Yooka Laylee Reviews
Yooka-Laylee is exactly what Playtonic promised, and also exactly what I expected. While some of the levels are not great, the overall package takes me back to a different time where the genre thrived. For better or worse this game recaptures what made those games special, and frankly if it starred a certain bear and bird combo, it could have easily been a sequel to a game from that era.
It's colourful, there are collectibles, and it's got a rotten camera: Yooka-Laylee is a 90s platformer to a tee. Unfortunately, rather than a rose-tinted look at the titles of yore, this game falls into all of the same pitfalls as its predecessors: it's rough around the edges, often annoying, and at times even a chore. And yet for all of its flaws it's still packing the most important ingredient of all: the compulsion to collect everything is strong here – and it'll remain even when you're grinding your teeth.
Yooka-Laylee is a heartfelt tribute to the best of Rare on Nintendo 64. It's a challenging game, with a steep difficulty level (like old times!), always fun to play. If you're a fan of old-school platforming, you won't be disappointed.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Yooka-Laylee’s camera wants to constantly reset itself behind the characters when moving and this drove me nuts early on
Yooka-Laylee shows there’s room for nostalgia-flavored 3D platforming in today’s market by reminding us of the joys of well-built, colorful worlds, and daft, fun characters. Unfortunately, the good work put in by Playtonic to modernise the stagnant genre is hamstrung by glaring technical issues that dull the vibrancy, and cloud over your enjoyment.
Yooka-Laylee is gorgeous. It is a delight to behold. But its design and mechanics don't always match up to its ambitions.
Yooka-Laylee is a tribute to 3D platforming games, especially to those that involve collecting a lot of things. It succeeds at that job, as it will certainly invade some players with overwhelming feelings of nostalgia. It doesn't quite do the job of creating a platformer that would be up to the highest standards of today, as it's demonstrated by some frustrating sections, camera issues and a combat system that is far from being exciting but overall, Yooka-Laylee is a pleasure to explore and it's full of delightful details.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Yooka-Laylee is an unabashedly old-school platformer with modern presentation. It is challenging and occasionally infuriating, but it's also extremely rewarding. Playtonic have proven that just because something is old, that doesn't mean it should die.
Overall, this is a game of inconsistent highs and lows. The simple joy of interacting with a colorful, childish world serves to remind us of a different time for video games. But when stuttering camera angles send you plummeting off a high platform, the lack of polish is painfully obvious. Further patches and updates might be able to salvage the solid foundation that Yooka-Laylee is built on, but in its current state, it does little more than present a charming love letter to its predecessors.
"Yooka-Laylee" accomplishes what it sets out to do. It reminds players what was so appealing about collectathons at the height of their popularity. Even if it overstay its welcome toward the end, it's mostly a joyful journey through a long forgotten genre.
Yooka-Laylee is a good Banjo-Kazooie-like, packed with a colorfull world, good gameplay and a lot of humor. It doesn't reach the level of its model, but is for sure a nice modern alternative.
Review in French | Read full review
Yooka-Laylee is a good classic 3D platformer better on its first hours and levels when you are discovering the wide range of activities and challenges that you have in this retro colectathon. The rest of the time you can suffer with some weak design decisions to prolongue the time you need to complete the game.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Yooka-Laylee is a nostalgic trip to the past that ignores all the innovations that came after it. There's an appeal to return to a bygone era of platforming, but it's quickly washed away with long stretches of tedious, boring gameplay, and a sense of wit that thinks it's far smarter than it really is.
If you grew up playing 3D platformer collect-a-thon games like Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, Jak & Daxter, Spyro, and others, then there is a good chance that you'll find a lot to love in Yooka-Laylee. It's a faithful recreation of the formula that made games of the late 90s and early 2000s both so special and so frustrating.
The game isn’t interested in coasting on nostalgia, but in establishing brand-new memories for the next generation.
Yooka-Laylee is fun, but it is rarely brilliant; it's pleasant, but not always memorable; and never reach or surpass the glorious masterpieces othat inspired the team.
Review in Italian | Read full review
At its best, Yooka-Laylee is a fun retread of '90s-era 3D platforming. Unfortunately, it fails to move the genre forward in any significant way, and even brings back several pains that should have stayed firmly planted in the past.
Yooka-Laylee is basically the Banjo-Kazooie game players have been waiting well over a decade for. No matter your age, Yooka-Laylee has something for everyone, be it the colorful characters and worlds that youngsters are sure to love, or the crude humor sprinkled throughout to appeal to the older audiences.
Yooka-Laylee is a nostalgic old-school adventure, but it’s too retro for its own good. Frustrating game mechanics, annoying boss fights and the complete lack of guidance become infuriating as the game progresses.