Yooka Laylee Reviews
Some long-forgotten issues from way back in the day crop up again in this throwback action-plaformer, but even if you aren't playing it through the nostaliga of someone who grew up with Banjo-Kazooie or other adventures like it, you'll still find a solid game to play in Yooka-Laylee.
At its core Yooka-Laylee features solid 3D platforming, all wrapped-up in a charming and funny package that oozes with the quality that drew a lot of players to Rare's output during the N64 era. And although this may sound like strange criticism, we would have preferred it if the game featured fewer ideas, smaller worlds, and a more focused design. Yooka-Laylee's better moments far outweigh its troublesome ones, and for the most part you'll feel like you're playing a Rare platformer from the year 1999. And when that's what Yooka-Laylee promised to be, you can't fault it for delivering on that promise. Warts and all.
Yooka-Laylee is a love letter to 3D platformer of twenty years ago. It is everything a fan of the best RARE works can expect, the real Banjoo-Kazooie spiritual successor. Despite some camera issues and the not so smooth controls, it deserves your attention.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Though a beautiful callback to a nostalgic genre, Yooka-Laylee is lacking in some areas that were difficult to forgive.
I found it a ton of fun and terribly addicting to the point where I just consumed it in about 2 days and I hope many others enjoy it just as much because I believe the best outcome from its release is that Yooka-Laylee facilitates the second coming of the 'platformer'. Not only does it show off the familiar mechanics we love but it plays off of them in both the gameplay and story, making jokes about the established traits of old-school games by having Yooka's humoring of the NPCs and Laylee's dry sarcasm almost be the voices of the player as they comment on the fact that the Pagies could just slips out of their cages and so on.
Yooka Laylee is a great example of what can be achieved with the 3D platform. It is let down only by its lack of motivating narrative progression, and a tendency to get a little monotonous.
Playtonic promised a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie, and that's what Yooka-Laylee delivers, flaws and all. It's a loving throwback to a bygone era and style of gaming.
Colourful characters, and enough adult humour to keep you wondering how this is a G rated game.
To me, it speaks volumes that despite pretty much completing Yooka-Laylee on Xbox One, I've felt compelled to play the game on Switch whenever I've had a spare moment. [Richard Seagrave separately reviewed the XB1 (60%) and Switch (80%) versions. Their scores have been averaged.]
Yooka-Laylee breathes new life into the collectathon platformer genre, but those who weren't into it in its heyday may see less mileage here.
Likely to appeal to the game’s twin demographics of children and, er, inner children.
Be careful what you wish for, lest it become Yooka-Laylee
If you didn’t back it, at only $39.99 (USD) here’s a game that has hours of enjoyment. Except for that last boss. Eff that guy. . .
Playtonic's adherence to the playbook of its past successes works well in Yooka-Laylee. Some minor quirks notwithstanding, it's proof that game design that's almost two decades old still works as well as some of the more avant garde, open-world fare that we've seen of late. If you're hankering for a slice of colourful, high-definition infused retro goodness, look no further.
Yooka-Laylee has done what everyone, developers and players, had hoped it to do and brought the 3D platformer kicking and screaming into gaming mainstream again, spearheading the revival.
Playing through Yooka-Laylee is fun. It has plenty of rough patches, but it's a fun journey if you ignore its shortcomings. It may be tough, it's not a pure joy ride, and it isn't the best collect-a-thon, but there are plenty of charming characters and incredibly goofy dialogue. Genre fans who loved Banjo will find things to like in Yooka-Laylee. Here's hoping that Playtonic revisits the world it has created in Yooka-Laylee and develops it further in a sequel that has some fresh new ideas and a more polished approach.
Yooka-Laylee is aimed at the revival of N64-era of Rare platformers and while it succeeds in delivering a similar experience, it also fails to improve on some of the archaic design of the past resulting in a game that is enjoyable but not without some frustrating design flaws. [Khurram Imtiaz separately reviewed the PS4 (8) and Switch (8) versions.]
Absolutely sublime platform action from the team behind Banjo-Kazooie, et al. Yooka-Laylee is everything fans have been waiting for, transporting gamers back to the 3D adventure heyday of the Nintendo 64, but bringing a wealth of updates with it to help it feel not just familiar, but also equally fresh. Between Super Mario Odyssey and this, Nintendo Switch owners are certainly being given some amazing treats in the first 12 months of the system's lifespan!
When Yooka-Laylee was originally announced as a Kickstarter project by former Rare developers, it gave fans of the 3D platformer hope that a nearly dead genre could return to its former glory. It's unfortunate, then, that Yooka-Laylee is no more than a mediocre attempt to capture nostalgia from the days of yore. In a year that has given us some truly innovative and special 3D platformers that pushed the genre to new heights, I can only really recommend pushing through Yooka-Laylee's pedestrian campaign to the most enthusiastic of old Rare's fans.
Old fashioned but not outdated adventure with cute characters and lots of fun puzzles. Unfortunately, issues with the camera prevent it from being great.
Review in Russian | Read full review