This article has a talk page!This is a sub-page of Prerelease:Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.
The third iteration and the one we would finally end up with. This one focused on vehicular gameplay in an attempt to make getting to the objective just as fun as doing the objective.
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2006: Announcement at X06#
Watch on YouTubeIn September of 2006, Microsoft held a long event at their (then-)yearly X event in Barcelona, Spain. Alongside several other games that would come to define the Xbox 360's life, Microsoft showed off a teaser trailer for a new Banjo-Kazooie game, the first time the duo had been acknowledged publicly since 2002.
At this point, the game's direction had been already decided behind the scenes, and the future vehicle ideas were loosely hinted at using the blueprint graph paper style, which would eventually define the game's visual style. The trailer also features the somewhat infamous "polygonal" designs for the duo, and a rock rendition of the main theme that would end up be known as "Rawk 'n' Roll" on the final soundtrack. Still, as an indication of just how early along the development was, the teaser notoriously doesn't feature any vehicles, or any world from the final game. Spiral Mountain appears to be based on concept art rather than any in-game map model, and the teaser also features the health collectibles that would be completely absent from the final game.
2008#
February#
On February 13th, 2008, after almost a year and a half without news on the new Banjo-Kazooie game, Rareware staff responded to some questions regarding it on their "Rare Scribes" page, in a rather exasperated tone.
Banjo Communications Onslaught (2008 Edition) commencing... now. "Banjo won't be a shooter (unless we sell no copies like Ghoulies and out of desperation give him a gun for the next game) but it also won't be a traditional platformer," teases the head of the team. "We somewhat grandly like to think that it will be a different take on the genre. Some would say a brave gamble but I'm confident it's the right decision, and when people see it I'm sure they will say 'although the old games are clearly brilliant, this new one is even better. So good in fact that I am going to sell all my worldly possessions and give the money to the Banjo team'.
"We aren't in the business of crushing little boys' dreams so your multiplayer hopes will be answered. The 'new direction' that Banjo is taking should offer a multiplayer experience unique to anything currently available.
"Each year, stalwart members of the Banjo team don their rose-tinted glasses and play one game of Banjo-Tooie's multiplayer. We eat our Christmas lunch and then play all the games back to back. We still know all the answers to the quiz even after seven years, and I'm pleased to say that I successfully defended my title this year and the others will have to wait all year before they get another shot at the champion."
Interestingly, the post also makes note on a remake of the original game. It's not really known whether the team was referring to the Banjo-X iteration of Nuts & Bolts, or the then-unrevealed 4J port of the game.
I don't think that's what we said. We said there was a possibility of Banjo DS at some point, and we said that preliminary work on a Banjo-Kazooie remake for Xbox 360 was started before the team decided to build a brand new game instead. The Banjo team and the DS team are separate entities – the 360 bunch wouldn't have been working on a handheld version.
May#
Watch on YouTubeA very long time after the initial announcement, Microsoft finally re-revealed the third game in the Banjo franchise, now titled Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. Along with the name, the team also detailed the new platforming direction featuring 95% less Kazooie moves and 100% more cars.
At this point the game was already on the home stretch, as all the gameplay shown off features missions that remain unchanged in the final game, but the game was lacking polish in many ways. The UI at this point had mostly the same layout, but the menus featured a strange multicoloured pastel look rather than the blueprint-and-gray look of the final game. The in-game UI was very obviously still unfinished, with mostly placeholder elements for the trophy bar. Many vehicle parts featured slightly different designs, as well as Kazooie's wrench. Materials from around this time refer to Jiggosseum as "World of Sports", the internal name for the stage.
Strangely, screencaps show Banjo driving custom vehicles in Showdown Town. It's unknown whether the decision to limit the player to the Trolley hadn't ye been made, or if the vehicles were spawned in using debug tools to avoid most of the notable images featuring a rather plain-looking trolley vehicle in favour or something cooler.
E3 2008#
CG 2008#
Level Differences#
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Klungo's Arcade was originally called "Klungo's Play Emporium" and had a darker, scarier atmosphere. Concept art (above) of the original area can be unlocked in-game. Additionally, several NPCs mention the pier being built, then extended, then retracted to its original form again, likely referencing the area's original concept.
Concept Art#
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Screencaps#
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Unused & Early Music#
Early LOGBOX 720 Theme#
This track, which was once available on Grant Kirkhope's site with the filename Banjo Kazooie NAB_CPU Main_NOT USED.mp3, is a rendition of the theme used in Tooie's Grunty Industries.
It was likely intended for LOGBOX 720 going by the filename, but it went unused at some point in development, with the choice for the final level's music going for a more electronic theme.
The song never got to the point of being played by an orchestra like the rest of the game's music, with the file Grant released being a midi demo of the song.
Early Showdown Town Square Theme#
Another track that was released on Grant Kirkhope's website is an earlier rendition of Showdown Town's Square theme.
Some differences include:
- The orchestra's mixing is a bit different compared to the final; most notable example being the intro to the piece.
- Some of the notes are different compared to the final.
- Examples being the notes for the woodwind instrument from 0:44 to 0:46.
- A proper outro to the track is present.