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? Continue reading Community Post: The Elusive Stop ‘n’ Swop →