Genre: Racing
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Rare
Release Date: January 12, 2005

It has been nearly five years since the Spaceworld 2000, the final event in what was an annual showing of Nintendo releases and related products. The event is infamous in a number of ways, not limited to the ominous ending of its life; most notably, the showing of a “mature link” Zelda demo, depicting a dramatic battle with Gannondorf, and the lineup of then-Nintendo second-party developer Rare on Nintendo platforms. Some of the games that were shown would never see the light of day thanks to Nintendo’s decision to rid themselves of all stock in the developer to none other than their fierce competitor Microsoft. Apparently, it was in Nintendo’s best interests; Rare was and still is notorious for taking an abnormally long time to move software out of development hell, and strong sales are never a full guarantee.

While any Nintendo higher-up would agree that hits like Donkey Kong Country and Banjo Kazooie were big moneymakers, duds like Jet Force Gemini and Starfox Adventures (the latter of which took nearly seven years to see release) were massive cash-sinks that left the company high and dry. Rare was gone; and so was every single release they had planned for a Nintendo platform.

Or so fans thought. On an uncharicteristically friendly whim, Microsoft allowed Rare to continue development for Nintendo platforms, albeit only handheld ones. And in what some Nintendo fans might cite as a strange twist of fate, Rare has released more games for Nintendo than they have for Microsoft in the years since they made the move to the “green side.” And this may stay true for some time: It was recently announced that their sophomore release for Microsoft, Conker: Live and Reloaded (a remake of Conker’s Bad Fur Day for the Nintendo 64), would be delayed once again.

And now, almost five years since Spaceworld 2000 precipitated the launch of Diddy Kong Pilot, that game has finally seen release, this time with properties belonging to Rare. Never mind the fact that this game was fully playable under its original title in 2001, and we’re all pretty sure that it doesn’t take four years to change the character sprites... We’ve waited long enough, so it had better be good, right? And it is. While the newly named Banjo Pilot is no Mario Kart, as much as it tries to be, the game has surprisingly smooth controls for a free-flying mode 7 game, to the extent that I cry to the gaming gods for a handheld Starfox game, and the tracks are not half bad, considering that they are a strange idea to put into play in what is a flying game.

Banjo Pilot plays like a game released after the advent of Super Mario Kart should. Set up in the familiar format of separate “cups,” except this time players must unlock each track as they play through the game, giving them an incentive to play through the game. This is the only area of that game that troubled me much. I found most of the tracks in the first cup to be extremely easy, almost to the point of embarassment, and I’m sure most players will feel the same way. Once the fun of playing around with the flawlessly smooth flight controls wore off, most of the initial races felt like a massive chore. However, once the difficulty picked up and I had to work at mastering the controls, the game was once again a blast, straight through the final track.

Like Mario Kart before it, Banjo Pilot sticks to a handful of established ideas that make up the bulk of its gameplay, with only the smallest changes made to the mechanics outside of the monumental difference that is flying about in a plane. Tracks are set up in distinct themes (desert, snow, etc.), have crazy obstacles (ostriches, statues), and are filled with items to combat other players with. It’s contrived, sure, but it works, and Rare makes it work extremely well here.

Multiplayer battles are where this game shines best. The fact that this is the best thing about owning this cartridge makes me sad that I now do most of my Gameboy Advance gaming on my Nintendo DS, with its irritating lack of GBA link support. (This, along with Doom and the Advance Wars games, will keep my GBA in my back pocket for a long time to come, or at least until a good multiplayer first-person shooter and a new Advance Wars game come out for the DS.) The great selection of items and fun aspects of constant shooting battles (every plane is armed with unlimited machinegun shots) -- i.e., the things that separate this game from Mario Kart -- are all at their best when playing with a friend. If you think you got angry at your buddy during a game of Double Dash!!, wait ‘till you give this one a try...

Banjo Pilot’s art style is simply phenomenal, and makes me pray for a new Banjo game to come out one of these days. It feels good to see these characters again, even if I wasn’t the biggest fan of the original games. Instead of being the jagged, pixelated masses that most sprites end up appearing as in your usual mode 7 release, everything here is extremely clear and animated with a smoothness one would not expect, given the platform on which this has been released. Vibrant colors and an extremely smooth framerate both lend a hand directly to the gameplay, and make Banjo Pilot one of the best experiences to release on the Gameboy Advance this year.

And it sounds great, too. I’ve never been a big fan of Rare’s musical choices (see: Donkey Kong Country), but sometimes they hit ‘em straight outta the park, and this is one of those times. I guess the Banjo series is blessed in this regard.

While I would always rather pick up a Mario Kart game, it’s great to have something that feels fresh in what is inherently a narrow genre. When it comes to multiplayer matches, this one will be the reigning king in my Gameboy for a long time to come, though I admittedly won’t be popping it into my link port-less NDS again. If you’re still playing on your SP and you have a friend to throw this game in with, get Banjo Pilot ASAP.

Score: 8.0/10