Banjo Kazooie started development on the SNES under the title Project Dream. The game was originally planned as an RPG, with a young human protagonist named Edison who had caused trouble with a group of pirates led by a man called Captain Blackeye.

Super Mario 64 and its 3D design were the main influences behind Banjo Kazooie. The game was also modeled visually after Donkey Kong Country.

Kazooie was named after the kazoo instrument. Gregg Mayles explained that the name was chosen because the kazoo is an annoying instrument, much like the personality of the bird.

The witch Gruntilda was inspired by the character Grotbags from the British television series of the same name.

Banjo Kazooie was released in 1998 for the Nintendo 64. Developed by Rare, it quickly became one of the system’s most beloved 3D platformers and a flagship title for the console.

The game was originally conceived as an RPG early in development. At the time, it was called Project Dream and featured a human boy as the main character before evolving into a platformer starring Banjo.

Banjo was redesigned from a dog into a bear. Rare felt a bear would be more visually appealing and easier to animate, which helped define the game’s iconic look.

Kazooie was added to make gameplay more dynamic. Her sarcastic personality and ability based movement gave the game more speed and variety compared to other platformers.

An image of Donkey Kong appeared in the game’s beta build but was later replaced with an image of Banjo’s sister, Tooty.

If you input too many illegal cheats in the sandcastle in Treasure Trove Cove, Gruntilda will permanently delete your save file. This does not take effect until you save and quit or turn off the console.

On the third file select screen, you can see Banjo and Kazooie playing a Game Boy. The sound effects coming from the Game Boy are taken from Donkey Kong Land.

The game sold over 3 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best selling Nintendo 64 titles.