Finally, Banjo Tooie is here to complete your Banjo compendium on the 360 – this, however, is the weakest game of the three. First released in 2000, very late on in the N64’s lifespan, the 360 port has been extremely well done by 4J. The character models are clean and pleasantly chunky, while the framerate problems that dogged the N64 version are. In essence, the game looks like it’s been painted with a really large paintbrush, a pleasant contrast to the visual styling of every other game on XBLA.

Still, the reason this is weaker than the original, as well as the recent Nuts & Bolts, is to do with the game’s regimented structure, replacing the multiple choice world-hopping that the other two games cleverly boast. Instead, Banjo Tooie is arranged like a Zelda adventure: receive an objective, go for a long walk then solve it, before moving onto the next one. It’s a little dull, and the world is too big for its own good.

Then again, it isn’t nearly without merit. Despite the always irritating, intrusive ‘cute’ dialogue, the script is super funny, while the overall presentation is sweet enough to sustain it. Sadly, though, this was the first game on the path of mighty Rare’s decline – Starfox Adventures and Grabbed By The Ghoulies followed.