Yooka-Replaylee Reviews
Yooka-Replaylee has come a long way compared to the original game, and it has become a game that raises hopes for Playtonic Games' next game.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
Yeah it’s still a nostalgia trip riding on the coattails of Rare’s finest, but Yooka-Laylee was always meant to be a tribute rather than an innovator in the genre. Replaylee is definitely the best way to play this game and you should definitely check it out, but you better love Rare platforming classics and gratuitously incessant character voices.
A revamped and improved take on a fun 3D collectathon with classic roots
A playful, polished remake that reminds us why we missed collectathons
More than a straightforward remaster or remake, Yooka-Replaylee reimagines the original game, adding new challenges and gameplay elements while tweaking and improving others. Ultimately, it's a much-improved experience, with its worlds densely packed with things to do and its gameplay finely-tuned. This is easily one of the best 3D platformers currently available.
But it is disappointing that I can't say that more definitively. There are a lot of great quality of life updates but between stability issues and some questionable feature removal, it is hard to recommend this version without reservation. As I said at the outset, I like the original Yooka-Laylee. And I like Yooka-Replaylee. I think I can say that it probably fixes more than it breaks, but I'd rather it avoided breaking anything in the first place.
Yooka-Replaylee fixes the main flaws of Yooka-Laylee, offering a much better experience in basically everything: graphics, soundtrack, gameplay, content and fun.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
A charming yet flawed comeback, Yooka-Replaylee refines the original without making it truly shine and the 30 fps on Switch 2 are an eyesore.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Despite imprecise and frustrating controls in many sections, Yooka-Replaylee has a lot of charm. A must-play for those who enjoyed the original game, or for anyone who loves collecting items in a colourful world.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Yooka-Replaylee is full of lighthearted platforming goodness that keeps it old-school while also managing to feel fresh. If you're a genre fan or simply want to explore and complete fun challenges at your own pace, you absolutely need Yooka and Laylee in your life.
Yooka-Replaylee marks the return of the dynamic duo in a vibrant collect-athon full of charm, nostalgia, and secrets to uncover. The visuals are delightful and the exploration aspect shines, but the unstructured progression and technical hiccups on the Switch 2 hold it back slightly.
Review in French | Read full review
Yooka-Replaylee is the best platforming experience I've had since Astrobot came out last year.
As someone who enjoyed their time with the original Yooka-Laylee, I was eager to see how Playtonic applied lessons learned from Impossible Lair and other modern platformers into this revisit of their original adventure. With a strong presentation, fantastic controls, improved gameplay, and a combined combo of improved progress and level design, Yooka-Replaylee is a fantastic experience. It is the realization of what the team at Playtonic set out to create back in 2017, and I’m eager to see what the team has in store for their next adventure for Yooka & Laylee.
Yooka-Replaylee captures the spirit of platforming with various areas to explore and various collectibles. The difficulty is ideal and you utilize every game mechanic. Loading screens take a long time and camera angles aren’t always helpful. This game showcases the highs and lows of platformers and will delight fans of the genre.
Yooka-Replaylee proves that listening to the community and revisiting what has already been done can yield great results.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
As a 3D platformer, Yooka-Replaylee is a very tight and fun time, and while not nearly as excellent to the highest degree Impossible Lair was, this still makes for a great redemption arc and well worth a play if you like 3D platformers.
Even with a few rough edges here and there, Yooka-Replaylee totally earns its spot as a re-release. Playtonic has clearly been listening to fan feedback, and it really shows. Thanks to the solid foundation of the original, the game now feels properly on par with the big names – a genuinely fun (if pretty chill regarding the difficulty) ‘90s-style platformer full of dad jokes, babbling characters, and googly eyes on just about everything. I caught myself grinning more than once, even though that Banjo-style character mumbling might not be for everyone. Don’t worry though – you can turn it off in the settings! And if Yooka-Laylee ever gets a proper sequel, I’d love to see Playtonic go for something even closer to Banjo-Kazooie – more worlds, a tighter structure, and that classic collect-a-thon magic turned up to eleven.
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Yooka-Replaylee is much more than just a remaster: it improves graphics, redesigns and increases challenges, expands worlds, and encourages free exploration from the very first minute. Its foundation remains that of a classic 3D platformer with a collectathon soul, but now it looks and feels like a modern, polished game full of content.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
If you haven’t played a platformer or are accustomed, Yooka-Replaylee is something that shouldn’t be missed. Playtonic wanted a chance to redeem the game for the first time… and you know what? They knocked it out of the park.
Yooka-Replaylee is a very solid 3D platformer that elevates the original in as many ways as it can. Much like any other remake or remaster, however, one’s enjoyment of this game rests partially on how much you liked the original. If you liked Yooka-Laylee, you’ll love Yooka-Replaylee. If you hated Laylee, you probably still won’t like Replaylee. I thought Yooka-Laylee was a cromulent but uneven experience when I first played it. Yooka-Replaylee, on the other hand, is a lot of fun, and changed most of what I wished had been better about its predecessor. Sometimes, a game just needs a second chance to really shine brighter, even if some of the original blemishes remain.