Why NO ONE Plays: Banjo & Kazooie | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 

How ironic that the reason nobody plays B&K is because they are fair, sheerly because other characters can do what they do, but better. They aren’t bad, but it goes back to “Why settle for good, when you can have better?” Can’t help but feel sorry for them, especially after how many people lost it after that Jiggy bounced across the screen.

You forgot to credit Banjo for the best slow-walk in the game. Does 100% damage to the opponents morale after a K.O.

If Banjo's up-tilt scooped like Snake's, and/or his up-air was a move that actually has damage or knockback, and/or his up throw did something, he could be so much more viable. Banjo has no juggle game, especially at mid percent, which a bunch of edge guard and ledge trap characters have and that is probably his most fatal flaw fundamentally. But that's okay because he has the best taunts in the game.

Toriguri’s Banjo from Japan is actually surprisingly good, he beat Protobanham and MuteAce recently.

They’ve been my main since they dropped. People can put them wherever they want on a tier list but they are my main and I’m sticking with them because I enjoy that they’re in the game and want them to have more players. Thanks for posting about them because nobody everrrrr does

I just feel bad for this iconic duo since they did deserve better for being put into the game.

Honestly, the saddest part about Banjo is that his problems as a character aren’t a core part of his design like Little Mac or Ganondorf. All he needed was a few well placed buffs and he could’ve been a much better character. But, as of now, most of his moves just don’t feel like they do much. Not to mention Banjo has the second highest aerial landing lag in the game. Only Sephiroth’s is higher. What were they thinking?

I really do feel like Banjo should've at LEAST gotten the ability to fly like in his game. Also I like HDR's changes of changing aerial wonderwing to beak bomb, which uses red feathers that re-charge over time. This character deserved better, but at least he's fun to play in friendlies.

My friend mains Banjo, and he’s actually pretty fucking good at him. I struggle to beat it, despite being far more experienced at this game and placing Top 16 out of almost 100 people at my community college’s tournament last year (CAN I MENTION THAT IT WAS SPONSORED BY HYPERX?) He uses the projectiles as a trapping tool, but more in the sense that he is luring you into a trap. He does use wonder wing in bullshit scenarios, but he is VERY aggressive, which I admire.

Ugh. This one hurts. Banjo was one of my most requested characters. And I do enjoy playing them nonetheless. I hope that they come back for the next smash game (whenever that might be) and they are far better

I think why nobody plays Pac-Man, would be very interesting. Pac is generally regarded as a high tier character, number 14 on the official tier list, and with tons of potential, but is only repped by Tea at a top level.

I main banjo and i can say hes better then people give him credit for

Ohhh I was waiting for this one. Can I just mention that you and MockRock are my favorite SSBU content creators? Always intelligent and well put.

ive seen two directions people lean towards to attempt and fix him with "DLC vibes": 1) Smash Vs. Tilt Aerials. Similar to Robin, let him do Kazooie aerials for speed/range and Banjo Aerials for Power/Damage 2) "Collect-a-thon" meter of sorts where each hit on the opponent rewards him with a resource (Golden wing, Eggs, Grenade Egg) and then just buff those projectiles so that he can truly threaten in the zoning side of things so long as he has the ammo, making him a true "jack of all trades, lacking in none" Both seem like very interesting takes to me

Would you please do a why no one plays duckhunt? I see people comparing him to snake, and I understand why they do so. Then I compare them & wonder why snake is so popular even though duckhunt has similar tools. To make your comparison, I would agree that duckhunt has the wingding tool set that snake has. I have a few theories that are similar to why Rosa with side B & can being a sudo Luma, but I could be wrong. Thanks if you do so.

As a newer banjo player, everyone gets mad when I gimp them at 0 or do down throw at a high percent, or zone them out. I guess it's all about adapting, or rather using the tools you're given to make your opponent mad. You win every time

I love these two so much it’s a shame they suck

Banjo was my most wanted and even before the Direct, I KNEW he wouldn’t be high or top tier. If Sakurai was gonna be faithful to the bear and bird, he’d make them a zoner/trap character and that’s exactly what we got. I love these two and I’m glad they made it in, but I wish some of their moves were made better. Have U-tilt scoop, make Uair have less endlag for more combos, make Dair so you can survive it offstage. Hell, let Banjo get back Wonderwing feathers after taking a stock. I still appreciate that they’re in, but if they return in the next game they should definitely get a rework.

In a game where so many characters can dish out 35-60% combos left and right, Banjo just cant keep up. At the end of the day, his lacking damage output is by far his biggest flaw. I think it makes sense that the reason for his underwhelming damage and kill confirms is because the developers were scared of overturning the rest of his kit specifically because of wonderwing. This monster of a move does almost 30 percent in a single blow, is invincible, and has insane kill power. So they were overly conservative with the damage/kill power of the rest of his kit. Problem is, relying on a laggy move like wonderwing in competitive play is a recipe for disaster, so the developers balancing him around such a move left Banjo doomed to meta irrelevance.

Wait, I remember Banjo being able to have a guaranteed 2 frame at the ledge at any ledge grab angle vs even inkling with the start of wonder wing. Did they patch that out? That was what made his lackluster kit redeemable; if he ever got you off stage, you HAD to recover above the ledge or you died at 70.

i JUST picked up banjo today and was wondering if you had a video on him

I love Banjo so much, he is my unofficial 'third main' with how much I play him, and also the only person in my friend group who does play Banjo in any capacity. What is most remarkable is their versatility-- being able to swap strategies on the fly and frustrate the efforts of, well... just about anyone! The levels of creativity that can come out of them with projectile setups and keep-out game is very impressive, but they also require you to use your brain-- not instant gratification fighters like most competitive players choose to play, so it's not likely that he will be climbing up the ranks anytime soon... Banjo & Kazooie are one of the most balanced DLC fighters in Smash's history, and have no broken DLC jank to abuse for easy K.O.s, so no one plays them. It's quite unfortunate, since all it takes is for someone like Toriguri, Raito, or Tearbear to plug respectable results in one-to-two tournaments, and the player count would skyrocket.

Let’s enjoy Banjo and Kazooie while we still have them. We’ll be lucky to have half the roster intact when the next Smash game comes along

I've been playing Banjo since launch. His frame data is not good, his damage is lacking, his main kill moves are all slow, his projectiles aren't super great, he's combo food, and his execution is high if you actually wanna get results. Wonderwing is active frame 18, limited use, and super punishable. Blaster is good but you gotta setup for it. Grenade is an active threat but it comes out frame 10. (Snake's is frame 1 for comparison) His only really safe move on shield is fair if you space it perfectly. His fastest smash attack has little to no range. You gotta do a juggling act you get damage off with him effectively. He's got a shitload of problems to be viable, and his execution requirements are better saved for a top tier that does the same general stuff like Snake, Rob, or Diddy. That being said though. I have an absolute blast playing them. Banjo is the funnest character in the game to me, juggling people with blaster and then doing drag downs will always be fun, doing nutty Kazooie fast cancels and grenade mind tricks is fun, I love all the stupid shit you can get away with when playing this character. I've wanted them since Smash 64 and I'm gonna keep playing them even if they are the Digorno Pizza of the roster.

I kinda pity Banjo and Kazooie, such popular and nostalgic characters but then so rarely used in this game. I tried this fighter out a few times, and the feel I got from them certainly matches what you described. In short, they feel good to play, but not the best. There’s definitely a very good number of fighters I’d pick before picking them. Also, their Wonder Wing move can also be properly countered by Sora, since while other counters will just do an instant attack right through the attack they receive, which makes them useful only to defend against Wonder Wing rather than deal damage back due to the invincibility it has, Sora’s counter interrupts the received attack from continuing, makes the opponent stagger, and THEN attacks back, forcing Banjo out of Wonder Wing before attacking back and thus leading to him being helplessly yanked out of that invincibility. And of course, his Wonder Wing being so forcefully interrupted like that won’t return a feather for another use, so there’s another thing that weakens him against anyone who can somehow break through that move.

So sad his wonder wing is on a limited resource when Steve's gold cart & normal cart is on a unlimited resource. The latter can even command grab :) so cool

Why No One/Everyone Plays: Terry Bogard

Sora's Counter actually fucks up Wonder-Wing too

The first match I played agasint banjo my friend won via wonderwing.I hated him ever since

At first when he was revealed the crowd popped, Only to see his representation has dropped, All witness bear and bird fall, The dumbest and thickest of them all! *Grunty's voice*

Happy 25th birthday Banjo & Kazooie, even if you're not the best DLC fighter.

Banjo is like the reverse of what happened with Min-Min where the dev team didn't feel confident in throwing a pure zoning character into the DLC so just like Min-Mim they gave him shades of a different moveset. (Snake's psuedo-brawler and trapper moveset is an example of how Banjo feels.) The issue is that unlike Min-Min who got incredible normals that let her get people who approach off of her, Banjo got a bunch of moves that dont really do anything. Which I'm sure on some level they thought was "fine" because hey, they're references, but Smash have proven to me especially lately that some characters are either damned or saved by the ties to their references. Banjo is definitely damned by them because they straight up don't provide him any meaningful tools to help him in neutral or especially in damage. I'm not really a fan of Banjo, but having grown up with his games, I was genuinely scared he was going to end up being lackluster because I knew how dedicated the team was going to be in cramming his kit with references and charm rather than good game design. They had already done this with Megaman who feels pretty stiff in his game design so I had a feeling Banjo was going to get hit with this as well. Maybe he would have been better if they picked references that were geared more towards Smash's gameplay but I really don't know if they can be convinced to. We need more moves like Banjo's D-Tilt, which is both a great reference and a pretty good attack in Smash.

I play Banjo. And they are my main. I disnt even know they existed until i saw their DLC trailer, then i did an UNGODLY amount of research and loved the character. P. S. THEY DESERVE TO BE IN ULTIMATE

Banjo’s problem is that; he’s just “Eh”

Realistic buffs this character should’ve gotten: -neutral B eggs can have slightly improved frame data and damage -up tilt sweet spot NEEDS a bigger hitbox -up air def should do more damage or be a better combo tool

Honestly, I wish that Banjo and Kazooie had more competitive representation. They come from one of my favourite games of all time and it's a shame that such an anticipated fighter has very few people playing them.

Alright, we have one animal combo down. This must mean we’re getting close to a Duck Hunt episode!

Because he isn't great, his best move is extremely limited, at least plant has rediculously damage if you know what your doing

I'd like to say I picked up banjo as my main after I saw this 4months ago and I've loved using him. So thanks vars 👍

Honestly I feel like DLCs are doomsd if they dont bring some really unique or powerful to the table. Why switch to B&K if you already know another character with a similar playstyle so well?

as a banjo main, i've waited for these video. i never knew why no one plays him, he seemed pretty good like mid tier. I play banjo as a trapper and hit and run character, because his phisycs alllows him to run away from the match if he is under presure. is one of the few consistent ways to play him and of course is not well equiped to play as this, you literally need to change the playstyle on the fly and it can be exausting.

Banjo is fun asf idc what anyone says he just takes a long time to learn but once u do it's hilarious because no one seems to know how to play against him

I think another reason why people don't play him is because his damage compared to other characters is pretty bad getting a hit and only doing around 27 or 29% is nothing special while u can blow someone up with snake and do 34+ damage

I feel like the reason that nobody nowadays don’t play Banjo and Kazooie is because not many players understand the way how to use his mix and match moves that go similar to Duck Hunt and other characters that were mentioned in the video. Banjo and Kazooie are a really fun character to use if you know how to us him well, but that’s just my opinion on it.

Banjo-Kazooie is a jack of all trades. A bad Jack of all trades who is overly balanced leaving him with no concrete strenghts. At least Pit has curved proyectiles and aerial shields, but Banjo-Kazooie legit has nothing remarkable. The only reason he's no low tier is that he also lacks very exploitable weaknesses outside poor air movility, is just that almost anyone can overpower him in their respective area except low tiers. Meanwhile Samus is a better Banjo-Kazooie period. Better melee options due to faster frame data, more damage and combo potential, insane long range proyectiles and competent midrange options who allows her to easily transition to a better range, and roughly the same movility.

The people calling Banjo the weakest DLC are probably only looking at him on a competitive level. He's arguably THE best DLC on a casual level. He's so well animated and charming and wacky, great stage with great music. I do lament I don't feel comfortable with him competitively. It's hard to combo with him unless you're a x300 galaxy brain.

And honestly the moveset could have been a bit whackyer

You know, now that i think about it... Im glad Banjo & Kazooie arent in Melee. Because Bowser won, but i want you to guess where Bowser is on the teir list...... Nintendo had 13 months for Melee and If Banjo got the same place as Bowser, we would never se them again😢

I like B&K for his good types of attacks. People might say he's annoying, but not as annoying as king k rool and bowser

As a Banjo main, competitor, and someone who’s very active in the competitive Banjo community, I love this video. It highlights some of his strengths and his very obvious flaws. I personally don’t think he’s low tier as I feel he does have enough going for him as well as Toriguri proving Banjo can do it at top level and is only rising with him. Hoping we see more Banjo in the future because of TG.

Jeez if ultimate isn't dishonest on a competitive level. All the best characters in this game are straight up broken, so it's telling that Banjo not having any dlc cheese is what holds him back. And despite that he's still one of the most annoying characters in the game to fight smh Really wish the game was balanced more towards toning down the oppressive characters instead of blatantly overtuning others to make them better

Fun fact: Sora's Counter obliterates banjo using wonderwing because of the stagger effect

0:18 omg I'm so famous!!

Nice and informative episode. Despite not being the most competitively viable, Banjo’s been a blast to play with. A character with two long-range projectiles you can get creative with and decent close-quarter options makes for a versatile and even fun move-set.

the num. 1 candidate for a character rework. my god the move set is boring, so it’s a nice surprise seeing them online

People who complain about Piranha Plant are just salty that it wasn't Waluigi. Plant may be the least (competitively) played DLC fighter, but that's because its weaknesses overpower its strengths, and it lacks enough setups to be a higher tier character.

Hmmm. Just to add to all this, I'm surprised people thought Banjo/Kazooie had competitive potential at all. The "bear character" curse. Underestimate it at your peril. "If your game has a bear character, who plays the tropes straight, and is viable in any way, you have failed to adapt said bear character." See: Kuma/Panda from Tekken. Look at Baloo being trash in *four separate games* at the same time. It's better to play bears as mostly joke characters, as it fits them better most of the time. As a Banjo main, and player of the other bears mentioned, it's not their place to be viable in high-level play. A competitive bear needs to crush tropes entirely (Pokemon Unite's Urshifu) or deconstruct them (Persona 4 Arena's Teddie). A "traditional" one... will never be a top pick, and that's fine. Otherwise, you risk "High-Tier Scrappy"-ism, where a character no one *wants* to be good, is. Banjo's got a lot of nostalgia behind him, but... yeah. Ended up just how I expected.

I play B&K on principle.

Thank you so much! I asked a while ago if you could maybe do this, and probably this and that are not linked, but im glad this came out.

Still waiting for Duck Hunt. So close, yet so far.

Varrs hasn’t been to the UK (;

you gotta do why no one plays duck hunt, you even pointed it out in your needs nerfs/buffs tierlist that you didnt have enough data on them simply because you never see them. they must be in the running for lowest pickrate in comp AND casual play (icees too)

Damn this music slaps, very Zero Escape and very unexpected in a video about Banjo and Kazooie

Not gonna lie, it’s kinda dirty that you made this video during banjo kazooies anniversary lmao

This series of vids is 10/10, I'm always excited to see a new one drop. Keep up the good work!

Smash fans demanding a character to be in Smash just to never use them

That’s weird B&K are one of the characters I main with king k rule

Summary: A balanced character in a game full of stupid bullshit

You forgot to mention Wonderwing can also be stopped by Sora's counter

As allways hit the nail on the head. Good vid. Yeah im suprised banjo is so meh after so long but then agian so ridley. Villager vid when? Lol

you should make a why no one plays on pacman, i dont hear too much about him and want to hear about the stuff hes got

I kindly ask you to do a video of why no one plays terry because no one plays terry it’s only riddles

Anyone else feel an outright obligation to learn and play them due to intense nostalgia? Their moveset is just so full of stuff they used in Banjo-Tooie, my foot starts tapping to the Ordinance Storage [sic] theme the moment I hold B.

Banjo-kazooie being fair and balanced is why I love them. Anyone can pick up an OP DLC fighter without knowing a thing about the character. Only true fans make Banjo-kazooie their main.

It’s funny because this is the character that I wanted I’m smash and probably the most hyped and anticipated character reveals of smash!!! I like there moveset!!! Kazooie is carrying banjo because she does the heavy lifting.

I think a why no one plays Marth would be interesting. Only MKleo is the only Marth player I can think of.

Despite the fact that banjo and kazooie have super awesome and charming animations. They just ain’t that good

Why No/One Everyone Plays Bowser

I’m the only person who plays banjo and kazooie

You know, for a DLC character, sometimes Banjo-Kazooie sure doesn't feel like one

Banjo could have infinite wonderwings and he wouldn't change much in placement

Castle Crasher soundtrack , what a king 👑

I fully, fully believe banjo was never meant to be a dlc character. They have all the makings of a base game character with only wonderwing standing out, but we're made dlc because of how highly requested they were

When I realized that wonderwing and Steve mine cart are in the same game it ruined my day.

DLC is really a lose lose scenario. If a character is good or overtuned, people complain. If a character is bad, undertunded or even just normal, people complain. Theres no winning.

Banjo's moveset was a complete mistake from the start. The devs were focused on cramming in references instead of having an actual idea of what his playstyle should be. If anything, he should be much more of a melee combo character like Mario with projectiles more meant for neutral or stage control. Similar to how Lucario was made with the intention of just spamming smash attacks at high aura rather than having actual combos or good aerials besides nair, Banjo was designed on an individual move basis rather than having a defined playstyle with his different pieces synergizing.

Why no one plays duck hunt

If his Side B was different, I'd play him. It's that simple.

I wonder if banjo could be made to have that unfair element, if the removed the usage limit on wonderwing and lowered its startup. Long range, good damage, invincible if wonderwing had a faster start up and wasnt limited to 5 uses I could see B&J having their one unfair thing that brings their kit alive.

i dont play smash anymore but your content is amazing and well made

As a massive BK fan, I LOVE that Banjo is this way, cause I hate maining characters that are top tier. I get no satisfaction from doing well with a character that is inherently "better" than other characters. It's also why my other mains are Little Mac, Jigglypuff, DK, and Dedede. But BK is even funner than them because he's so rounded. I love switching my playstyle up on a dime in the middle of a match because he has a lot of flexibility with that.

I quite like banjo and kazzoie. They are balanced and I think fair and fun to fight against. The problem, I think, is that to be highly represented in the competitive scene, a character needs to be better than fair. These two are not op, and dlc + fair is something people don't really get

So much of Banjos moves just feel like worse versions of other characters moves

I don't understand the logic of Plant isn't dlc because its not part of the first pack. So the mii costumes that you can get outside those packs don't count as dlc either? If its an addon separate from the game, it should count as dlc. I suppose its just that Plants dlc status is confusing because its not listed in one of the character packs. There was a time after the game launched when Plant was not in the roster. I guess you can consider Plant as updated content.

I was starting to think Banjo and Kazooie was OP. Had to check the tier and it seems I am just that good

BANJO MAINS RISE UP LETS GOOOOO BABYYYYYY BANJO FOR LIFE

I feel like they over compensated for wonderwing by making everything else Banjo has range from mid to awful. His uptilt and up air are nearly useless, the neutral air does 0 damage and is laggy, down air is abysmal, and his recovery is stupidly low!

Sakurai did not make Banjo justice at all. It hurts me because I don´t want to drop this character at all, as well as I am doing with K Rool, he is just too fun to play for me and I can do some creative shit with him. I do not understand why Sakurai made him like a building damage character, with 0 knockback, 0 combos, and 100% zoner, relying entirely in a five uses move with tons of endlag and easy to counter and dodge to make high damage. DLC my fucking ass, if only in a Ultimate port or sequel they could fix his entire moveset...

Why No One/Everyone plays Bowser

B&K are not many things but fun is one of them and that’s good enough for me :)