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This article is about Banjo & Kazooie appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For other uses, see Banjo and Kazooie.

Banjo & Kazooie are newcomers in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. They were revealed at the Nintendo Direct shown at E3 2019, alongside Hero, and was released on September 4th. Their fighter number is #73.

Attributes[]

Strengths[]

  • Since Kazooie lacks a hurtbox of her own for every action except Talon Trot, Banjo can make use of a disjointed playstyle with a great many of his attacks.
  • Wonder Wing has priority over almost every attack in the game, which makes approaching projectile characters easy.
  • A third midair jump allows for an easier time recovering, as well as the ability to turn while in the air.
  • Shock Spring Pad does not put him in special-fall, which can be good against ledge guarding characters.

Weaknesses[]

  • Breegull Blaster cancels all of their other moves while active, which can leave them open to attack if an opponent has a reflector or projectile-cancelling ability.
  • Their Side Special, Wonderwing, has a maximum number of uses at 5, which cannot be refilled without or before losing a stock.
  • They can damage themselves with Rear Egg.

Summary[]

To be added.

Moveset[]

Ground Attacks[]

Normal[]

  • Neutral Attack: Claws forward with both hands and then finishes with an uppercut. If button mashed, Kazooie pecks repeatedly at alternating angles and finishes with a beak slash, referencing the Rat-a-Tat Rap attack she used in Banjo-Kazooie.
  • Forward Tilt: Banjo grabs Kazooie and pokes her beak forward.
  • Up Tilt: Banjo kicks upwards. KO's midweights at about 115%
  • Down Tilt: Banjo crouches down and Kazooie dives forward.
  • Dash Attack: Banjo rolls forward.

Smash Attacks[]

  • Side Smash: Banjo slams Kazooie's body forward.
  • Up Smash: Kazooie drills upward with her beak.
  • Down Smash: Kazooie slams her wings down on both sides.

Other attacks[]

Aerial Attacks[]

  • Neutral Aerial: Banjo and Kazooie spin while Kazooie has her wings out.
  • Up Aerial: Kazooie bats her wings together upward.
  • Forward Aerial: Banjo performs an overhead swing, can kill at higher percents but has slow startup lag.
  • Back Aerial: Kazooie pecks repeatedly behind Banjo while mid-air.
  • Down Aerial: Kazooie dives downward with her beak. Can meteor smash if sweet-spotted.

Grabs and Throws[]

  • Grab: Mid-ranged. Banjo grabs the opponent with his left hand. Both Kazooie and Banjo stare menacingly at the enemy.
  • Pummel: Kazooie pecks the opponent.
  • Up Throw: Banjo hoists the fighter up, and crouches down for Kazooie to peck them once.
  • Forward Throw: Banjo lets go of the opponent briefly, so that Kazooie can kick them with both feet, once.
  • Back Throw: Banjo spins the enemy counter-clockwise a few times, and let go with his left hand, then his right hand. Similar to Mario's back throw.
  • Down Throw: Banjo hoists the fighter up, then slams them on the ground with enough force to bury them. Similar to King K. Rool's down throw.

Special Moves[]

Banjo & Kazooie's Special Moves
Ultimate
Standard Special Breegull Blaster
Side Special Wonderwing
Up Special Shock Spring Jump
Down Special Rear Egg
Final Smash The Mighty Jinjonator

Taunts[]

  • Up Taunt: Banjo stands on his toes, stretching his body and arms (A reference to an idle animation in Nuts and Bolts), while Kazooie pokes her head out to yawn.
  • Side Taunt: Banjo and Kazooie swerve from left to right (and vice versa) in sync while looking at each other, followed by a confident thumbs up.
  • Down Taunt: Banjo performs a bow from right to left, subsequently giving his signature 'Guh huh!' each time [1].

On-Screen Appearance[]

Idle Poses[]

  • Kazooie pecks Banjo on the head. A reference to their idle animation in Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie.
  • Kazooie comes out and checks the surroundings.

Victory Poses[]

  • Banjo collects a Jiggy and gives a thumbs up while saying his signature "Guh huh!"
  • Banjo does a jig on the spot, before bowing twice and saying "Guh huh! Guh huh!" Kazooie also pops out to strike a pose. This is the dance they do when they unlock a Note Door
  • Banjo and Kazooie play their signature instruments and strike a pose together, a reference to the intro sequence to Banjo-Kazooie.

In Competitive Play[]

Banjo & Kazooie were initially met with a mildly positive reception due to their strong and flexible moves (such as forward aerial, forward tilt, smash attacks, Wonderwing, and Rear Egg), their ability to zone and edge trap effectively, and their versatile recovery. Their viability was strengthened with Tweek's 5th place at Glitch 7 - Minus World. However, the duo's flaws, including their below-average speed, problems with juggling and scoring KOs, fairly noticeable lag on their moves, and a barely adequate grab game, quickly became a problem. Despite their flaws and Tweek dropping the duo almost immediately after Glitch 7, opinions on Banjo & Kazooie's viability remained somewhat positive, as they garnered a sizeable playerbase that included huto, Raito, and Trela, the latter of whom defeated VoiD at The Big House 9. As a result, the early consensus among professionals, such as Mew2King and ESAM, was that the duo was between mid tier and the lower end of high tier.

However, ever since the end of 2019, Banjo & Kazooie have seen a decline in both results and reception, with several players such as the aforementioned 3 dropping them. Many players believe that they are only at their strongest in an online environment, while others believe that they are low tier overall. While Banjo & Kazooie are generally considered a respectable fighter, their viability as a solo main is widely disputed due to their competitive results being quite lacking compared to metagame-relevant fighters.

Classic Mode: Perfect Partners[]

Banjo & Kazooie's Classic Mode comprises opponents featured as a duo, akin to themselves being partners. Several of the music and stage combinations reference various worlds from the first Banjo-Kazooie game.

Palette Swaps[]

Banjo & Kazooie Palette (SSBU)

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Banjo & Kazooie's code name within the game's files is "buddy", due to being the only duo so far in the Fighters Pass.
  • Ultimate marks Banjo & Kazooie's first physical appearance in a decade, as their last playable appearance was in the Xbox 360-port of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, released in 2010.
    • It is also their first appearance on a Nintendo console in over 14 years, last appearing in Banjo-Pilot on the Game Boy Advance in 2005.
  • Banjo & Kazooie are the first characters:
    • To come from a Western-developed series, as Rare is localized in the United Kingdom
    • To be owned by one of Nintendo's rivals in the console and game-publishing markets
      • By extension, they are the first third-party characters to have once been a second-party series by Nintendo before Microsoft's purchase of Rare.
    • To not have any of the games in their series to be available on the Nintendo Switch
      • Joker fit this criteria as well at the time of his release until Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers came out in Japan
    • To vocalize while dashing
  • Banjo & Kazooieโ€™s reveal trailer is a sequel to King K. Roolโ€™s own reveal trailer, as a nod to Rare being the developers of the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy and the Banjo-Kazooie series. Their introduction tagline, "Banjo-Kazooie are raring to go!", is also a reference to Rare.
    • Interestingly, the tagline refers to them as Banjo-Kazooie, the name of their game series instead of their actual names separated.
  • Banjo & Kazooie are the first DLC fighters to have repurposed voice lines as opposed to new lines recorded specifically for Smash. Min Min would later follow suit.
  • Kazooie is the second female Third-Party character in Smash after Bayonetta.
  • Kazooie, along with Falco and the duck from Duck Hunt, are the only playable avian characters in Smash.
  • When performing a successful parry, Banjo's pose resembles an Extra Life from Banjo-Kazooie.
  • When dashing, the flames that emit after consuming a Superspicy Curry will shoot backwards. This is due to Banjo being the one to eat the curry and is facing backwards during Talon Trot.
  • Banjo & Kazooie's Classic Mode route theme is shared with the Ice Climbers, being opponents comprised of duos.
  • Banjo's backpack has a second flap at the bottom that opens up for Kazooie to perform Talon Trot and Grenade Egg, which is unlike the original series. According to Steve Mayles, the creator of Banjo-Kazooie, he initially wanted to do this but couldn't add the additional joint due to the Nintendo 64's hardware limitations.
  • Kazooie can be seen waving at the camera when they use the Dragoon.
  • Banjo & Kazooie and the Hero are the first DLC fighters to appear in the CGI portion of another DLC fighter's reveal, being Sephiroth's, with Min Min following suit in Kazuya's trailer.

Videos[]


Smash Ultimate logo glow  ยท Fighters
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Newcomers Banjo & Kazooie  ยท Byleth  ยท Chrom  ยท Daisy  ยท Dark Samus  ยท Hero  ยท Incineroar  ยท Inkling  ยท Isabelle  ยท Joker  ยท Kazuya  ยท Ken  ยท King K. Rool  ยท Min Min  ยท Piranha Plant  ยท Pyra/Mythra  ยท Richter  ยท Ridley  ยท Sephiroth  ยท Simon  ยท Sora  ยท Steve  ยท Terry
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Characters Boss Rathalos
Assist Trophies Akira Yuki  ยท Bomberman  ยท Rathalos  ยท Shovel Knight
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Background characters Athena Asamiya  ยท Chang Koehan & Choi Bounge  ยท Goro Daimon  ยท Iori Yagami  ยท King  ยท Kyo Kusanagi  ยท Ralf Jones & Clark Still  ยท Ryo Sakazaki  ยท Yuri Sakazaki
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Items Boss Galaga  ยท Special Flag
Music Lists List of Music (Namco games)  ยท List of Music (SNK games)  ยท List of Music (Monster Hunter / Undertale / Cuphead / Shantae)
Songs "MEGALOVANIA"  ยท "Psycho Soldier Theme"
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