The music for each world pertains well to the current theme, and smoothly changes tone and instrumentation as you move about. In Mumbo's Mountain, for example, the bouncy jungle rhythm becomes drum-heavy when you're in Conga's territory, and develops native chanting when strolling through Mumbo's village. The calypso beat of Treasure Trove Cove becomes a piping, sea-faring melody when you're near the pirate ship. Freezeezy Peak's music is like a long-lost Christmas carol, while Mad Monster Mansion features Halloween-caliber riffs complete with tolling bells and hooting owls. But my favorite music is that of my favorite area, Click-Clock Wood, which appropriately changes for each season. In the spring time, robins are heard chirping along with the delightful forest melody, while in summer it changes to a waltzing tune with buzzing bees. In fall, frogs croak a more percussion-based version of the song, while in winter it takes on a chilling, icy flavor.

Banjo and Kazooie have a number of useful moves that are easy to memorize and perform. Some you have from the beginning of the game and others are taught by Bottles the Mole in specific worlds later on. The two characters' moves complement each other so well, that they basically function as one character. Having Kazooie on your back is like being Mario with an everlasting power-up. When Banjo jumps, Kazooie can use her wings to increase the distance, and slow his descent. Many moves are accomplished by holding the Z button and pressing any of the buttons on the face of the controller. If Banjo moves too slowly for your liking, you can activate Kazooie's Talon Trot, which is also useful for climbing steep surfaces. The wing-assisted flap-flip jump allows Banjo to reach new heights. Other moves are used for attacking, destroying things, and hitting switches. These include Banjo's standard punches and rolls, Kazooie's beak attacks, egg tossing, invinciblity feathers, and even a tandem body-slam! (And if it still sounds intimidating, don't worry: there's a tutorial at the beginning of the game.)

The best part is not the sheer number of moves, but how necessary they are in many situations and the ease and responsiveness at which they are pulled off. Many puzzles are designed to be solved with a specific move or combination of moves. Switches are pounded with the body-slam-like Beak Buster, some enemies and statues are divebombed from the air with the Beak Bomb, and only eggs will reach some out-of-the-way targets. The game is very well-balanced in this respect, and since most moves are specialized with obvious purposes, it's never a matter of "trying everything" to solve some riddle.

Gruntilda the witch has kidnapped Banjo's little sister, Tooty. Gruntilda plans to use a machine to "steal" Tooty's beauty and transfer it to herself. Banjo, a laid-back honey bear, teams up with his unlikely partner Kazooie, a loud-mouthed anti-social breegull that lives in his backpack, to rescue Tooty and defeat the evil witch.

Much of the challenge in BK comes from learning to navigate each world and dealing with their many obstacles and inhabitants. Some jiggies are out in plain sight, but it's not usually a matter of just walking up and grabbing them. You may need to learn a special move from Bottles the Mole, first, or perhaps use a special animal form granted by Mumbo Jumbo the Shaman. Some puzzles test your skills, such as a series of rings that you have to jump and swim through within 50 seconds. There are mazes that must be navigated within a time limit, or else the jigsaw disappears, or you lose a life and, either way, you'll have to start over again. There are bosses such as leaping frogs, a giant hermit crab, and exploding dynamite crates to be defeated. The variety of tasks is immense and constantly keeps you searching and thinking.

Although it does have its tough spots, Banjo-Kazooie is relatively easy. Maybe it was made purposefully easier because its cartoonish look is probably attractive to younger gamers. But it also might be due to the fact that Banjo's core gameplay is not all that much different from Super Mario 64, and many of the jiggies aren't as taxing to retrieve as the hardest stars in SM64. Most of the challenge of SM64 emanated from falling off the edges of things into "oblivion". Well, that doesn't happen as much in BK, in fact, I can only think of four areas in the whole game where it can happen. You can also increase your life meter by finding extra honeycomb pieces, which is something you couldn't do in SM64.

However, Banjo-Kazooie is not devoid of all action challenges. One of the most difficult parts of the game I can think of is a series of jumps through moving fan blades. In another claustrophobia-inducing scene, you have to swim to the bottom of a very deep well and turn a giant key to raise an object out of the water. It's very tough to do this and get back to the surface without running out of air. Many ground surfaces are full of hazards, such as shark-infested waters or hot desert sands, and some of it is uncrossable without use of a special animal form or boots.

Another important factor in BK's fun is the great variety of tasks to perform and puzzles to solve in search of those elusive jigsaw pieces. I know I didn't want to stop until I found every single one! Sometimes, defeating a boss nets you a jigsaw, but other times you'll have to help, not harm, a friendly character to get that which you desire. This may be as simple as giving a fruit to a monkey or as complex as helping a young bird grow to adulthood, or even matching notes with a ghostly hand on a larger-than-life organ. Some areas have fun puzzle-like games to play, such as a giant oujia board that you glide around on, and a matching card game played on rotating floor tiles.

As much as I like BK, I would have liked for it to have been a little more challenging. I don't mind that there wasn't as much "falling into oblivion" as there was in Super Mario 64. But perhaps, I would've liked to have seen more boss fights, or tough puzzles that really put your skills to the test.

On a final note, I'll always remember how BK's most well-kept secrets drove me crazy for months! You may have noticed that ice key behind the window in Wozza's Cave, or that map of Treasure Trove Cove inside the Rusty Bucket with an "X" over Sharkfood Island, or the sealed door in Gobi's Valley. I know I did long before I was told about them in the game. I also wondered about the wine barrel in the mansion cellar with the "X" on it. Even though special codes demystified these conundrums, there turned out to be many more "easter eggs" hidden in there than originally thought. Too bad their intended purpose was never realized, but they kept me thinking and playing BK for months.