Banjo-Kazooie
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50 free Banjo-Kazooie trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Banjo-Kazooie arrived in 1998 and became one of the best-loved platformers on the Nintendo 64. A laid-back bear and a sharp-tongued bird set out to rescue a kidnapped sister from a jealous witch, and the adventure famously ends with a trivia board game hosted by the villain herself. This quiz follows the same idea. It covers the heroes and the villains, the worlds and their collectibles, the moves and magic transformations, the music, and the story of how Rare built the original. It also takes in the sequels, the handheld spin-offs and the duo's guest appearances elsewhere. It is written for anyone who grew up with the series, anyone discovering it through a modern re-release, and anyone who wants to see how they would fare in the witch's hot seat. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so you can play straight through or print it for a group.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Before starring in Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo made his debut as a playable driver in which Nintendo 64 kart racer?
Diddy Kong Racing
Diddy Kong Racing filled Nintendo's Christmas 1997 schedule after Banjo-Kazooie slipped to the following summer. Rare had been building it as Pro-Am 64 and swapped in Diddy Kong to give it a bigger name.
Q 02Kazooie spends Banjo-Kazooie riding in which item, originally meant to sprout wings and fast-running legs?
A backpack
A backpack came first: the designers wanted wings and sprinting legs to pop out of it so Banjo could double-jump and run fast. They then decided the limbs should belong to a second character living inside.
Q 03Which younger sister of Banjo is kidnapped by the witch Gruntilda, who wants to steal her beauty, in Banjo-Kazooie?
Tooty
Tooty was first shown to the press in 1997 as Banjo's girlfriend, under the name Piccolo. By release she had become his kid sister, judged the prettiest girl around by a talking cauldron.
Q 04An early look at which Nintendo title convinced Rare to rebuild Banjo-Kazooie as a full 3D adventure?
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 reached Rare in a 'really, really early' version, two months into Banjo's short life as a 2.5D side-scroller. The team dropped that approach and built a new 3D engine.
Q 05What are the golden jigsaw pieces called that Banjo and Kazooie collect to open new worlds in Banjo-Kazooie?
Jiggies
Jiggies slot into unfinished pictures around the witch's lair, and each completed picture unlocks a world. The lead designer wanted a shiny collectible that 'could actually be used for something'.
Q 06Mumbo Jumbo can turn Banjo into a termite, a walrus, a honeybee and which Halloween favourite in Banjo-Kazooie?
A pumpkin
A pumpkin is the only one of Mumbo's five spells that is not an animal. The small forms were added to give some of the worlds a different sense of scale.
Q 07Xbox boss Phil Spencer called it an 'easy deal' to let Banjo and Kazooie join which crossover fighter in 2019?
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate added the pair as a single fighter in September 2019, with a stage based on their home. They had been the second most requested character in a 2015 fan vote.
Q 08After two years trapped under a boulder, the witch Gruntilda returns in Banjo-Tooie in what grisly form?
A skeleton
A skeleton is all that is left of Gruntilda when her sisters dig her out, so she plots to drain the land's life force and regrow her body. By the end she has even less of herself left.
Q 09In the 2008 Xbox 360 sequel Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, what must players build to complete its challenges?
Vehicles
Vehicles replace the running and jumping of the first two adventures, with more than 1,600 parts to bolt together. Fans were divided, though the idea has since been called ahead of its time.
Q 10Rare wanted Banjo-Kazooie to charm players of every age in the same way as which studio's animated films?
Disney
Disney was the model: Rare aimed the characters at younger players but gave them enough humour and attitude to keep adults on board. A few of Kazooie's sarcastic lines were still rejected for pushing the E rating.
Q 11Which mole teaches Banjo and Kazooie new moves in Banjo-Kazooie, then is killed by a spell early in Banjo-Tooie?
Bottles
Bottles ignores his friends' warnings and dies in the blast that flattens Banjo's house, so his ghost asks the heroes to bring him back. He is revived once the witch's life-draining weapon is thrown into reverse.
Q 12Which creatures, hidden five to a world in Banjo-Kazooie, help knock Gruntilda off her lair in the final battle?
Jinjos
Jinjos stand and whistle until Banjo finds them, then return in force for the rooftop fight. Their own designer later called them the most ill-considered collectable in the adventure.
Q 13Which collectible, found 100 to a world, opens the doors to new sections of Gruntilda's Lair in Banjo-Kazooie?
Musical notes
Q 21Which friendly sister of Gruntilda feeds Banjo and Kazooie the secrets they need to win the Banjo-Kazooie quiz?
Brentilda
Brentilda is the helpful one of the family, and the facts she hands over get the heroes through the final quiz. In the sequel, two far less kindly sisters turn up to free the witch.
Q 22Which minion of Gruntilda helps build her beauty-stealing machine in Banjo-Kazooie, then quits on her in Banjo-Tooie?
Klungo
Klungo loses to the heroes several times in Banjo-Tooie and is beaten by his boss after each defeat, so he abandons her. He later fronts a side-scrolling parody minigame in Nuts & Bolts.
Q 23In Banjo-Kazooie, what does Kazooie fire at enemies from either her front or her rear?
Blue eggs
Musical notes are lost when Banjo dies or leaves a level in the Nintendo 64 original, a deliberate choice to balance the difficulty. The most demanding door in the lair asks for 882 of them.
Q 14Banjo and Kazooie share which home region with the witch Gruntilda, whose lair is cut into its cliffs?
Spiral Mountain
Spiral Mountain is home to hero and villain alike, which is how the witch comes to envy Banjo's sister next door. In Nuts & Bolts, the deed to the whole place is the prize.
Q 15Which 2017 spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie, starring a chameleon and a bat, was made by former Rare staff?
Yooka-Laylee
Yooka-Laylee was pitched on Kickstarter by the new studio Playtonic Games and passed its £175,000 target within 38 minutes. The campaign went on to raise more than £2 million.
Q 16Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge, a story set between the two Nintendo 64 adventures, came out on which handheld console?
Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance owners got the interquel in 2003, after Rare had left Nintendo's fold, so THQ published it instead. It had first been planned for the older Game Boy Color.
Q 17Instead of recorded speech, which sound accompanies the on-screen dialogue of characters in Banjo-Kazooie?
Mumbling
Mumbling gave each character a personality without full voice acting, which Rare feared could ruin how players imagined them. One reviewer compared the effect to Charlie Brown's teacher.
Q 18Which composer wrote the soundtrack of Banjo-Kazooie and also created every one of its sound effects?
Grant Kirkhope
Grant Kirkhope also supplied voices, including Mumbo Jumbo and most of the villains. It was the first time he had handled all the music and effects for a single release.
Q 19What is the quiz show called that Gruntilda hosts near the end of Banjo-Kazooie, offering Banjo's sister as a prize?
Grunty's Furnace Fun
Grunty's Furnace Fun was added to make the adventure stand out from other platformers. Beating it leans on gossip about the witch that her own good-natured sister shares earlier on.
Q 20Kazooie, the red-crested bird who rides with Banjo, belongs to which fictional species in Banjo-Kazooie?
Breegull
Breegull is an invented species, and Kazooie is the troublemaker of the duo. Her own name comes from the kazoo, an instrument her designer found as annoying as her personality.
Blue eggs can be shot forwards or dropped behind, and the pair can carry 100 of them at first. The idea of a bird laying ammunition mystified some of the gaming press at the 1997 unveiling.
Q 24Which collectible item shields Banjo and Kazooie from damage when it is used in Banjo-Kazooie?
Gold feathers
Gold feathers protect the pair, while the red kind are spent on flying. Even then, Kazooie can only take off from special pads marked with a red plume.
Q 25Which hidden items, two to a world, extend the shared health bar of Banjo and Kazooie in Banjo-Kazooie?
Honeycomb pieces
Honeycomb pieces come empty and exist only to lengthen the health bar, a fitting reward for a hero described as a honey bear. Statues of Banjo, by contrast, hand out extra lives.
Q 26Which move lets Kazooie carry Banjo quickly up slopes that are too steep for the bear in Banjo-Kazooie?
Talon Trot
Talon Trot swaps the walking around, so the bird runs faster than the bear can. She is also the quicker swimmer of the two, although she turns less sharply than he does.
Q 27Which speed-boosting shoes help Banjo and Kazooie reach a destination before time runs out in Banjo-Kazooie?
Turbo Trainers
Turbo Trainers give a short burst of speed for timed challenges. The other collectible footwear lets Kazooie cross hazards such as piranha-filled water and shifting sands.
Q 28Which spell book hidden in Gruntilda's Lair rewards Banjo and Kazooie with codes that raise their item limits?
Cheato
Cheato hands out secret codes that double how much ammunition the pair can hold. In a later racing spin-off, loose pages torn from him serve as the currency.
Q 29Which sentient cauldron sets off Banjo-Kazooie by telling Gruntilda she is not the prettiest girl around?
Dingpot
Dingpot resents the witch for her years of abuse, so after her quiz show he switches sides. He helps the heroes reach the roof of the lair for the real final battle.
Q 30Which animal briefly replaced the boy hero of Dream, Rare's cancelled project, before Banjo the bear took over?
A rabbit
A rabbit held the starring role for only 'two or three days' before the developers settled on a bear in a cap. The original boy, Edson, had come to seem too generic.