Banjo-Kazooie returns to Nintendo after over a decade away through Nintendo Switch Online this week

Banjo-Kazooie
(Image credit: Rare)

Banjo-Kazooie will be available to play on the Nintendo Switch from tomorrow, Nintendo has revealed. 

Announced in a Tweet from Nintendo, Banjo-Kazooie will be joining the likes of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Super Mario 64 when it gets added to the Nintendo Switch Online expansion pack - which allows members to play classic Nintendo 64 games on the current-gen console - on January 20, 2022. 

A clear fan favorite, Banjo-Kazooie was announced to be joining the online service on December 10, 2021. The Nintendo Switch Online expansion pack however has been live and kicking on several member’s Nintendo Switch consoles since October 2021. Not only are subscribers able to revisit their favorite N64 games, but also NES, SNES, and Sega Megadrive games - which are also available as part of the package. 

The original Banjo-Kazooie game was released on Nintendo  64 back in 1998 and was developed by Rare. The successful 3D platformer went on to spawn two sequels, Banjo-Tooie back in 2000, and later, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts in 2008. Not forgetting the two Game Boy Advance spin-off games, Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge and Banjo-Pilot. 

In more recent years, you can find both Banjo and Kazooie in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate after they were implemented into the game as part of Fighter Pass Challenger Pack 3 back in 2019. Not only do players get to fight as Banjo and Kazooie, but they also get an exclusive stage Spiral Mountain and a number of musical themes.

Want to know what else you can look forward to playing this year? Take a look at our list of upcoming Switch games.

Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.  

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