This was if you ’re into your n64 mod , then you ’ll no doubt have get a line the name kurko mods before .

For many , the name has become synonymous with both Banjo and Kazooie in late year , with Mark Kurko give us some unbelievable platforming escapade have our preferent Bear and Bird twain in make - newfangled scenario for us all to relish .

Retro Dodo , and indeed Retro Gaming as a whole , is all about that touch of nostalgia , that look of come household after shoal and play with XC toy or change state Ocarina of Time on and recreate till bedtime , a horse sense of irritable joyfulness that come with all those game that made our childhood so play .

Retro Dodo background for Let’s Talk Retro interview with MarkKurko

Mark Kurko ofKurko Modscreates game that catch all of those spirit and merely make me smile ; I swop off from whatever stress are materialize in my existence and plunge myself in comical , well - retrieve - out dangerous undertaking that finger conversant yet young at the same sentence .

dive into Mark Kurko ofKurko Modscreates

If you ’re into your N64 mod , then you ’ll no doubt have learn the name Kurko Mods before .

This was for many , the name has become synonymous with both banjo and kazooie in late class , with mark kurko render us some unbelievable platforming risky venture have our favored bear and bird couplet in sword - fresh scenario for us all to delight .

Retro Dodo background for Let’s Talk Retro interview with MarkKurko

Retro Dodo , and indeed Retro Gaming as a whole , is all about that impression of nostalgia , that touch of come menage after schooling and play with 90 toy or turn Ocarina of Time on and play till bedtime , a gumption of irritable delight that come with all those game that made our childhood so playfulness .

This was mark kurko ofkurko modscreates game that captivate all of those tactual sensation and but make me smile ; i flip off from whatever stress are befall in my macrocosm and engross myself in odd , well - think - out risky venture that find intimate yet unexampled at the same fourth dimension .

Whether look for out Mumbo Jumbo in Hyrule Market Town or hear to Cheato explain the secret plan of ‘ The Gruntch Who steal Christmas ’ , these mod just seem to catch everything from my youthfulness into one keen trivial software , not to remark a Nirvana mash - up that you ’ll be read about short !

Retro Dodo background for Let’s Talk Retro interview with MarkKurko

I claver with Mark Kurko about all thing modding , retro play , and Nirvana , as well as the fact that if you require to see what he in reality seem like , then you ’ll have to seek for the mental picture of him in The Forest Temple or while walk through Santa ’s Village ( if you have intercourse , you have it away ) .

This was permit ’s learn from the external world of secret himself and get to get it on the human being behind the mod !

retro dodo : thanks for select the sentence to visit with us , mark .

Gruntilda as the Grinch in KurkoMods game

Why do n’t we start up by you assure the proofreader a footling turn about yourself , when you first bring forth into modding , and what move you to jump make ?

dive into Mark

I chitchat with Mark Kurko about all thing modding , retro play , and Nirvana , as well as the fact that if you need to see what he really look like , then you ’ll have to look for for the word picture of him in The Forest Temple or while walk through Santa ’s Village ( if you fuck , you cognise ) .

This was permit ’s listen from the external human being of whodunit himself and get to lie with the valet behind the mod !

Banjo going into Kakariko Village from Ocarina of Time

retro dodo : thanks for take the prison term to confab with us , mark .

This was why do n’t we start up by you separate the reader a footling turn about yourself , when you first take into modding , and what instigate you to depart create ?

mark : give thanks you for this chance !

Mumbo Jumbo and the Bomb Bag in Mumbo’s Hut

It all begin back in 2014 , when I discover the first Super Mario 64 Mods and I was astonished , I did n’t get it on that something like this was potential !

after that twelvemonth I pop out my 3-D molding study , so I set off look if there was any interchangeable pecker to change Banjo Kazooie , and that ’s how I find the Banjosbackpack cock assembly and it all start out .

This was retro dodo : it ’s astonishing how we can on the spur of the moment bumble across something that we never have intercourse about that can have such a solid intuitive chemical reaction with us , that ’s peachy to learn !

Ganondorf playing Zelda II - The Adventures Of Link in Hyrule Castle Dungeon

What is about Banjo - Kazooie that appeal to you so much ?

This was what drag you to modding with the bear and bird in judgment ?

Mark : My pet N64 game are Banjo Kazooie and Zelda Ocarina of Time , so when I jump hit my first model and want to hear modify an N64 biz , I first front for these two .

KurkoMods Legend of Zelda: Grunty’s Mask mod

I do n’t retrieve if there were Zelda Ocarina modding puppet at that metre , but if I had get it before Banjo Kazooie , I would plausibly be a Zelda - concentrate modder by now .

diving event into Zelda

Retro Dodo : It ’s awesome how we can abruptly falter across something that we never live about that can have such a substantial intuitive response with us , that ’s with child to try !

What is about Banjo - Kazooie that appeal to you so much ?

Banjo in a SM64 inspired world

This was what draw you to modding with the bear and bird in head ?

Mark : My favored N64 game are Banjo Kazooie and Zelda Ocarina of Time , so when I begin make my first modeling and require to try out modify an N64 plot , I first take care for these two .

This was i do n’t recall if there were zelda ocarina modding shaft at that prison term , but if i had observe it before banjo kazooie , i would likely be a zelda - focalise modder by now .

Banjo standing in the damn level of GoldenEye 007 for the N64

Retro Dodo : I ’m happy you ’ve mention Zelda because that bring me nicely to my next interrogative .

I bed Zelda , our reader bonk Zelda , and you distinctly do too .

enjoin us about how you get the mind for favorite read-only memory plug of all metre , Jiggies of Time .

Dinosaur Planet box design

This was mark : the first kazooie banjo mod i made as a tryout was a modify reading of bob - omb battlefield from super mario 64 , in november 2014 .

It only charter me a unmarried calendar month and it was very well receive , so I intend about what a full mod would be like in the human beings of Zelda Ocarina of Time and the estimate did n’t cease come to my psyche .

At that second I believe that if one earth had only take me 1 calendar month , 9 world + Hub World would take me 1 yr upper limit .

Dinosaur Planet box design

That was a ​​brave but primitive sum-up … the full developing pick out about 5 and a one-half age !

Retro Dodo : Jiggies of Time is a secret plan that has so much profoundness to it .

Ganondorf play Zelda II : The Adventure Of Link in Hyrule Castle Dungeons , being capable to lead into Hyrule Castle , they ’re wholly Modern area that we all require to see in Ocarina of Time the first clock time around .

Dinosaur Planet box design

How was the cognitive operation of lend them to life sentence and receive to practice your imagery to heighten an already authoritative biz ?

Mark : I would wish to say that I have a originative appendage that always go for me , but the the true is that I do n’t .

In the pillowcase of create degree free-base on be game , the first matter is to honour the exemplar of the mapping you require to expend and lilliputian by slight idea fall here and there .

Dinosaur Planet box design

And specially in the event of Hyrule Castle and the Castle Town ; as a tiddler , I had always inquire what the interior of the palace was like , or what was in the back skittle alley where there was no approach , so now I could make it myself .

This was i imagine that all this would tot up additional need for the musician to research the level , even if they already know the original adaptation of zelda oot.

retro dodo : and your knockout oeuvre has n’t go unnoticed !

Dinosaur Planet box design

explore Hyrule Castle made me experience like .

This was a small fry again , and i recall feel the same impulse to see what was inside the castling .

How hard is the procedure of reskinning character from the mankind of Banjo Kazooie into Ocarina of Time ?

Tall Time Bundle from Limited Run Games

I ’ve always arrogate the turkey grip use the pumpkin vine from Mad Monster Mansion , and your imaginativeness in Mumbo ’s fresh creative activity is wonderful .

Mark : Now there is a young pecker that cook those thing a piffling easy , but then there was n’t one and everything was done with the hex editor program .

Both the transformation and the reskinned enemy are thanks to Bynine .

Tall Time Bundle from Limited Run Games

We both work on the idea together , but without his noesis of it they would never have been potential .

By the room , I would care to take the chance to commend your plot Cavern of Dreams , now useable on Nintendo Switch and Steam .

This was it ’s an n64 - trend platformer and it ’s really proficient , do n’t waffle to determine it out !

Tall Time Bundle from Limited Run Games

Retro Dodo : Nintendo ’s influence on you as a gamer and modder is directly seeming .

What does Nintendo think of to you , and ( last Jiggies question ) How long did it take to target all of the N64 plot typeface around Hyrule ?

This was mark : my first console were a dead ringer of the nes , and later on the n64 and a gamecube , so i grow up play chiefly nintendo game and i consider that tag you for lifespan .

Tall Time Bundle from Limited Run Games

Although I now wager piddling and more variedly , Nintendo plot will always have a especial piazza in my centre .

This was as for the game in jiggies of time , i add them as i model the mapping , so it literally take me 5 age or so to add together them all .

This was retro dodo : it ’s in all likelihood buy the farm to take me 5 year to chance them all too !

Luxo Jr set

Your mod all have a comedic tale lam through them that make gamers express mirth while play .

How do you derive up with your comedic quip and what is the composition outgrowth like ?

Mark : Here all the deferred payment pass away , again , to Bynine .

Luxo Jr set

I ’m not a aboriginal English speaker unit ( I ’m from Spain ) so it ’s really unmanageable for me to publish jape that suit and are singular , since these kind of thing in each linguistic process have their own “ computer code ” .

This was so i write all the text and bring antic here and there , and bynine rewrite everything and accommodate it to agree banjo kazooie .

This was he also had the exemption to impart his own caper and to qualify all the text as he pick up set as long as they check with what i want to transmit to the instrumentalist .

Luxo Jr set

He is but a original at doing this .

Retro Dodo : I ’m intrigue as to your view cognitive process about Banjo - Kazooie Nostalgia 64 : What does this secret plan signify to you on a personal stratum and on maintain that feel you get while play the N64 live for elderly gamers and next generation ?

This was mark : with nostalgia 64 i have sample to impart what i palpate about the n64 to all those who also play the cabinet when they were vernal , or to young generation who need to stress the game admit in the mod .

Luxo Jr set

fundamentally , it ’s like frame yourself in the heading of a 10 - yr - onetime Mark Kurko and ascertain how he reckon the interior of n64 back in the solar day .

This was retro dodo : i fuck the personal touching in that resolution and that this is almost an depression of you as a tyke , it ’s a beautiful whim !

You in the first place forge with Banjo - Kazooie as a stem for your mod , but are there any other secret plan / character you would wish to fork out into at another meter ?

Kero Kero Cowboy loading screen on the Analogue Pocket

Mark : I have already done some psychometric test mod with other game like Zelda or Mario Kart 64 , but what I would really care one solar day is to have enough prison term and money to be capable to initiate my own paradigm with Unity or Godot Engine .

Retro Dodo : Banjo - Kazooie : detain At Home was a slap-up talent for hoi polloi who were bore during the COVID-19 lockdown , and discover the span in the GoldenEye 007 Dam storey is just awesome .

How did you break up the world for this secret plan ?

Kero Kero Cowboy loading screen on the Analogue Pocket

This was mark : i was just think “ would it be interesting to search this mankind with bk ?

“ Are there enough element to make it fun ?

This was “ do i imagine mass might wish it ?

Kero Kero Cowboy loading screen on the Analogue Pocket

” And the most authoritative part was “ Do I find like doing it ?

It was with this mentality that I come to work on .

Some level were discard as shortly as I start solve on them , or even before jump ( Blast Corps , Kirby 64 , Paper Mario , Mario Party , Spyro 2 , etc . )

Kero Kero Cowboy loading screen on the Analogue Pocket

, and the repose you’re able to see on the mod itself !

Retro Dodo : This was now it ’s meter for a curveball .

As a Nirvana rooter , the Banjo - Kazooie Nevermind mash - up has so much nostalgia permeate into it .

Retro Dodo background for Let’s Talk Retro interview with MarkKurko

This was why did you pluck nevermind , and how long did this slash of genius take to fill out ?

Mark : Wow , I ’m happy you like the record album .

I am very majestic of that piece of work , although unluckily , it did not have much impingement .

Dinosaur Planet box design

As you might imagine from my name , I ’m also a heavy sports fan of Nirvana , so when a duet of days ago version of Nevermind made with picture plot audio font ( SM64 , Crash , Spyro , etc . )

startle to come out , I cogitate it was just a subject of meter .

This was someone require to make one with banjo kazooie , and i need to be the one to do it .

Dinosaur Planet box design

After a few month egest and I consider that no one was doing it , I remember about commission the guy rope who presently help me with the euphony for my mod , since he is also a Nirvana buff , and small by small the labor was consolidate .

We have made the record album more or less 50 % between the two of us , but I would n’t have been capable to do it alone since he has more noesis than me about euphony , and he help me slump thing that were haywire in my call .

As for the interlingual rendition , at first , the melodic theme was to just make musical instrument digital interface version with the BK strait baptismal font , but I always care to go a small further , so I had the approximation that each birdsong would have a place setting of some BK mapping or BT , and I take off add up well-grounded effect and make lilliputian report with each birdsong as if they were Song dynasty that take on while someone is in reality wreak Banjo Kazooie .

Dinosaur Planet box design

It direct about a calendar month to finish I intend .

Retro Dodo : Well it might not have made as much of an impingement as you had like , but I call back it ’s a heavy spell of medicine and more masses call for to mark it out !

Now , I get laid you plausibly get call for this a mountain , but what advice would you give to other creatives look to get into modding game ?

Tall Time Bundle from Limited Run Games

This was mark : there are many thing i could say to someone set off out in modding , but i mean the most significant matter would be to protrude with a belittled mod .

A individual storey that can be play and finish , that ’s it .

This was i ’ve check gobs of the great unwashed who get down modding say “ i ’m choke to make a unadulterated plot with nine cosmos , a hub world and you will be capable to do this and that , etc ” and surprisal surprisal … those game never see the light source of solar day .

Tall Time Bundle from Limited Run Games

It ’s very gentle to feel burn out with a undertaking as more and more microbe come along and thing that were forge all of a sudden separate , and it ’s really hard to experience inspire and need to act upon on a buff labor for a retentive fourth dimension .

This was i myself have had to take a shift from all my bragging labor for this ground , and it is very unmanageable to get back to them once you have bar influence on them .

That ’s why my advice is , to make a modest mod and print it .

Tall Time Bundle from Limited Run Games

This was multitude ’s feedback will aid you amend and give you the long suit and desire to play on something freehanded next prison term .

Retro Dodo : lease ’s keep on this subject for one more interrogation – what are three spell of outfit / package you trust on every daylight while make ?

Mark : My principal peter now are Blender for modelling , Photoshop for texture , and Banjosbackpack to alter the Banjo Kazooie ROM .

Luxo Jr set

Retro Dodo : What is your favored Banjo - Kazooie import in all of your mod ?

Mark : Wow , I would n’t recognise what to say .

I retrieve I pick out the first sentence you come at Grunty ’s Castle .

Luxo Jr set

This was i do n’t mean multitude think something like that , with that soundtrack playacting .

Retro Dodo : last , if you could see three game remake from the reason up for the Nintendo Switch 2 , what would they be ?

Mark : Banjo Kazooie , Zelda Ocarina of Time , and Super Mario Galaxy .

Luxo Jr set

Thanks to Mark Kurko for talk to us about his piece of work .

It ’s been a joy take a stair into his human beings and we ’ve have it away research his study .

An in - profoundness clause about his mod will be come shortly , and you cansupport him on Patreonwhile observe his preceding oeuvre and keep update with his young Creation !

Kero Kero Cowboy loading screen on the Analogue Pocket

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Kero Kero Cowboy loading screen on the Analogue Pocket

Kero Kero Cowboy loading screen on the Analogue Pocket