Rare’s classic platformer, Banjo-Kazooie, will be available on the Nintendo Switch in January 2022 for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers.
Banjo and Kazooie are joining other console classics such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Mario Kart 64 in the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, which was launched in October. The classic N64 platformer developed by Rare originally launched in 1998 and featured a bear named Banjo and a red bird called Kazooie. Both were controlled by the player as they fought against the evil plans of the witch Gruntilda.
More recently, Banjo and Kazooie have appeared in Super Smash Bros Ultimate, where they were added as a DLC fighter, as well as being represented in a crossover with Sega’s All-Star Racing. Head of Rare Craig Duncan tweeted about the launch of the game on Switch, mentioning that “it’s really important to preserve classic games for future generations to play.”
Rare Limited is a British game developer famous for well-known classics such as Donkey Kong and other more recently popular games such as Sea of Thieves. The Banjo-Kazooie franchise, however, was one of Rare’s biggest successes. After starting on N64, the famous duo became the stars of several sequels that appeared on the Game Boy Advance and Xbox 360, later making a comeback on Xbox One under the Rare Replay compilation released in 2015.
Banjo-Kazooie will be available on Nintendo Switch Online as part of the Online Expansion Pack this coming January.
