Banjo-Kazooie Composer Doesn't Know If There Will Ever be a New Game in the Series - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 03 January 2020 / 2,601 Views
The composer of Banjo-Kazooie, Grant Kirkhope, recently revealed he composed the music for the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Banjo-Kazooie DLC trailer. The music will also be featured in the game.
Kirkhope speaking with VGC was asked if there would ever be a new game in the Banjo-Kazooie series. He wasn't sure if there ever would be, despite the positive response from fans about the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Banjo-Kazooie DLC.
"My honest opinion is I don’t know if they’ll ever be a new Banjo," he said. It’s easy to go, ‘look at these numbers’, but it might be a drop in the ocean for Xbox. Is there a market for it? I just don’t know. I would think that Rare probably doesn’t have the appetite for it. They’re super busy with Sea of Thieves and that’s a gigantic game: it’s going to take the whole studio to keep making content for that.
"Maybe the E3 reception has made Microsoft think about it," he added. "But the trouble is, if I say anything more definitive than that then the fans will think I’m in the know! When really, I’m just a composer. I have no connection to that decision what-so-ever. Gregg Mayles and Tim Stamper are the real inventors of Banjo… I’m just the most visible on social media."
"They were surprised by how crazy it went, he said. "The E3 reveal seemed to be gigantic. When I was speaking to Nintendo back at their booth at E3, they were all saying it was a bigger reaction than they’re normally used to for Smash. So Nintendo did recognise that it was a big deal. They were surprised. And we all were: it was such a huge release for all those fans who’ve been waiting so long for a new game."
He added the only way he sees a future game in the series is if Microsoft and Rare were to find an external developer that undersood the series.
"Rare need to find somebody like that who gets the game, who really loves it, gets the humour, comes up with a great plot and then kicks on," he added. "They would need to find an external studio who really cares about the project and wants to do it, like they did with Killer Instinct and also similar to how Ubisoft Milan did a great job with Mario + Rabbid.
"That game looked like a Nintendo game: they totally got it and were in love with the concept. When he first saw it, Mr. Miyamoto thought they’d taken Nintendo’s internal animations – that’s how well they’d nailed it. I feel like it’s completely doable, but it’s all about the staff. And I think they’d need a little bit of input from the guys who did the original Banjo-Kazooie, because it was such a quirky game especially in terms of its humour."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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I hope any future Banjo games come to Switch.
It's maddening that Moneysoft wont make a new Banjo game. Would make for the easiest gamer goodwill earned in the company's history.
Lets hope Banjo in Smash creates alot of buzz for Rare to outsource like they did with Battletoads or to create it themselves.
@Azzanation thats been my hope. The "surprising" buzz around Banjo's inclusion in Smash was always a given in my eyes. Gamer nostalgia is easy money.
So your saying there's a chance...
I mean, most of the original talent left Rare years ago, the current team there, I just don't think they can capture that charm the original games had. I mean, Sea of Thieves is okay, but...
Even the original dev team couldn't capture the charm and brilliance of the original games considering how 'Yooka Laylee' turned out.
Why would the composer know?
Essay Pro