Banjo-Kazooie is one of those N64 games that just oozes charm from every pixel. You start off as Banjo, this dopey-looking bear, and his snarky bird pal Kazooie who lives in his backpack—yeah, it’s weird, but it works. Gruntilda the witch kidnaps Banjo’s sister, and suddenly you’re hopping around colorful worlds collecting musical notes, puzzle pieces (called Jiggies), and listening to some of the most ridiculous voice acting ever. The first level, Mumbo’s Mountain, throws you right into it: climbing trees, dodging crocodiles, and figuring out how to use Kazooie’s weird abilities (like shooting eggs or doing a weird flutter jump).

The worlds get progressively wilder—one minute you’re in a pirate cove, the next you’re inside a giant mechanical shark. And the music? Absolute earworms. It’s got that classic Rareware humor too, with characters spouting gibberish dialogue and Grunty roasting you in rhyming couplets. Some of the later puzzles get pretty tricky, but stumbling onto a hidden area or finally nabbing that last Jiggy feels so satisfying. If you missed this one back in the day, it’s aged way better than most N64 platformers.