Banjo-Pilot

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Banjo-Pilot
Banjo-Pilot U.S. box art.
Developer(s) Rare
Publisher(s) THQ
Platform(s) Game Boy Advance
Release date US January 11, 2005
JPN March 2005
EU March 2005
Genre(s) Racing
Mode(s) Single player, 2–4 Multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: Everyone (E)
PEGI: 3+
Media 128-megabit cartridge

Banjo-Pilot (originally Diddy Kong Pilot) is a video game for the Game Boy Advance featuring characters from the Banjo-Kazooie series of video games. Similar to Diddy Kong Racing, players can race around various locales from the Banjo-Kazooie universe. Banjo-Pilot was developed by Rare and was published by THQ in 2005. This was the last Banjo-Kazooie game released for a Nintendo system.

Contents

[edit] Characters

Playable characters for the game include:

[edit] Story

According to Rare, there is no story to the game, although it can be assumed that Cheato the Magical Spellbook lost all of his pages and Banjo and his friends must retrieve them by completing race courses.

[edit] Game Modes

[edit] Grand Prix

In this mode, the first player races against other characters in a series of tracks to earn points. There are four cups that each contain four tracks with an aerial boss fight at the end. The player is given a trophy determined on his/her rank. Different Grand Prixes include the Bottles GP, the Grunty GP, the Endurance GP, and the Jinjo GP.

[edit] Quickrace

In this mode, the player can do a quick single race with any character he/she has already unlocked. The player can choose tracks from the Bottles and Gruntilda Grand Prixes.

[edit] Time Trial

In this mode, the player races against the ghost of either Bottles or Gruntilda to try and beat their best time.

[edit] Trophies

Here, the player can view the trophies that he/she won throughout the game. There is also a photo album when the player completes all of the game's challenges.

[edit] Jiggy Challenge

In this mode, the player collects six jiggies on tracks from the Bottles and Grunty Grand Prixes while trying to finish in first place.

[edit] Cheato

Here, Cheato pages are used to purchase unlockables within the game.

[edit] Items

When the player hits a honeycomb, they receive an item. Items include:

  • Golden Feather- Grants the player temporary invincibility.
  • Mingy Jongo- Temporarily disables all other racers.
  • Turbo Trainers- Gives the player a short speed boost.
  • Saucer of Peril- Targets in on the race leader and causes them to crash.
  • Single Red Fire Egg- Homes in on the nearest racer in front of the player and causes them to crash.
  • Triple Red Fire Eggs- Gives you three red fire eggs instead of one.
  • Single Blue Ice Egg- Dropped behind your plane and causes any plane that hits it to crash.
  • Triple Blue Ice Eggs- Gives you three blue ice eggs instead of one.


[edit] Cameos

Many characters from Rare's previous games make minor cameos in Banjo-Pilot. Characters like Tiptup, Gobi, and Master Jiggywiggy can be seen in various tracks. Sabreman, from Sabre Wulf, and Expresso, from Donkey Kong Country, appear in Jolly Roger's Lagoon and Jinxy's Dunes, respectively. Other non-playable characters include Cheato, King Jingaling, and Roysten. Before the game's release, many fans speculated that Roysten would appear as an unlockable character, but this has since been proven false.

[edit] Reception

Banjo-Pilot received mixed reviews. IGN gave it an 8, praising it as the second-best GBA racer.[1] It received 3 out of 5 stars from GameSpy, who said it "wasn't worth the near half-decade wait."[2] Generally, those who praised the game did so for its addictive multiplayer mode and large replay value, while those who criticized it did so for its simplicity in design and loose physics.

[edit] References

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