Evercade rebuilt Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie instead of emulating the N64 originals
The Double Pack adds widescreen presentation, smoother performance, handheld-friendly controls, restored content, and unlockable secrets to Rare's two platformers.
Evercade’s Banjo-Kazooie Double Pack has arrived as more than a straight N64 rerelease. Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie were rebuilt as native ports for Evercade hardware rather than being run through emulation, giving the team room to add control options, restore cut content, and hide extra secrets.
In a video about the collection, Evercade developer Pete Davison explained that the team wanted to preserve the core feel of both Rare platformers while making them easier to play on current Evercade systems.
Both games get a sharper, wider presentation
The rebuilt versions also improve how the two adventures look and run. Both games feature higher-resolution 3D graphics, sharper fonts, smoother frame rates, and widescreen support. It is still the same colorful Rare magic, just with a little more room to stretch its wings.
Banjo-Kazooie gets handheld-friendly controls
A dedicated tip-toe button lets Banjo move slowly without forcing players to delicately angle an analog stick. That should be especially useful on Evercade’s smaller handhelds, where precise stick input can be trickier.
The camera also has more flexibility than it did in the N64 versions. Players can move it with the shoulder buttons or enable an automatic setting that keeps the view following Banjo.
Other additions include cutscene skipping, an overhauled options menu, inverted camera toggles, and a fine-aim mode for Banjo-Tooie‘s first-person sections.
The ports also restore fast travel to Gruntilda’s lair, letting players return to the hub world from anywhere. Evercade described that as content removed from the original release, so getting around the lair should be much less of a slog.
There are new unlockable bonuses and secrets, too. The port makers said players will need to collect secret items that were normally inaccessible in the original game to uncover them.
The Double Pack is separate from the Super Pocket Rare Edition, which bundled 30 games from Rare’s catalog, including the Banjo titles and a Game Boy prequel to Conker’s Bad Fur Day that had remained on the handheld for decades.
Would these restored features and control options make you revisit the Banjo-Kazooie games? Share your thoughts in the comments, and follow along on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.
