Banjo-Kazooie: Wrath of the Winkybunion

Banjo-Kazooie: Wrath of the Winkybunion, also known as Banjo-Kazooie 4 and Banjo Goes Fourthie is a 2022 game released by Nintendo on the Nintendo Switch Plus. It is technically the fifth game in the official Banjo-Kazooie lineup including the Game Boy Advance game Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge, but is commonly considered the "canon" fourth game in the franchise. It is also the first to appear on a Nintendo console since the spinoff title Banjo Pilot, and the first original Rare title on a Nintendo home console since Star Fox Adventures in 2002, following their purchase by Microsoft in 2003 (discounting the "Rare Replay" series of games that was released on Nintendo Switch and Switch Plus in 2021 and 2022). The game follows the plot established in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and features the bear and bird being forced to play through a new adventure due to Grunty the Witch taking over L.O.G.'s game factory and making her own game in order to save their friends and family, as she promised to do at the end of Nuts and Bolts.
==Game Development==
Banjo-Kazooie had originally been developed for the Nintendo 64, and was considered one of the premier franchises of that console, as well as one of the de facto mascot of Rare in particular. The franchise changed hands in 2002 when Microsoft purchased the UK based company for nearly $400 million dollars, looking to use them to develop their new XBox hardware. However, turnover and technical difficulties within the company caused any potential followup to Banjo-Kazooie (and its sequel, Banjo-Tooie) to languish in development hell. A third game in the franchise was finally released for the XBox 360 in November of 2008 in the form of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. Despite the game selling well and receiving mostly positive reviews, fans of the series criticized the game's abandonment of the traditional platforming elements of the series in favor of constructing vehicles, as well as (to a lesser extent) the visual style of the game as well.
The series continued to remain dormant for over a decade, despite re-releases of the original Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie on both the Xbox 360 Live Arcade and in the Rare Replay series on the XBox One. Talk of a new game rarely occurred outside of rumor and speculation. New speculation came in 2019 when Banjo-Kazooie was announced as a downloadable character in Super Smash Brothers Ultimate on the Nintendo Switch, as well as the release of an amiibo of the characters as well. Rumors of a remaster of the original games (which was later confirmed for release in late 2021) gave way to the potential for a new game in the series, when Nintendo announced at E3 2021 that they had acquired the rights to Banjo-Kazooie from Microsoft for an undisclosed amount. In Fall of 2021, the series was officially confirmed to have the working title of Banjo-Kazooie 4. A rumored title, "Banjo Goes Fourthie" was also bandied about, before the game's official subtitle "Wrath of the Winkybunion" was announced in early 2022. At that time it was also announced that original composer Grant Kirkhope would return to score the new game.
==Story==
Ten Years Have Passed since Banjo & Kazooie last defeated Grunty the Witch and secured their home in Spiral Mountain. However, the duo were content to rest on their laurels and royalty checks during that time, while the Witch toiled away in LOG's Game Factory...planning her revenge...
The game is set ten years after the end of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, with Banjo now being semi-retired and Kazooie having a second career as a retro gaming streamer on Flick.ms. The rest of the gang has also changed their roles, with Mumbo Jumbo starting up a magic academy, Bottles the mole having become a successful author, and a grown Tootie Bear now a social media influencer. Life is good on Spiral Mountain...but things are afoot to ruin our friends best lives...
Gruntilda the Witch, toiling away in L.O.G.'s Game Factory this entire time, has secretly been plotting her revenge, and has finally acquired the last piece of the puzzle, so to speak, in enlisting help from her wealthy father, Wartemis W. Winkybunion Sr. The magical business tycoon has come to his favorite daughter's aid, buying out L.O.G.'s game factory and enlisting all of L.O.G.'s power to trap Banjo-Kazooie and their friends in a game of Grunty's own design. In order to save their friends, Banjo & Kazooie must once again team up through 12 new worlds of platforming, note collecting, and Jiggy hunting if they want to stop the Wrath of the Winkybunions.
==Gameplay==
In a departure from Nuts & Bolts, Banjo-Kazooie 4 returns the game to the platforming and collecting gameplay that was made famous by the first two games in the series. Banjo & Kazooie retain most of their moves from these games, along with new ones, but to obtain moves they have to purchase them from Klungo using Notes so he can hack into the game to give them to you.
More to Come...
==Worlds & Characters==
Coming Soon...
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Category:Banjo-Kazooie Games
Category:Banjo-Kazooie (series)