And those games truly did have an impressive moveset, didn’t they? More games need to do that. It makes it so much more fun getting places or overcoming obstacles when you have so many ways of doing things.

And I agree that Tooie is superior. It just blew my mind how the duo started from all of the moves present on the original game (which were varied and creative) and got another dozen incredible skills through the sequel. Rare’s creativity was apparentl endless back in those days.

I love the graphics, humor, and astounding sound design in the games. It is just ridiculously awesome how every single side-character, no matter how obscure, has a “voice” of his own. Back in the N64 days, that had to be one of the finest technologic achievements ever.

The games were packed with great worlds (Clickclock Wood and Jolly Roger’s Lagoon are masterpieces, and the latter turns underwater platforming into something fantastic). And Tooie had the added bonus of connecting every single world through numerous secret passages.

Many people complain about Tooie’s backtracking, but I think it was a fantastic design choice since most of those backtracking missions took advantage of the connections between worlds.

I have never played Nuts and Bolts, but I wish to try it someday, even if most “old-school” Banjo fans seem to hate it.