Banjo-Kazooie Wiki
Register
Advertisement

“Welcome all, Grunty's the name, Banjo's here to play my game!”
Gruntilda, Banjo-Kazooie


Grunty's Furnace Fun is a minigame hosted by Gruntilda. It is presented as a game show, which Banjo and Kazooie must get past to save Tooty.

Location and rules[]

The entrance to Grunty's Furnace Fun is located behind a Note Door which requires 765 notes to open. Behind the door is a small corridor leading to a room with a warp pad showing Tooty's face on it; stepping on the pad warps Banjo and Kazooie to a fiery cavern, where the minigame starts.

Grunty's Furnace Fun takes the form of a quiz show, which Grunty forces the duo to pass through before they choose a prize: a Gruntilda Doll for third place, a Washing Machine for second place, or Tooty as the "Star Prize."

The quiz is laid out as a tiled board, with each panel representing a different question or challenge. Answering a question correctly or completing a challenge allows Banjo and Kazooie to progress to the next tile. If they fail, Banjo and Kazooie lose one Honeycomb and will not proceed to the next square. If the player loses a life, they must restart the quiz from the beginning. Invisible walls prevent the duo from falling into the lava by accident, although they can still fall off from other parts of the cavern. Most abilities aside from the basic jump are disabled as long as the player remains on the board, even after the minigame is cleared.

When the quiz is completed, Grunty expresses disbelief and anger at the duo's victory, and runs off to the top of the tower. Banjo and Kazooie save Tooty, and as the three of them decide to leave Grunty's lair, the credits plays. When the staff roll ends, Banjo and his friends are seen enjoying a celebratory barbecue, until Tooty reminds them that Grunty escaped and still needs to be defeated, to the others' comical shock. Banjo and Kazooie run back to Grunty's lair, and the game resumes from the end of Grunty's Furnace Fun. After the quiz is completed, it can no longer be played again on the same save file. A yellow Magic Cauldron behind the warp pad at the start of the minigame can take Banjo to the upper levels of the lair after the other yellow cauldron is activated.

Introduction Cutscene[]

"Welcome all, Grunty's the name, Banjo's here to play my game!
My lair is done and here he stands, through all my tricks and traps and lands!
This final test will see me win, when Banjo fails then I'll be thin!
The prizes on this stand bring joy, from Tooty down to cuddly toy!
My little quiz will make you sweat, and Tooty you shall never get!
'Cuz somewhere soon along the way, your lack of skill will make my day...
'Cuz in the fiery pit you'll go, and I will win the prize on show!
So step on over to the square, press A button (N64) to try it if you dare!"

Types of Questions[]

For a complete list of questions Gruntilda asks, see List of Questions From Grunty's Furnace Fun.
  • Eyeball Panels: Grunty will show a picture from one of the worlds from the game, and ask which world was displayed.
    • "A visual challenge you stupid bear, To tell me who is it or where!"
  • Note Panels: Grunty will either play an audio sample from one of the worlds, or a character's voice and ask which world/character it was from.
    • "A question on the sounds I play, Get it wrong to make my day!"
  • Grunty Panels: Grunty will ask Banjo a personal question. The only way to obtain the correct answers is by asking Brentilda, who will tell Banjo three of Grunty's secrets every time he finds her. These answers are randomized at the start of each save file.
    • "I think it's time, so let me see, How much you know of little old me!"
  • Skull Panels: These can be of any category. Failing to answer them correctly results in instant death.
    • "Get this wrong for Grunty's sake, Then a lava bath you will take!"
    • "Try this one, but don't be lame, you'll lose a life and lose the game!"
  • Joker Panels: These can be of any category. Answering them correctly results in Banjo gaining two joker cards, which can be used to skip any square on the board. Unlike the other panels, a Joker Panel is consumed after one question, regardless of whether or not Banjo was correct.
    • "Just one chance to get this right, Win a joker and help it might!"

There are also various blank panels around the board which contain honeycombs or extra lives.

Game Board[]

Key[]

  • X: Start
  • B: Banjo-Kazooie
  • V: Visual
  • S: Sudden Death
  • C: Challenge
  • J: Joker
  • G: Grunty
  • M: Music
  • +: Blank
  • F: Furnace Fun Skip
  • $$: Finish

Board Map[]

$$
S
V S + S G B + V + S S +
J B B S
G G + M C S
C C S/F
B + B S C M C B +
+ M C M S S M G J
M V G C
+ G B + B C M V G B C
G C B M S/F +
+ + S
J G C + B C V B M G B
B + B
V B J
+ S/F J + M B + G
V
B
X

Points of Interest[]

Collectibles[]

Extra Lives[]

  • There are a total of four extra lives on the board. Once Banjo and Kazooie have completed Grunty's Furnace Fun, they can easily collect them to aid in the final battle.

Joker Cards[]

  • When collected, Joker Cards allow Banjo to skip any question/challenge by pressing B button (N64).

Furnace Fun Skip[]

By making use of a clever trick involving Sudden Death squares, the player is able to completely walk over the later half of the board and completely skip Furnace Fun, essentially ignoring a long credits sequence. The set-up for this glitch involves purposely failing a Skull Square's question, but instead of getting launched into the lava and dying, the player lands back onto the board unharmed, letting the player walk over every subsequent square without having to answer any questions or complete any Time Challenges. The player must stand on one of the two death squares and perform the following:

On the first death square of a row of three near the end, line up Banjo's right foot with the skull icon's left eye. As soon as you do it, enter first person mode and line up the bottom of Kazooie's beak (image next to life and energy count) with the intersecting corners of the previous squares. Once done, press A to try the question. Get the question wrong on purpose. The square will launch you off, but you will not land in the lava if the trick was set-up correctly. You can now freely walk over every square on the board without having to answer any questions. There are no repercussions to this trick, and the game will proceed as normal.

An alternative method is going to the most top-right spot possible in the death square adjacent to a Music square and a Grunty square at roughly the far left of the board. Face the direction of the top-right corner and press A to try the question. If you did the set-up correctly, the trick should occur as normal.

There is another more tricky method that speed runners use. At the bottom left sudden death tile there is another skip. If you line your self up perfectly between the joker tile and the sudden death tile you can enter talon trot. If you enter talon trot while sliding you still slide while in talon trot. The moment you touch the sudden death tile press A to try the question. If you have done the setup correctly you should enter the question. Once you enter the question, simply get the wrong answer and the board is free to walk around in freely.

Detailed tutorial video on the set-up and execution for the regular method.

Tutorial on the alternative method.

Trivia[]

  • The music that plays on a skull space sounds oddly similar to part of the music that plays in Rusty Bucket Bay.
  • The music that plays on a skull space also sounds familiar, it is a haunting, sped up version of the starting tune of the original Donkey Kong arcade game. It also sounds like the first few notes of the Creepy Castle level from Donkey Kong 64.
  • The Joker card panel's fanfare was reused for Lanky Kong's highlight theme in the Tag Barrel in Donkey Kong 64.
  • The possibility of getting a question wrong on the Grunty Panel and being thrown into the lava was vaguely foretold by Brentilda the first time Banjo and Kazooie meet her. As she stated that knowing facts about Grunty would help the duo avoid a "fiery fate".
  • Unlike most of the other questions, the Grunty Panel's answers change per playthrough.
  • For one of the questions, the answer was 'Cranky Kong' from the Donkey Kong series. Strangely enough, this wasn't removed in Banjo-Kazooie (XBLA)
    • Another answer you can pick is "Funky the monkey". this is a clever reference to another character from the Donkey kong series, specifically Funky Kong.
  • It is impossible to do anything on the squares other than moving from one to another, but this can be bypassed by enabling a Gameshark cheat that will allow them to fly in any place.
  • When completing a square correctly or obtaining a HoneyComb on a blank space, the audience will humourously loathe Banjo and Kazooie. If they fail a square, the audience will cheer.
  • Pre-final boss quiz shows would later return in Banjo-Tooie in the form of 'Tower of Tragedy' and in Yooka-Laylee (as the third stretch goal of the kickstarter).
  • The background music during the quiz plays a remix of the Banjo-Kazooie theme. This is carried on to the Tower of Tragedy quiz in Banjo-Tooie albeit a different remix.

Gallery[]

See also[]

Advertisement