Highlights
- The Bear Waker Deluxe mod lets players explore The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker's Outset Island in Banjo-Kazooie with new collectibles and Easter eggs.
- Banjo-Kazooie's huge fanbase is kept engaged with new mods and levels, with Bear Waker Deluxe offering a fun crossover experience.
- Kurko Mods, famous for Banjo-Kazooie crossovers, launched Bear Waker Deluxe, combining beloved Nintendo classics in a nostalgic mod.
A brand-new mod for the original Banjo-Kazooie lets players explore the starting island from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, complete with collectibles and Easter eggs for players to find. The Banjo-Kazooie mod Bear Waker Deluxe is an updated version of the previous Bear Waker mod from 2019 which lets players control the titular bear and bird as they explore The Wind Waker's Outset Island.
Banjo-Kazooie is one of the most iconic Nintendo 64 games out there, boasting a huge fanbase and modding community that has continued to keep the game relevant with new levels and additions coming out frequently. Meanwhile, GameCube classic The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker continues to be one of the most beloved entries in that series, despite its initially divisive debut of the cartoon-esque Link that later became a fan-favorite iteration of the character.
For a devout Nintendo fan, combining the two games might feel like a pipe dream, but renowned N64 modder Kurko Mods has done just that, taking to Twitter to reveal the launch of Bear Waker Deluxe with a brand-new trailer. An updated version of the original Bear Waker mod for Banjo-Kazooie, Bear Waker Deluxe boasts dozens of collectibles to find and the whole of Outset Island from The Wind Waker for players to explore, entirely within the N64's hardware.
Banjo-Kazooie: Bear Waker Crosses Over Two Beloved Nintendo Classics
The trailer shows Banjo and Kazooie platforming around Outset Island and collecting items as they encounter various locations and elements from the classic Gamecube title. The duo is seen gliding across the water to collect items and visiting a set of statues of giant heads aboard Link's talking sailboat from The Wind Waker called the King of Red Lions.
The original Banjo-Kazooie sees players controlling the titular bear and his bird companion as they collect jigsaw pieces known as Jiggies, musical notes, Mumbo Tokens, and honeycombs on their journey to defeat the evil witch Gruntilda. While it is unclear how Bear Waker Deluxe may tie into this game's story, if it does at all, each of these collectibles are present and hidden around the mod's map, and there is even a bonus for the creator's Patreon supporters and YouTube channel members.
This is not the first time Kurko Mods has released a Banjo-Kazooie/Zelda crossover, either, as the modder is also known for their work on the ROM hack The Legend of Banjo-Kazooie: The Jiggies of Time, which recreated areas from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Kurko Mods is currently working on another mod as well called BK Nostalgia 64, which will take Banjo and Kazooie to multiple different Nintendo 64 game worlds, including Super Mario, Donkey Kong, and even Rare's other iconic classic GoldenEye 007.
Platform(s) N64 , Xbox 360 Released June 28, 1998 Developer(s) Rare Publisher(s) Nintendo ESRB E for Everyone How Long To Beat 11 Hours X|S Enhanced No File Size Xbox Series 576 MB (May 2024) Expand
