"Bears no longer need a bird to fly!"
Banjo-Pilot is an airplane racing game based on Banjo-Kazooie, developed by Rareware and published by THQ for the Game Boy Advance in 2005.
In this game, you play as one of nine different characters from Banjo-Kazooie; Banjo, Kazooie, Mumbo, Jinjo, Humba, Bottles, Jolly Roger, Gruntilda, or Klungo. Banjo, Kazooie, Mumbo, and Jinjo are available at the start, and as you win the races and collect Cheato pages, you can unlock the rest of the characters. Each Grand Prix consists of four racing stages and one boss stage. The goal of the game is to get the most points in the grand prix. The better your position in the grand prix, the more points you'll earn. If you manage to rack up enough points, you'll have to take down the cup's reigning champion in a boss battle. Defeat the champion and you'll win the trophy.
This game provides examples of:
- Alliterative Title: Each of the boss battles have these kinds of titles; Kazooie Klash, Humba Horror, Banjo Brawl, Bottles Bother, Jolly Roger Joust, Mumbo Maul, Klungo Karnage, and Grunty Gallop.
- Amusement Park of Doom: Witchyworld, which serves as the first track of the Feather Cup.
- Ascended Extra: Jolly Roger was the "primary" character of his level in Tooie, but it was still only one level, and he didn't have any impact on the game's overall plot. However, he was an unlockable character in Banjo-Pilot (with all the other characters being the series' staples).
- The Cameo: Expresso, an animal buddy from Donkey Kong Country appears in Jinxy's Dunes.
- Composite Character: Grunty's appearance in this game has her design from Banjo-Kazooie. However, like her counterpart from Banjo-Tooie, she doesn't speak in rhyme.
- Dolled-Up Installment: This game was originally developed as Diddy Kong Pilot, a sequel to Diddy Kong Racing which would have featured characters and worlds from the Donkey Kong franchise. However, when Microsoft acquired Rare in 2002, Rare retooled the game to feature characters and worlds from the Banjo-Kazooie franchise. Expresso's cameo is presumably a remnant of the original plan.
- Eternal Engine: Grunty Industries, which serves as the third track of the Jiggy Cup.
- Fire, Ice, Lightning: These are all power-ups you can use against the other racers. Fire eggs can be used to attack from a distance, ice eggs create ice cubes that can be used to deflect enemy fire or be placed as an obstacle, and the lightning can be used to temporarily stun all the other racers.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: Grunty is one of the game's playable characters, but unlike in the main games, she poses no real threat to Banjo, Kazooie, or any of their friends.
- Green Hill Zone: Spiral Mountain, which serves as the first track of the Honeycomb Cup.
- Invincibility Power-Up: The Gold Feather makes you temporarily invincible and faster.
- Just Plane Wrong: The planes slow down when they fly over terrain such as grass. This would make more sense in car racing games due to friction.
- Lethal Lava Land:
- Hailfire Peaks, which serves as the fourth and final track of the Honeycomb Cup.
- Steamy Vents, which serves as the third track of the Beehive Cup.
- Level in the Clouds: Each boss battle takes place in the cloudy skies.
- Logo Joke: When you start up the game, Banjo flies to the left side of the screen, pulling a banner with the THQ logo on it. Kazooie then flies on the right side of the screen as the Rare logo appears, which Grunty smashes through as she appears from the left side of the screen. All of the racers then appear from the left side of the screen as they fly past the game's title.
- Mascot Racer: This game is an airplane racing game featuring characters and worlds from the Banjo-Kazooie franchise.
- Mirror World: The tracks in the Grunty GP are all reversed versions of the tracks in the Bottles GP.
- Palmtree Panic:
- Treasure Trove Cove, which serves as the first track of the Jiggy Cup.
- Jolly Roger's Lagoon, which serves as the fourth and final track of the Beehive Cup.
- Breegull Beach, which serves as the second track of the Feather Cup.
- Prehistoria: Terrydactyland, which serves as the third track of the Feather Cup.
- River of Insanity: Clanker's River, which serves as the second track of the Jiggy Cup.
- Ruins for Ruins' Sake: Mayahem Temple, which serves as the first track of the Beehive Cup.
- Shifting Sand Land:
- Jinxy's Dunes, which serves as the second track of the Honeycomb Cup.
- Gobi's Valley, which serves as the fourth and final track of the Jiggy Cup.
- Slippy-Slidey Ice World:
- Freezeezy Peak, which serves as the third track of the Honeycomb Cup.
- Freezing Furnace, which serves as the first track of the Beehive Cup.
- Cauldron Keep, which serves as the fourth and final track of the Feather Cup.
- Wacky Racing: Banjo Pilot is a racing game based on flying tiny, adorable planes.
