Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge

The wicked witch Gruntilda returns from defeat, and this time she decides to take her revenge before the bear Banjo and the bird Kazooie have even had a chance to meet her. Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge throws you into a story set in the past, and right from the start it promises what the series did best on the Nintendo 64: collecting, exploring and colourful humour condensed into handheld form.

The game keeps the core of the collectathon platformer that made the original famous. You make your way through interconnected worlds, collect musical notes, Jiggy puzzle pieces and other trinkets, solve small puzzles and gradually unlock new areas. Banjo and Kazooie once again work as a well-oiled duo with their own moves, which makes moving through the levels varied and more inventive than in an ordinary jumper. Everything is translated into an isometric top-down view that proved itself on the GBA and made it possible to preserve the full-bloodedness of the 3D original even on a small display.

The development context is interesting here. While the original instalments were made by Rare for Nintendo, this portable spin-off was developed by Rare in collaboration with external development and came out in 2003 under the THQ banner, at a time when Rare was already moving under Microsoft's wing. Grunty's Revenge is thus among the last titles under this brand that still came out on Nintendo hardware.

Culturally, it is an attempt to bring the magic of big console collectathon platformers into the handheld era, when the Game Boy Advance was proving that pocket gaming did not have to mean concessions in depth. For fans of the bear with a backpack and the cheeky feathered companion, it was a welcome way to repeat the proven formula on the move, even if on a more intimate scale than the big originals. The bet on an isometric view and less sprawling worlds was a logical concession to the hardware, yet the spirit of the series remained recognisable at first glance.

It is also interesting to place the game within the wider goings-on around the brand. After Rare's departure to Microsoft, the fate of Banjo and Kazooie on Nintendo platforms became uncertain, and it was precisely the GBA titles that represented the last chapter Nintendo got with these heroes on its hardware. In hindsight, Grunty's Revenge carries the touch of a small farewell to the era in which the two partners were synonymous with first-rate 3D platformers.

Although it never reached the fame of its console siblings, Grunty's Revenge remains an honest handheld version of a genre that is finding its admirers again today. For collectors and lovers of the classic duo, it is a lovely full stop at the end of the era when Banjo and Kazooie were among the icons of their time, and proof that even on a small display you could build an adventure with a character of its own.

Why play it: If you like collectathon platformers and wanted to carry Banjo and Kazooie in your pocket, this is their portable adventure in the proven style.