Celebrating 20 Years of Banjo-Tooie
Banjo-Tooie, the sequel to Rare’s 1998 smash hit Banjo-Kazooie, challenged the original’s mechanics, world design, challenging boss fights, and naturally its expansive score. Banjo-Tooie improves on the original’s score with beautiful waterscape scores, amusement park jingles, and a variety of scales and melodies unknown to Kazooie. With larger worlds and an even bigger cast of zany characters, Banjo-Tooie is filled to the brim with themes worth remembering today, its 20th anniversary.
HugoJ - Terrydactyland
Hugo’s arrangement of the dinosaur-themed world Terrydactyland both visually and sonically captures exactly what makes this world so exciting. The cover recreates the tune’s plodding march, and blistering horns mimic dinosaur cries as Hugo’s animation chronicles our duo’s dino adventure. As if performed by the level’s resident cavemen, bongos and hand percussion fill the middle of the piece, reminding the listener of the Unga-Bunga tribe that so often thwack our heroes.
Jackson Parodi - Glitter Gulch
Jackson Parodi brings his signature accordion performance and jolly rhythm to the overworld “Glitter Gulch Mine”. The tune uses a shuffle feel, common in bluegrass, and navigates through C major with joy and hope throughout the mine. Jackson trades the original’s banjo and harmonica instrumentation for his own, gliding through its familiar sections as if you were sitting in Bullion Bill’s cabin.
Xnarky - Atlantis
Xnarky interpreted the underwater city Atlantis in a slow R&B style, taking you from the vibrant Jolly Roger Lagoon into the deep. The score of this level, hidden beneath layers of sea critters and magic fields, plays off a fairly simple two-chord arpeggio on harp as our bear and bird fight off squids and rescue trapped scuba divers. In this jam version, Xnarky flaunts his jazz and blues skill on guitar to produce some of the washiest, most heartfelt, and unsurprisingly technical music around.
Gabocarina96 - Jinjo Village
Gabocarina96 has made it abundantly clear he is a super fan of Banjo-Kazooie, so with great deliberation, I chose his “Jinjo Village” cover. This song, jovial and charming as always, features a woodwind-driven A section that swiftly changes key to F major for its strident B section afterwards. Gab mixes pop-punk double-time sections, gritty metal breaks, and the namesake ocarina to pay tribute to this hub world’s delectable tune.
Qumu - Witchyworld
This track, featured on GameLark’s first album Volume 1, reimagines the Witchyworld theme as a bouncy, upbeat ode to all things wicked. Qumu managed to retain the charm and eeriness of the original while adding a variety of new instrumentation, beats, and flavors. This would be the perfect track for an Witchyworld party, provided Mr. Patch would let you into the big tent.
Dylan Leggett - Banjo-Tooie Boss Medley
Dylan brings some of the heaviest and shreddiest performances to the Tooie covers, throwing every boss fight theme into one big presentation. The sequel reinterprets, accelerates, and often decorates its overworld themes in order to create their respective boss fight music. Facing Targitzan, Dylzal brings both choral elements and thrash metal while playing a faster version of the overworld. One of the most complex tracks featured is Hag 1, played during the final fight with the game’s antagonist. With odd time signatures and whole tone scale runs, there’s enough energy in this track and its cover to make Grunty’s head spin!
While Banjo-Tooie may be overshadowed by the monumental debut game, its OST stands tall with intricate and interwoven world themes, eclectic writing, and a variety of bosses toting their own anthems. Take a listen to the frantic Mr. Patch fight, explore both interpretations of Hailfire Peaks’ overworld, or bask in the awe of Jiggywiggy’s Temple, and you’ll surely see why this adventure is phenomenal too(ie).
RO PANUGANTI
Ro Panuganti is a home-studio guitarist and musician, covering video game and other music on Youtube in a variety of rock and metal genres out of his bedroom.
