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Banjo-Kazooie Coming Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack This Week

Banjo-Kazooie Coming Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack This Week - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 18 January 2022 / 2,306 Views

Nintendo announced the Nintendo 64 game, Banjo-Kazooie, is coming to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack this Thursday, January 20.

Banjo-Kazooie first released for the Nintendo 64 in June 1998. The IP is owned by Microsoft and Rare.

The Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Switch Online collection launched this fall with many classic games like Super Mario 64, The legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Star Fox 64, and Mario Kart 64. It is part of the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, which also includes Sega Genesis games and the Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Happy Home Paradise DLC.

View a trailer of the game below:

Here is an overview of the game:

This action game, released for the Nintendo 64 console in 1998, features an unlikely pair: a Honey Bear named Banjo and a Breegull named Kazooie. Together, the duo embark on a wild quest that makes use of their wide range of combined special moves. It all starts when the wicked witch Gruntilda kidnaps Tooty, Banjo’s little sister, and Banjo and Kazooie set out to bring her back—venturing from Spiral Mountain, along the shark-infested coastline of Treasure Trove Cove, through the icy perils of Freezeezy Peak, and beyond. But with Kazooie spending most of her time inside Banjo’s backpack, they’re like two heroes in one! Though they may squabble from time to time, with the two of them working together, nothing can stand in their way. Now you can join them on this journey into a magical world of adventure!


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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13 Comments
2zosteven (on 19 January 2022)

i was in my mid 20s when this game came out. amazing game

  • +6
Kakadu18 (on 18 January 2022)

Another historical moment. Hopefully Banjo-Tooie also comes to NSO.

  • +6
SvenTheTurkey Kakadu18 (on 19 January 2022)

If they didn't already announce it, I'm sure it will. When it's all said and done, all but goldeneye will probably be on the NSO for the Rare library.

  • 0
2zosteven (on 19 January 2022)

Microsoft needs to continue where toooie left off

  • +4
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Azzanation 2zosteven (on 19 January 2022)

Maybe Toys 4 Bob under Activision will make Banjo Threeie, they did a good job with Crash 4

  • +1
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Jaicee (on 18 January 2022)

I remember finding Banjo-Kazooie to be a vast improvement on the collect-a-thon thing Super Mario 64 had popularized for a ton of reasons ranging from its more detailed and vibrant graphics that made its world feel so much more alive to its snarky, typically Rare sense of humor to the incredible array of moves the use two protagonists simultaneously, and of transformations, made possible to its often better-hidden secrets and inclusion of, for my taste, much-missed secret codes to, above all really, the greater level of challenge that helped it rival the difficulty levels typical of the more traditional, linear platforming games that I'd grown up on and which the Super Mario franchise had (for a time anyway) grown out of. That, in turn, helped me to finally appreciate the Nintendo 64 almost as much as the PlayStation, at least for a while. Though the cute factor was painfully excessive and belied the age of the target market implied by its level of difficulty and rather "we are targeting teens" type of stylized writing.

Another fun historical note: if you didn't get that Nintendo Power / Toys R Us preview video for Banjo-Kazooie in your mailbox back in early June of 1998, you missed out on some of NP's absolute dorkiest material ever, and also on their most detailed and helpful promo video by far. It's now available free on YouTube if you need to catch up! ;-)

  • +2
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Dulfite (on 19 January 2022)

Yes!!!!

  • +1
DonFerrari (on 19 January 2022)

Good, a very much liked ip by fans.

  • +1
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