This is my first Review for Lemmy's Land. It is for the N64 game Banjo-Tooie, the sequal to Banjo-Kazooie. I'll rate this game on a scale of 1 to 10.

Story: 7

Well, it starts off nicely, but gets stale shortly after. You learn 90 percent of the story before the first level. The story is that two years have passed since the events of Banjo-Kazooie. Grunty's sisters, Mingella and Blobbelda, revive her, but her body has rotted away to a skeleton, making her undead. Grunty kills Bottles and the three of them plan to suck the life force out of the Isle 'O Hags, the game's overworld, to recreate a body for Grunty. It's up to Banjo and Kazooie to stop them.

Graphics: 9

The graphics are incredibly good. They are amongst the best of the 64-bit era, and they don't even take advantage of the Expansion Pack which is quite amazing. There's lots of detail in textures and there's no
fog, even in huge open areas. I've taken one point off for the framerate that's constantly slowing down here and there. It slows a bit too much. Every five minutes it slows down for a few seconds, which seem longer than you think cuz it's so slow!

Sound: 10

I love the sound in this game, it couldn't be better. The music is top notch and so are the sound effects. As for voices, the mumbling effect from BK is back. Unless you hate the mumbling effect, you'll be fine. Trust me, you'll get used to it as each voice fits each character very well.

Characters: 7

Well, there's Banjo, Kazooie, and Mumbo. Banjo and Kazooie can seperate now, which is a plus. Most of the other characters are either enemies or people who need your help, usually in exchange for a Jiggy or a Cheato Page. There's also Bottles, his brother Jamjars, who teaches you moves, and Mumbo's rival, Humba Wumba. Mumbo is playble now and he uses magic to make things happen in levels, while Humba has taken over as the shaman who turns you into things. There's also King Jingaling of the Jinjos and the Jinjos themselves, who you must rescue, but that's about it. Tooty and Brentilda from BK are no where to be found.

Controls and Moves: 9

All of the old moves are back from BK except for the basic punch, which has been replaced with the Rat-a-tap-rap. There's also a bunch of new moves that'll be taught to you by Jamjars that you'll constantly use. The controls are pretty much the same as in BK, but sometimes it's hard to move around while flying or swimming, even in first person mode, so a point gets taken off.

Items: 10

There's Jiggies, which are used to enter the worlds, and the main object you'll be seeking in the game. Notes are used to learn moves from Jamjars and come in bunches of five. There's also Treble Cleffs worth twenty notes each. There's also Glowbos, which have replaced Mumbo Tokens and are used to pay for Humba and Mumbo's services. You only need one for each service though and they're usually nearby. Cheato Pages belong to Cheato, collect them and he'll give you codes. There are also other items but I don't want to spoil too much.

Levels: 10

There are eight main levels plus a hub and a few sub levels. The hub is Isle 'O Hags and it connects to all the other levels, but there's also ways to travel between levels. There's a passage in one level that will lead to another level. There's even a train line that runs between many levels too! It's like one big web of levels! The levels themselves are huge and have lots to do in them. They all have different themes. One level, Hailfire Peaks, has an ice part and a lava part in the same level as opposed to two seperate levels. Very original.

Overall: 9.5

I'm trying to avoid using decimal points, but who cares? There's also a multiplayer mode but it kinda gets old quickly. The game is mostly about 1-player. This game is really fun and is worth buying, even  though it has a few tough parts. However, play through Banjo-Kazooie before even touching this, or it won't make much
sense to you. It you loved BK, you MUST buy this. If you disliked BK, stay away from this. It's got plenty of replay value too!

In closing: This game was one of the last N64 games to be released. It was also released at a bad time as many people overlooked it for Majora's Mask and the newly released PS2. But many people still took interest in this game and loved it. Don't rent it, just buy it, but only if you've finished Banjo-Kazooie and enjoyed it.

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