[...]ignoring or rewriting virtually everything it stood for.
By this, I'm assuming you mean Kazooie lending Banjo a hand when he needed it - two characters working together? And that's a fair point; I understand where you're coming from. But nearly every move these two had is still there, except dressed up in the form of a machine. Is it really all that different? You've got your feathers (wings, propeller), feet (wheels), Talon Trot (spiked wheels for climbing), egg firing (Egg Cannon thing), jump (spring), and your Ratatat Rap/Banjo's Roll (Foot in a Box/other weird stuff) for whacking enemies with. And on top of that, there's room for a buttload of other stuff now they've got the room on the vehicles. And you can still extend your jumps - what was done with Kazooie's quick flappy move - with boosters, or wings that allow you to glide.
You've still got your exploration, and fun little challenges. Banjo wasn't strictly a platformer; it was also considered an Action/Adventure title. One aspect of an Action/Adventure title is, according to Wiki, are isolated minigames and challenges. Banjo's worlds were filled with them, such as Mr Vile's grub eating contest, or the sandcastle in Treasure Trove Cove. And it seems they're going to play just as big of a role in Nuts and Bolts, judging from the coconut-hauling challenge in Nutty Acres.
But for me, I remember Banjo-Kazooie for its humour, world (Spiral Mountain, Grunty's Lair, etc) and characters that were brimming with personality. That's everything I think Banjo-Kazooie stood for, and I can see that's still good and proper from the information and videos Rare have released.
So no, I can't say I agree. Nuts and Bolts does know its roots - it's just a little harder to see. You've got the exploration, you've still got your moves. I think the comparison to Mario Galaxy is justified, because the philosophy behind both is similar. Mario changed up the shape of the levels, whilst Banjo's changed the shape of the object you move around the levels with. Both changed a core element to open up new possibilities. Mario Galaxy introduced cool gravity-themed platforming, and Banjo's opening up multiple ways of solving problems/exploring through a custom moveset, a vehicle creation tool, and allowing physics to come into play (much like the gravity stuff in Galaxy).
Imagine being in a buggy, and you want to reach a high-up ledge. Now, this ability doesn't exist as far as we know, but bear with me. You could fly there, but you could also take a quicker route. Let's assume you've got a rope with a sticky ball (one of the game's items) attacted to it on your buggy, so you:
- Switch to use the sticky ball, aim just under the ledge, and fire the string/sticky ball off.
- It pulls your buggy up towards the ledge, but you're left hanging just under it.
- So you use the thrusters on the front of the buggy to swing it anti-clockwise onto the top of the ledge. You land, upside-down, and then flick the spring to flip your buggy back on its wheels, and you're off again.
Now, think that sequence through in your head, and imagine how nifty it'd look in motion. It's almost acrobatic. Could you do anything like that with Banjo and Kazooie on foot?
The vehicles are awesome, and HUMBA IS HOT.
Well said!
