Grunty’s Furnace Fun (Banjo-Kazooie)

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It's not a good idea to put levels like these in games, because this gives them a somewhat bad fame.

Grunty’s Furnace Fun is a level in Banjo-Kazooie, and is overall the tenth and final level before you fight Gruntilda the Witch.

This level has been deeply hated and has received a lot a negative feedback from players, and it is probably considered as one of the worst levels in the series.

Why it Sucks

  1. This level appears to be a quiz level, which means you have to answer some questions about not only about ALL the past stuff you did in the game, but also about what was in the levels you’ve completed, The characters in the game, and even about Gruntilda herself, which can be very frustrating as you might have a hard time remembering.
    1. Also, remember all the things that Brentilda said? You know, were she says all of Gruntilda's gross secrets? They are mandatory for you to hear in order to solve all of Grantilda-themed questions. Things is, a lot of Players will not know to do that as they would think that all of the things that Brentilda said is just a little gag to the Players, and they would ignore them, so to have a lot of Grantilda-theme question is a complete cheap move.
  2. Once you get to a question, you’re tested on a VERY UNFAIR time limit, with each question lasting up to only 10 Seconds.
    1. To add an insult to injury to this is that once you (As Banjo/Kazooie) are on a question, the player CAN’T pause the game which means there’s no way for the player to actually take their time and think about the question.
  3. If you though all of that was bad, were here's the worst part, if you get an answer wrong, you will lose a Honey Comb (which is your health) each time you get an answer wrong, yea you heard us, you lose heath if you get a wrong answer in a freaking quiz game!
  4. There are hardly any hints that the game gives you to help you with the questions.
  5. Throughout the level Gruntilda will constantly say a bunch of rhymes when asking you a question, which could get on your nerves very quickly.
  6. Oh, that red panel with the skull on it, it means that if you get even ONE question wrong on that, you’ll be pushed into the lava where you’ll lose a life.
  7. There are also these time attack challenges where, you have to replay some of the events that you’ve passed in the previous levels in the game, but this time you’re being timed on.
    1. This can also be a pain if that mini game happens to be the mini game that you hate.
  8. Speaking of WIS #6 if you happen to lose a life on any of the tiles, no matter how far you are, you have to start the whole level ALL OVER again from the beginning.
  9. Overall this level pretty much relies too much on trial and error, and it could take forever to actually remember some the questions, even the ones you got wrong.
  10. This level pulls off a a very nasty move near the near, as there is a skull panel that serves as the final panel of the level, which is an extremely cheap move.

Redeeming Qualities

  1. The levels design is decent.
  2. This level can be nice to you, as you can get Joker Cards, and if you have any, you can use them to skip a level.

Tips

  1. Be sure you have lots of lives, you’re definitely going to need them.
  2. Be sure you have plenty of honey combs.
  3. Be sure you’re at full health.
  4. If you happen to have al least one Joker Card, save it for the final panel, as it is the skull panel.