Games Database
GBA
Racing: Airplane
| Viewed: | 3D Third-person, over the shoulder | Genre: | Racing: Airplane |
| Arcade origin: | No | ||
| Developer: | Rare | Soft. Co.: | Rare |
| Publishers: | THQ
(GB) |
Released: | 18 Feb 2005
(GB) |
| Ratings: | PEGI 3+ | ||
| Connectivity: | GC/GBA Link Cable | ||
Summary
Announced some four years under the title Diddy Kong Pilot, this game looked to be a GBA reprise of classic better-than-Mario-Kart-64 N64 classic Diddy Kong Racing. With beautiful environments showing off the then spanking new N64 hardware, and the crafty addition of aeroplanes and hovercrafts as well as go-karts, DKR quickly found a place in the hearts of many proud next-gen Nintendo owners.
It seems so long ago that studio Rare made games exclusively for Nintendo, and were afforded a privileged, almost first-party status. But back then this was indeed the case, until Rare were bought up by Microsoft, and simultaneously appeared to stop making games altogether. Given Diddy Kong’s albeit somewhat bastardised Nintendo lineage, it hardly seemed appropriate that he should star in a game by a Microsoft subsidiary, and on a GBA, no less. Step forward Banjo, co-star of another Rare N64 classic, Banjo-Kazooie, who in fact also features as one of the heavy, Donkey Kong/Bowser style drivers in the original DKR. THQ kindly agreed to undertake the publishing side of things.
As the title suggests, Banjo Pilot dispenses of hovercrafts and go-karts, and focuses instead on airplane racing, and all the wondrous 3D racing line possibilities that this gives rise too. Like pretty much all games in the mini-genre of cartoon racing games, you must not only race your opponents but battle with them, and Banjo Pilot features the familiar panoply of a small standard weapon, and power-ups that offer the player homing missiles, smart bombs, turbo boosts etc.
As well as Banjo and his ever-present loquacious bird sidekick Kazooie, there are a rag tag selection of seven other Rare characters to choose from. And, because you are in planes, not only do you have to come first in each Grand Prix that you enter, you also have to battle the boss in a dogfight to the death at the end! As you’d expect from Rare, there’s also plenty of longevity offered in the form of collectible ‘Cheatos’ and ‘Jiggies’ scattered throughout the game. You can also play the dogfight mode via link-up with your friends, and up to four players can race against each other in multiplayer race mode. It’s taken a while to get here, but Banjo Pilot makes a nice addition to the GBA kart racing portfolio.
It seems so long ago that studio Rare made games exclusively for Nintendo, and were afforded a privileged, almost first-party status. But back then this was indeed the case, until Rare were bought up by Microsoft, and simultaneously appeared to stop making games altogether. Given Diddy Kong’s albeit somewhat bastardised Nintendo lineage, it hardly seemed appropriate that he should star in a game by a Microsoft subsidiary, and on a GBA, no less. Step forward Banjo, co-star of another Rare N64 classic, Banjo-Kazooie, who in fact also features as one of the heavy, Donkey Kong/Bowser style drivers in the original DKR. THQ kindly agreed to undertake the publishing side of things.
As the title suggests, Banjo Pilot dispenses of hovercrafts and go-karts, and focuses instead on airplane racing, and all the wondrous 3D racing line possibilities that this gives rise too. Like pretty much all games in the mini-genre of cartoon racing games, you must not only race your opponents but battle with them, and Banjo Pilot features the familiar panoply of a small standard weapon, and power-ups that offer the player homing missiles, smart bombs, turbo boosts etc.
As well as Banjo and his ever-present loquacious bird sidekick Kazooie, there are a rag tag selection of seven other Rare characters to choose from. And, because you are in planes, not only do you have to come first in each Grand Prix that you enter, you also have to battle the boss in a dogfight to the death at the end! As you’d expect from Rare, there’s also plenty of longevity offered in the form of collectible ‘Cheatos’ and ‘Jiggies’ scattered throughout the game. You can also play the dogfight mode via link-up with your friends, and up to four players can race against each other in multiplayer race mode. It’s taken a while to get here, but Banjo Pilot makes a nice addition to the GBA kart racing portfolio.
