Banjo-Kazooie was one of the best games of the Nintendo 64, and the beloved game spawned a franchise that – unfortunately – didn’t last too long.
Despite the games starting out with Nintendo’s love behind them, Banjo, Kazooie, Gruntilda and even Conker toddled off to Microsoft – the company that currently owns Rare and its characters.
Banjo and his bird friend are now a thing of the past – but there’s now reason to believe we might be seeing more of gaming’s best bear.
People have been hoping, wishing and praying to see Banjo added to the roster of fighters that feature in the recently-released Nintendo Switch game, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
And even though it’s always seemed like a pipe dream, no-one’s exactly denied it’ll ever happen. Smash doesn’t just include characters owned by Nintendo, but this time sees the likes of Metal Gear Solid‘s Snake, Sonic the Hedgehog and even Persona 5‘s Joker will be appearing soon too.
Yep.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) March 20, 2018
So why do people think this is happening? Smash fans have been trawling through the game’s code to find out whatever they can about any upcoming fighters, and they just happened to stumble upon the titles of two Rare N64 franchises – Jet Force Gemini and Blast Corps [via UniLad].
Unfortunately, Banjo and Kazooie may not make it to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Or maybe they will. Let’s wait and see if Banjo and Kazooie make it to the roster.
— Jason Fabula (@JasonFabula) December 25, 2018
If these references do mean a partnership between Rare’s characters and Smash is in the works, it’s pretty much guaranteed we’ll be seeing Banjo in the future.
I’ve got a pretty strong feeling that Banjo and Kazooie are going to be in one of the Smash character add-ons; I’d be surprised if not. #SmashBrosUltimate
— Ferret (@FloofyFerret) December 25, 2018
It’s all still rumours for now, but fingers crossed!