The original two “Banjo-Kazooie” games can be rather mysterious, filled with references to the series’ early development and features that were never used in the final versions of the games, but never removed, either.  In fact, I find these two games (the first one, especially) to be some of the most mysterious games I have ever played.  Hands down.  For one thing, who is Captain Blackeye, and why does he appear in a portrait in Mad MonsterMansion?  And what is Bottles’ Revenge?  And then there’s Stop ‘n’ Swop, the subject of this post, a most famous secret if there ever was one (and there was, and it was this one).

Since I actually played “Banjo-Tooie” before “Banjo-Kazooie”, I didn’t yet know of Stop ‘n’ Swop when I first played the series.  Sure, I collected those secret eggs and the Ice Key, having no idea that these related to the previous game, and I saw those pictures in Jolly Roger’s Lagoon (in the same room as Captain Blackeye, as a matter of fact), not being able to figure out what these images were supposed to be showing.  A location from the previous game perhaps?  But, why?  What was the significance of these images in particular?

Then, I played “Banjo-Kazooie”, and I saw the Ice Key in Wozza’s Cave, and I wondered how in the Isle o’ Hags I was supposed to go about getting it.  And then, during the credits, Mumbo said he had these secret pictures for me if I got all the Jiggies in the game.  Quite curious indeed, I then went and collected those Jiggies and watched the credits again, and as promised, Mumbo showed me the pictures, but it only opened up a whole new mystery for me.  I don’t remember for certain now, but I’m pretty sure the images showed that you could open the door in the side of the cliff in Gobi’s Valley, and you could somehow get inside Sharkfood Island in Treasure Trove Cove.  But, how in the name of Master Jiggywiggy himself do you possibly open up these secrets?  How do you do it, and what happens when you do!

This mystery remained rather, well, mysterious, for many years.  I could not, for the life of me, figure out how to get to the places Mumbo showed.  I looked through a friend’s guide for the game and found no mention whatsoever of such things.  Why do they mock me with something you can’t possibly do, I wondered, on my knees and fists to the heavens in a most dramatic way.  Why!  Why do they taunt me so!

And then I found it, in the one place that has the answer to all things.  The Internet.  I found out what Stop ‘n’ Swop was meant to be.  It turned out this was something Rareware planned on using to kind of link between the first two games, but it never came to be due to technical difficulties.  Apparently, you were supposed to collect these secret items in “Banjo-Kazooie”, then, you would turn the console off and switch to “Banjo-Tooie” and get new features (NOT while it’s on; I heard some people switching cartridges with the console on, which had unpleasant consequences).  Well, this could have worked, except the Nintendo 64 had some changes made to it.  The console originally would retain memory of the previous game for 10 seconds, giving you plenty of time for stopping and swopping.  And then it was changed, and you only had 1 second, which is not enough time at all.  Maybe enough time to stop, but certainly not to swop.  And so, alas, the world never got to see Stop ‘n’ Swop, the items doomed to be locked away forever.

Or were they?

Along with background on this failed feature, I found that the developers left codes in that could allow people to get these items anyway.  That was not the purpose of the codes, I believe, but they worked, nonetheless.  All you had to do was go to the sand castle in Treasure Trove Cove, enter CHEAT (I believe you should hear a mooing sound if you do it right) and then enter a code (no mooing occurs here).  Excited to try this out, I fired up the old N64 and went to my intended destination, with the intent of entering these codes.  And they worked, just as they were supposed to.

I made Sharkfood Island rise out of the water.  I opened the door in Gobi’s Valley.  In fact, I opened the way to six eggs and one Ice Key.  Count ‘em, seven secrets.  Seven things that had been previously locked away, inaccessible to those who didn’t wander beyond the normal, intended gameplay.  And I was so excited.  I can’t even tell you how excited I was.  I was just so thrilled to finally have these secrets open for me after all these years of wondering, like excavating an ancient treasure, except without the fame and riches.  I remember when I entered the first location, and this fanfare played, followed by this song that is heard in these places only, it made it even more thrilling.  Oh, glorious day, it was, that even a secret song awaited me!  I had unlocked the secrets of Stop ‘n’ Swop!  All these long-hidden items were mine now!  All mine!  And so I collected them all, later finding them in one of the screens when the game’s paused, sitting there in all their majesty.  They do absolutely nothing, but they were still there, as proof that I had solved the mystery!  “Banjo-Kazooie” kept nothing from me now.  I knew all its deepest, darkest secrets.  Its every nook and cranny.  Its every cranny and nook, even!

(A side note.  I found that once you enter these codes, the changes made by them are forever in the game, in every single file, even if you erase them.  The eggs and key can no longer be collected and remain in the pause screen no matter what file you load.  Very odd.)

I also hear that Stop ‘n’ Swop did finally come to be for real with the release of “Banjo-Kazooie” on XBox Live Arcade, where you can now collect these items to unlock secrets in “Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts”, which I have not done and don’t really plan to.  It’s the Stop ‘n’ Swop we weren’t meant to see that intrigues me, and I will always remember it as the most thrilling secret I have ever encountered.  Why not go on the Internet and find these codes for yourself.  I’ll leave the locations of the items a secret, so some surprises can still await you even after you’ve read this post.  Go do it.  It’s awesome.

Stop ‘n’ Duck