Source: videogamesblogger.com

The N64 Banjo-Kazooie is about to arrive on Xbox Live Arcade as the bear and bird duo, known together as “Banjo-Kazooie”, set out to make their triumphant return to the video game world.

In addition to shaking up the platform genre with Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (the official 3rd game in the core series), the original N64 Banjo-Kazooie as well as it’s sequel, Banjo-Tooie, are preparing to play that nostalgia card on the masses of gamers with fond memories of traversing gigantic world to gather all manner of collectibles and fight Gruntilda once again. And for those who never got to play the games, this is an excellent chance to see what all the fuss was about, and increase your GamerScore at the same time!

For some reason I was expecting to be more than just a high-def port. But oh well, I guess you can’t have everything. Banjo-Kazooie is STILL one of my favorite games of all time. And if you’ve never played it, then you definitely should consider picking it up when it releases to Xbox Live Arcade on November 26th. Or pre-order Nuts & Bolts and you will get the game for free! (Banjo-Tooie btw will be coming in early 2009)

See the game in action on the Xbox 360 in these videos and trailers.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Pre-Order Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and receive a free code for the original Banjo-Kazoie Xbox Live Arcade remake that allows you to download the game before it releases to the public.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts will be released on November 18th in North America at the cheap price of $40 (out on November 14th in Europe), with the original version of Banjo available for download that day to those who pre-order! For those counting, this will give pre-orderers a two-week head start on getting to play the remake before everyone else (though the exact date for the remake hasn’t yet been determined).

The biggest reason you will want to play the original Banjo-Kazooie (outside of course because of how awesome it is) is due to the addition of the “Stop ‘N’ Swap” feature. Stop N Swop was supposed to allow connectivity between Banjo Kazooie and it’s sequel, Banjo Tooie, in order to unlock special features in the original game by collecting colored eggs to unlock hidden areas and entering a code into a “Stop & Swop” menu, but the feature was never fully realized when Banjo Tooie continued on without the feature.

Now Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts will complete the legendary infamous Stop & Swop by allowing connectivity with the Xbox Live Arcade remake of Banjo Kazooie! By linking the two titles, it will “reward players’ accomplishments in the new game with extra content and features in the Xbox LIVE Arcade game.”

Additionally, Rare also revealed that the Nuts & Bolts game world formally known as “World of Sports” has been renamed Jiggoseum, and will feature Olympics-inspired challenges (one example being to transport a torch across a large body of water to light the Olympic Cauldron).

I don’t know about you, but I’m very intrigued by Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and was a huge fan of the original. So I’m definitely looking forward to buying both of them and finally getting to complete the Stop & Swop! In my opinion Banjo-Kazooie is one of the best platformers ever made, and I hope this is only the beginning of much more classic Rare N64 games to come!

Here is an interview from E3 2008 explaining more about the game and how the vehicle-building works.