vie).
Oh silly immortal goldfish trapped under a rock. Naturally, I knew I didn't have the skill required to break the rock, so well, mission for later. Another very important thing to note is that I didn't play much each day as the game and its fps make this poor soul get dizzy really quick to give y'all, dear readers, an idea of how long it took me to reach Glitter Gulch Mine, maybe 3 days.
So there I was, each day trying to memorize what was left in each level and its surroundings (yes, including the Jinjo in Spiral Mountain, ironic, I know) so I could come back to complete it later. When I got the Bill Drill skill in the second level, the first thing that came to mind was the poor Jinjo under the rock outside the level, that poor bird, whistling and crying for help. From then on, I simply completed the game day by day. I had good and bad days trying to figure out each puzzle from the game, but how could someone hate this game with such great level designs and fun moments, right? Maybe Breegull Blaster mode a bit...
Accurate description of me getting lost in the mazes
The day before facing the final boss, I had to make sure I had completed all the side quests. Deliver the honeycombs to the bee? Done. The Jinjos? Absolutely. The legendary and mysterious Stop 'n Swop? Very much done. And of course, give the remaining pages to Cheato. It wasn't the first time I return to Spiral Mountain (as I mentioned going for the Jinjo, the Stop 'n Swop and some of the Cheato pages) but the last. And knowing I was close to finish the game, I felt nostalgic. One tend to return to where it all begins, and I wanted to go to Banjo's house to see it one last time. As I approached the house, I noticed a particular stone up close; I recognized it as a type of stone to break with the Drill ability, curious I broke it. Then Roysten showed up and thanked me for freeing him... and then I remembered: The goldfish, oh that damn fish. How could I forgot?? It must have been a month since I started the game, and therefore since I first saw the fish. Anyway, he asks me for one last favor: to take him to the river. Ah, a small reward I must have missed. Well, that doesn't sound so bad, does it? I take him there, and in gratitude, he rewards me with the ability to stay underwater longer and swim even faster... at the end of the game... when I've completed all the levels, including the ones filled with water.
The way I stared at the screen as the fish vanished into the river. When I tell you, dear reader, I probably shouted more insults at that damn fish (and probably myself) than the diva Kazooie ever did at any NPC to the point I roasted the fish harder than Bottles wife at the end of the game (I applaud you Mrs. Bottles for cooking that fish). Your extra oxygen wasn't even needed against that Gruntilda segment, so thanks for nothing, fish.
All this time, while I was playing, I was like "Yeah sure, the backtrack and puzzles were a bit tricky, but I managed to complete the game, so checkmate Rare" only for the game to have the last laugh by shoving one last backtrack mission up my booty. "For someone who tried to memorize everything within the levels, it seems you forgot the most irrelevant yet obvious backtrack, the one mission that exists because of the opening scene. Tricky enough?" the game said as I looked at the credits at 100% completion.
And that was pretty much my experience replaying Banjo Tooie, at least I completed the game but may as well eat some fish sticks tonight to accept defeat with honor. Well done Rare, well done 🫡
Posted Mar 6, 2026, 8:39 PM UTC