I always found it a bit odd how some devs said Banjo's Nuts and Bolts design was made in reference to him originally being on the N64, but thing is Banjo's character model in the N64 games wasn't as blocky as his Nuts and Bolts model:

The only blocky part I can see is his paws, that's about it. I think it would have been better if his Nuts and Bolts model resembled the pre-rendered promo model used on the old boxarts and adverts in magazines like Nintendo Power: