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Banjo-Kazooie

Native Linux 3D platformer 1998 other
Does it run on your Deck?

About

Banjo-Kazooie is a 1998 Nintendo 64 3D platform-collectathon developed by Rare and published by Nintendo. The player controls the bear Banjo and his backpack-dwelling bird Kazooie as they journey through nine themed worlds to rescue Banjo's sister Tooty from the witch Gruntilda, collecting jiggies, musical notes, and other items to progress. It launched to wide critical acclaim and is regarded as one of the defining platformers of its era, spawning the Banjo-Kazooie series.

This recipe is for Banjo: Recompiled, a community static recompilation that turns the original game into a native PC build with high frame rates, widescreen support, improved camera controls, and mod support; you must supply your own original game ROM.

Identity

DeveloperRare
PublisherNintendo
Released1998
Genre3D platformer
ModesSingle-player
Engineother
TypeNative Linux
AliasesBanjo Kazooie, BanjoRecomp, Banjo Recompiled, BanjoRecompiled

Launch

Binary
BanjoRecompiled
Needs files
none beyond the binary

Runtime

Runs as
Native Linux
Proton
not needed

The one thing to know

Supply your own copy: It ships NO game assets — you provide your own US 1.0 N64 Banjo-Kazooie ROM (the project accepts only that specific revision); deckport links nothing.

Port: Rare's 1998 N64 classic as a native PC port via Banjo: Recompiled (N64: Recompiled / RT64) — GPL open source.

Not emulation: The original game code is translated to native and the assets are pulled from a ROM you supply.

Install: Runs directly on the Deck — extract the Linux build, add BanjoRecompiled to Steam.

Enhancements: Adds high frame rate, widescreen/ultrawide, dual-analog camera, and mod support.

Steam Deck: Confirmed to run excellently on the Steam Deck (per Steam Deck HQ and GamingOnLinux) — ~90 FPS under 7W with full native gamepad support (no Steam Input config needed); binary is BanjoRecompiled.

Community guides

Write-ups and threads from people who got this (or a similar) game running. deckport links to them — it doesn't reproduce them.

Get the artwork

deckport never hosts game images. Open this game on SteamGridDB, pick the cover / hero / logo / icon you like, and drop them into the game folder under .deckport-art/ before you push it to the Deck. The importer files them under the right names automatically.

Run it on your Deck

Two files: the one-time importer (deckport.py) in your Deck's home folder, and this game's install helper. Copy the game into ~/Games and run the helper with Steam closed — it writes the recipe (binary, launch options) and registers the shortcut with artwork.