GamExplain helps us unpack the recent news that a Banjoo-Kazooie spiritual successor, dubbedProject Ukulele, is in the works. You can subscribe to their YouTube channel here.
As revealed in EDGE magazine, six former Rare staffers formed the developer working on Project Ukulele, named PlayTonic Games. Don’t expect to get too many spoilers, because this game is in the very early stages of development.
Project Ukulele seems to be made in the same vein as Mighty No 9, which is both a new IP and a throwback to an older game genre. It just so happens that Microsoft’s Rare is working on a still-unnamed IP, and it’s highly possible that a real Banjoo-Kazooie sequel will come out at the same time as Project Ukulele.
Of these devs, one is the programmer for Donkey Kong Country, one is the character designer for the characters Banjo and Kazooie, and one is an environment artist who worked on multiple Rare adventure games. Presumably, none of these people were in Rare when they were sold to Microsoft. Grant Kirkhope has also all but confirmed his involvement in the project, tweeting about it constantly.
In fact, Grant shared this tweet, revealing something the GamExplain folks found on their own:
You can nearly see one of them! pic.twitter.com/pEAZ241ljn
— Grant Kirkhope (@grantkirkhope) February 11, 2015
GamExplain think that the character in front could be either a caiman, or a Berk-style Dragon, and the character at the back could be a bird.
GameXplain is worried that the game may not do well, given the dearth of the collect-a-thon as a genre. However, this may be not due to low interest from fans, but from publishers. The genre may have wound down when collect-a-thons became ridiculously loaded with collectibles, but based on the reaction to Banjo-Kazooie Nuts and Bolts, there is still a definite demand in the genre.
Based on the name, of course, it seems likely that the game will have a ukulele in the soundtrack, with possibly a return to the mirthful mix of bluegrass, country, folk, and classic symphonies.
Finally, the people at Playtonic stated that they would love to bring the game to Nintendo’s platforms, but as it is now, we are more likely to see it on Steam Early Access first.
Are you interested in Project Ukulele? What would you like to see from this game? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
