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The Mindblowing Skyboxes of Banjo Kazooie

316K views · Nov 28, 2022 · Gaming

Any Austin

1.6M subscribers

Comments · 817

@any_austin · 3 years ago · pinned
B A N J O       is    V I S I T I N G R U S T Y   B U C K E T    B A Y Don’t hate me for trying new titles and thumbnails it’s the same content I just want more people to see it. <a href="https://www.patreon.com/any_austin">https://www.patreon.com/any_austin</a>
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@kitsovereign4127 · 3 years ago
"Banjo has an obsession with decay and suffering" I don't think that's deliberate commentary though, I think that's just what living in Britain is like
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@Titan.Tantrum · 3 years ago (edited)
I think the “black fading ceiling” skybox (or lack thereof), makes us feel like the area we’re in extends so far up that we can’t see the surface. Like a tall tower or the trees surrounding us are so tall that the forest/swamp is swallowing us. We naturally look for openings in our surroundings and when we can’t find one it makes us feel claustrophobic and enclosed.
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@demetreasandrews · 3 years ago
For 24 years I thought that Bubblegloop Swamp felt like it was in doors and you finally made me realize why I feel that way. Thank you
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@hazelnutspred3348 · 3 years ago
Guys this is absolutely mindblowing. I think banjo is visiting rusty bucket bay
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@KorriTimigan · 3 years ago
There was a theory many moons ago about that gate in Rusty Bucket Bay. The asset is reused in Banjo Tooie just outside the Grunty Industries building, so people thought that it would open with Stop N' Swop and you could travel between the two pollution themed worlds. That obviously didn't eventuate, but it still makes the "BANJO IS VISITING RUSTY BUCKET BAY" thing ring a little more true, especially when you learn that Banjo Tooie's worlds are all physical places on an island viewable from Cloud Cuckoo Land.
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@Dillweed9001 · 3 years ago
The Mad Monster Mansion skybox viewed from the top of the church makes me feel a way I can't even articulate. The foggy, yellow moon. The cemetery. That feeling of haunting mystery. But then again, I grew up with a mom that loves Tim Burton and Halloween, so that kind of aesthetic is very emotionally resonant with me.
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@dunsonmovies · 3 years ago
Really sent me galaxy braining with your description of the levels as "diorama-like." The game is already so postmodern (lots of references to cliches and expectations of structure and narrative and character, direct references in-dialogue to the actual mechanics of the game [hints of the way more hyper self-aware Conker's Bad Fur Day?]) so it makes sense to think of all of it, its settings, its characters, its collectibles especially, as abstractions. You're collecting the literal constitutive parts of the levels you're going to "put together" like a puzzle and then gain access to. What a weird game. What a weird company!
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@mu-suwi · 3 years ago (edited)
It's kind of subtle but the way Mad Monster Mansion's pale yellow moonlight fades into dark blue on its way towards black is a really beautiful gradient to me. The deep darkness of the moon's seas and the "noisiness" of the clouds (as in, the stark contrast between light and dark areas) also give the sky a kind of haunting quality, especially with the cognitive dissonance of the clouds passing behind the moon.  The halloween level standard creepy trees also add a lot of visual noise, maybe they push it over the top for somebody who isn't as much of a goth freak as me, but I love this skybox because it has such an edge to it. Most of the skyboxes in this game shoot for simple beauty and the rough edges like ugly-ass clouds are what give them character, but MMM is all rough edges and uncanniness with just a little bit of whimsy shining through. Like a good horror movie!
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@bartandaelus359 · 3 years ago
So a literary reason for starting in the green field areas is actually tied to the origin of the 'farm boy' trope which is a subsection of the Hero's Journey. You are presented with a nice, pleasant, safe space that is uncorrupted and easily identifiable as calm and homely and as the game or media progresses the environments become increasingly hostile and alien. By introducing us to a game in the green, pleasant spaces, to use your own example, Twilight Princess, the game allows us to bond with the 'home' of the characters and become accustomed briefly to the peace and status-quo of life for these characters. By making these environments increasingly alien we make the player long for a return to home in their subconscious, which is why often starting areas like Ordon Villiage or Besaid Island or Green Hill Zone feel so nostalgic. Hope that helps.
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@WilfredCthulu · 3 years ago
Again dk64... underappreciated for this stuff. That game took atmosphere and stuff like this that's already good in Banjo and just amplified it even more. You can like smell and feel how humid the places are in that game it's that good.
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@MetroAndroid · 3 years ago
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSsGnHB6AUI&t=615">10:15</a> Not just England, but Twycross, England, a small village where most of the early Rare games were developed (in barns) :)
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