1997

This is a sub-page of Prerelease:Banjo-Kazooie/Banjo-Kazooie.

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E3 1997#

To do:
Get screencaps of the videos, verify sources for some of the screenshots

Watch on YouTube

First unveiled during Nintendo's E3 1997 Press Conference, an earlier version of Banjo-Kazooie was introduced by Peter Main as having "16 worlds and 24 modes" with more similarities to the prototype shown on Rare Revealed. While Mumbo's Mountain and Treasure Trove Cove would be available on the show floor, a special gameplay preview during the conference gave a preview into early levels that wouldn't be experienced by attendees. Instead, Nintendo's Ken Lobb would showcase a tour through several of Banjo's worlds, live on stage.

Development tools were available during this preview for purposes of demonstration, which include the ability to fly anywhere to view levels from above, as well as the ability to segue instantaneously from one level to another in a predetermined selection to showcase the variety of Banjo's worlds.

The presentation begins with an early Nintendo/Rare logo sequence, which transitions to the Intro Bandstand and early title screen. Pressing start at the title screen begins the player in a very early Mumbo's Mountain. After collecting the first Jiggy in the eye of Mumbo's Hut, Ken Lobb shows some of the duos moves before transforming into a Termite in an early Mumbo's Hut and entering Ticker's Tower. At this point, Ken Lobb engages the developer 'skip' function to travel instantly to other levels. After transitioning quickly to Mumbo's Hut and Ticker's Tower once more, the demo skips ahead to an early version of Treasure Trove Cove.

After flying around the level, Ken Lobb skips to the interior of Blubber's Ship, briefly showing the inside of the Sand Castle before transitioning to the exterior of Mad Monster Mansion. Using the developer function to fly from the base of the mansion, Ken shows off several landmarks on the grounds before landing on Tumbler's Shed, and walking towards the well. Skipping ahead once more, Ken is transported to the Cellar, and then the interior of the Church where he shows off a stained glass window. The next skip takes him into the interior of the Dining Room, before making an unexpected skip to the Temple Test Level. After approaching the gate, Ken skips to Gobi's Valley, where several landmarks appear to be unfinished, with certain models in uniform color lacking texture. The demonstration ends with a small tour of Spiral Mountain, the final level shown.

Watch on YouTube

General Gameplay#

GUI elements are missing from the B-roll footage, such as counters for eggs/feathers/notes.
2D collectible objects are static in the B-roll footage, like in the Rare Revealed build, but animated in the demo.
Collecting blue eggs has a different sound effect, using four ascending notes with a kazoo-like instrument.
Beehives are large and motionless in the B-roll; in the demo, they are their correct size, but still don't have an idle animation or have eyes like in the final.
Beak Bomb has a different sound effect.
Shock Spring Jump Pads in the demo have their final icon, but with a blue background color like the Flight Pads. In the B-roll footage, they appear identical to the early Flight Pads.
Different Jinjo freeing animation.

Intro Sequence#

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The N64 and Rare logos appear on a black background, while the final uses a sky backdrop.
The sequence is longer with more elaborate animations. The N64 logo pauses to look around more than once. The Rare logo sneaks onto the screen from the right rather than popping up from below, and Banjo runs by in front of it. The Rare logo then gets cartoonishly chased off the screen by Bigbutts, leaving a Rare "R"-shaped cloud behind it.
The title screen is the early Banjo-Kazooie logo on a black background with small text below it saying "Press Start". The attract mode demos that plays in the final game's title screen isn't implemented yet.

E3 1997	Final

Intro Bandstand#

E3 1997	Final

At E3 1997, the area where the intro took place looked much more like a jungle than a forest, with different trees and no cliff in the background; many of these assets are shared with the E3 version of Mumbo's Mountain.
The waterfall was not originally present in 1997, or was somewhere outside of the visible frame.
The shrubs weren't as stripey before the final game.
Three billboard mushrooms behind Mumbo were split up, with one going behind Banjo in the final.
Mumbo's various transforming instruments appear with a flash of yellow star particles.

Spiral Mountain#

E3 1997	Final

Spiral Mountain was originally a man-made structure, with spiralling brickwork. The edges also featured a wooden railing.

E3 1997	Final

The "Giant's Lair" entrance was originally a hollow in the cliff-side. In the final game, the entrance to Gruntilda's Lair is a statue of her face carved from the side of the mountain.

Mumbo's Mountain#

The first level had a significantly different set of textures. The overall design persisted very close to the final game, when it was suddenly almost completely redone. Many of the textures can be seen in better detail in the Rare Revealed build.
The "Jungle1" track plays in this level:

Variants of the early theme when near Mumbo's Hut and Ticker's Tower is heard in the footage. Before the Evercade port of the game, this was its only use.

Starting Area#

E3 1997 B-Roll	E3 1997 Demo	Final

The billboard bush was originally on the left of the bridge, then moved to the right side with a second bush and flowers added in the area, then the two bushes were eventually also replaced with flowers.
The yellow rock wall textures seem to have been given a smoother appearance in the demo.
The bridge was changed from logs to planks (and eventually would become a sort of rope mesh).

Rare Revealed	E3 1997	Final

The tiki mask enemies have evolved at this point into larger blue-skinned Mumbo-like enemies with yellow hair and googly eyes. They are now animated and make a sound when defeated.

Conga#

Conga has a white tanktop as seen in the Rare Revealed build.
His animations are oddly stilted and he is constantly throwing oranges.
The path to the big log platform is a small bridge instead of being made of grass.
There is a patch of dry ground behind Conga that was changed to full grass in the final game.

Mountaintop#

Mumbo's skull is different from the original hut in Rare Revealed, now shaped like a skull proper, but shaped differently from the final and missing details. The Jiggy is already in its eye, while it floated above the hut in the Rare Revealed demo.
The player is able to play as the termite transformation in the demo.

Mumbo's Skull Interior#

E3 1997 B-Roll	Final

Mumbo's hut's interior still is largely the same as in the Rare Revealed build, but some progress has been made since then:

The chair has had some of its textures refined to their final versions, but not the fronts of the arms yet.
While the vertex colors/lighting are now implemented, the room is still lit differently than the final.
The floor is now green with a reddish-brown center, and eventually would become brown with a green center.
The transformation animation is much simpler with less visual effects. Mumbo only uses the green magic particles here.

Treasure Trove Cove#

TTC was already one of the most finished-looking levels in the game and was playable at E3. It used an earlier music track:

A variant of the early theme when near Capt. Blubber's Ship is heard in the footage. Before the Evercade port of the game, this was its only use.

The pier at the beginning is longer with an L-shaped turn.
No NPCs or enemies are present other than Jinjos, Leaky, mines, and red crabs. Nipper's shell also seems to be absent from the level geometry.
NPCs missing include: Capt. Blubber, Nipper, Yum-Yum, Lockups, and Snacker.
Leaky is in his correct spot, but does not seem to be animated yet, and it's unknown if the sandcastle pool can be drained. There is 1 mine enemy in the pool.
Large, static beehives near the entrance.
The player is able to execute the Shock Jump twice in a row.
More trees were originally placed around the lighthouse area, especially three conspicuous ones going down the front side of the rocks.
The B-roll footage has the earlier design for the Flight Pad with a bird's foot design instead of 3 feathers. The playable demo build has the final flight pad.
One of the rescued Jinjos spin jumps instead of flying around Banjo.
In the B-roll footage, the player can activate flying from anywhere, possibly as a special debug function.
- Meanwhile, in the demo, it appears that it is either difficult to activate the flight pad, or there is an extra full jump animation before flying starts.
The red feather on one of the flight pads for the treasure hunt Jiggy can't be interacted with or collected until the flight pad is activated.
The particles that appear while the Wonderwing is performed are rainbow-colored.
There is a palm tree with a slanted trunk on the treasure chest Jiggy island. This is not in the final game.
The first "X" is bigger than in the final game.

To do:
Verify below using higher quality footage

Early	Final

Some of the B-roll footage and press photos seem to not show Kazooie's wing textures on the upper side of her wings. Only the undersides of her wings are untextured in the final game.

Clanker's Cavern#

To do:
Isolate footage from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXKYEv7kYxs this video

The scant few seconds of available footage of this level from E3's B-roll shows it seemingly unchanged from the Rare Revealed demo, still with an organic Clanker. The music track is an early rendition of what would become DK64's Fungi Forest theme that has not been preserved in Grant Kirkhope's released early tracks. This level was not playable at E3.

Gobi's Valley#

E3 1997	May 1998	Final

Jinxy is entirely untextured during E3, featuring a different skybox and perimeter brickwork.

E3 1997	Final

The Beak Bomb pyramid that houses Rubee and Toots was unfinished during the E3 showing, only containing one of the faces. As Ken Lobb lands at the base of the pyramid and travels to its entrance, the sky can be seen through the open doorway.

Mad Monster Mansion#

Despite being the seventh level in the game, Mad Monster Mansion had some very finished-looking areas by E3 1997 but lacks any objects much like Gobi's Valley. The Rare Revealed videos did not show any maps from this level.

Starting Area#

E3 1997	Final

The gate in the starting area was originally one that shared similarities with the other breakable variants around the mansion. The final game has its own unique Grunty themed gate that blocks the entrance entirely, leaving no confusion as to whether it can be crossed.

Cellar#

E3 1997	Final

The wine barrels in the Cellar have their lids permanently smashed open, with a jagged outline. In the final game, the lids are destroyed when attacked, and leave no remnant behind. Also of interest is that the barred barrel that houses the Cyan Egg has not been implemented yet, with its lid appearing like the others in the cellar.

Dining Room#

Some of the portraits in the dining room went through some interesting changes.

Earlier (1997 E3)	Early (Early 1998)

The central right portrait was a picture of the windmill from Twelve Tales: Conker 64. It was surrounded by cropped renders Banjo on either side.

Early (1997 E3)	Final

The portrait of Grunty over the fireplace mantle is a window with a bright light shining into the room in this version.

Temple Test Level#

Plays an early version of the theme that would be repurposed for Fungi Forest in Donkey Kong 64.

Unused Worlds#

Believe it or not, there's still entire unused worlds this late into development! These worlds were revealed on Gregg Mayles' Twitter account in 2025 to celebrate the anniversary of the game's sequel, Banjo-Tooie, as the worlds would be repurposed for that game. All revealed concept artwork for both worlds are dated July of 1997, roughly 11 months before the game's North American release.

Lava Level#

A lava level, creatively named "Lava Level" on the concept art, is dated July 1, 1997 with specific sections later expanded upon in concept artwork dated July 3, 1997. This world was later repurposed for the Fire Side of Hailfire Peaks in Tooie. The world featured a volcano with a dragon boss at its summit, who could be defeated by firing eggs into four stone egg blocks, which are shaped "like something with a mouth to fire eggs into". A note from a developer written from the perspective of the dragon, presumably after the world had already been scrapped, reads: "Please... I want to be in the next one... oh, go on. Please?". He would soon receive his wish, as he would later return in Tooie (though he'd be red instead of green) as Chilli Billi, along with a new brother named Chilly Billy, and both are defeated identically to how their boss fight is described here. An area called Tiptup's Cave also appears in this concept art, where Banjo must platform off of turtles swimming in pools of lava to receive a Jiggy at the summit. This area is not present in Tooie; Tiptup's only appearance in that game is in Jolly Roger's Lagoon, not Hailfire Peaks. Finally, a camel, presumably Gobi, would also appear in this world, though it's unclear if his appearance here would predate his appearance in Gobi's Valley. His role in this world would be to spit in a pool of lava, temporarily cooling it and allowing Banjo to collect a Jiggy during a timed challenge if he's able to swim through the rings inside the lava before it heats back up. While this wouldn't directly reappear in Tooie, Gobi appears in Hailfire Peaks where his spit is used to cool down Chuffy's boiler so that it can travel to the Ice Side. Additionally, George Ice Cube in Cloud Cuckooland must similarly be used to cool down scalding hot water on Hailfire Peaks' Fire Side, which also results in a Jiggy (though it is considered a Jiggy for Jolly Roger's Lagoon, not Hailfire Peaks).

Colluseum[sic] and the dragon boss (July 1, 1997)

Gobi cooling down the lava (July 3, 1997)

Mine#

Mine (Gregg Mayles, July 29, 1997). Notes in red ink were not present on original concept art.

This world's concept art is dated July 29, 1997. The world would later be repurposed for Glitter Gulch Mine in Tooie, and the notes inked in red pen on the concept art were added during that game's development when the scrapped world was revisited in order to plan expansions for Glitter Gulch Mine. Notably, the south-easternmost area featured an elevator lift, which was not present when the world returned as Glitter Gulch Mine, though it is mechanically similar to the Service Elevator that Banjo can use as Washer Banjo in Tooie's Grunty Industries. A second page of concept art, dated July 30, 1997 details the interior of the Big Water Cavern. This location would also appear in Tooie, using the same layout - one notable difference, however, is that Banjo would have been able to swim through an underwater tunnel to find a Whack-A-Mole mini-game. In Tooie, this tunnel instead connects Glitter Gulch Mine to the Icy Side of Hailfire Peaks. Mayles doesn't recall if the world progressed far enough to receive modelling work.

Whack-A-Mole Game Cavern (July 30, 1997)

Fantasy Level#

A wildly imaginative world with a less-than-imaginative name, the "Fantasy Level" has its concept art dated September 3rd 1997, with further pages leading up to September 8th, 1997. The world would have been themed around a fairy tale environment, drawing inspiration from mythology and folklore, all taking place in an ephemeral mushroom-land. Banjo and Kazooie would be tasked with a number of fantastical objectives, including freeing an imprisoned Pegasus, transforming into a Rabbit to race another hare in a mushroom collecting race, and rescuing fairies in Mushroom Castle. One objective, which had Mumbo performing a Raindance to cause a rainbow to extend to a Pot of Gold was reworked for Tooie in the equally bizarre Cloud Cuckooland. From the concept art, we can confirm the following Jiggy Tasks:

1.) Find 4 large gold rings in the world and pass through them to unlock the smaller counterpart around the Pegasus hooves. Free the Pegasus for a Jiggy, and transport to Mushroom Castle.
2.) In Mushroom Castle, 6 Fairies have been imprisoned in bubbles, floating around the ceiling. Climb up the empty throne to use a flight pad, and beakbomb each bubble to free the fairy inside. When the final bubble is popped, a Jiggy will appear on the throne.
3.) Collect three Carrots for the Rabbit near Mumbo's skull. You'll need to fire eggs into each of the three carrot fields around the world, and then have Mumbo perform a Raindance to water the gardens, causing the Carrots to grow. Bring all three Carrots back to the Rabbit to earn a Jiggy.
4.) After the Rabbit is fed, he'll host a racing mini-game for Rabbits. Use Mumbo's magic to transform into a Rabbit and accept the challenge - you'll need to beat the Rabbit in a mushroom collecting game to earn a Jiggy.
5.) Using Mumbo's Raindance, a rainbow will appear leading to a large Pot of Gold for a limited time. Inside the Pot of Gold, Banjo will find a ray of light surrounded by several switches, each one representing a color of the rainbow. Successfully hitting each switch color reflected in the current ray of light will cause a Jiggy to appear.
6.) Rescue all 5 Jinjos, one of which requires the Rabbit transformation to travel through a warren hole to find.

The remaining Jiggies are speculative, based on the concept art:

7.) Enter the Dragon Area and presumably defeat the eponymous Dragon.
8.) The title 'Alky's Lab' on the first page, and its appearance of a star/moon roof suggests that it housed an Alchemist. It's likely that Banjo and Kazooie would need to help the Alchemist create something - perhaps they would need to fetch ingredients and earn a Jiggy after doing so.
9.) Reaching the top of the Giant Mushroom.

Pegasus, Rabbit and Mumbo's Rain Dance (September 5, 1997)

Pot of Gold Rainbow Room/Inside Mushroom Castle (September 7, 1997)

Space World 1997#

Through January to March of 1998, several magazine articles on Banjo-Kazooie were released after the game was showcased at Spaceworld '97 in late November 1997. Press release images were also sent out. The general appearance of the game showed marked progress from the E3 1997 days. By the end of 1997, it appears that all 9 worlds were nearly finished. The majority of the work left to be done seemed to be related to enemies, cutscenes, the story, and the hub world, as well as several cosmetic touch-ups.