Yoku's Island Express Reviews
A blend of mismatched genres that somehow works, Yoku's Island Express is a beguiling game of modest brilliance.
Yoku's Island Express is a novel Metroidvania-pinball hybrid that stands out as something wholly unique. It blends those clashing genres with a beautiful island style, and its satisfying flippers and bumpers make uncovering its wide island a ton of fun. Retreading completed areas while hunting for secrets can occasionally get stale, but Yoku's Island Express has a refreshingly positive attitude that kept me smiling the whole way through.
A glorious marriage of pinball and platforming and a wild-spirited adventure to cherish.
A strangely successful mix of genres that plays both a mean pinball and a highly competent game of Metroidvania, and all wrapped up in some utterly charming presentation.
To think, Sonic Spinball was onto something all of those years ago. Yoku's Island Express is delightful and fun from start to finish
The unique blend of Metroid and pinball makes Yoku's Island Express as entertaining as it is charming.
Yoku's Island Express is a delight, plain and simple.It's gorgeous, plays beautifully, and I hope it's the start of a new franchise, because I want to play a lot more of this.
Yoku's Island Express is a beauteous, aurally delightful treat that riffs off the Metroidvania template and pinball tables in a smart and playful manner. It's somewhat tempered by the dual frustrations of the pinball mechanic's need for constant precision and a lacklustre fast-travel system that leaves you having to cover the same ground over and over, ultimately taking what could have been an amazing game, and making it a good one.
Villa Gorilla mixes genres and manages to deliver a great game that brings huge doses of fun and entertainment. Yoku's Island Express is a true experience that should be played.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Like a unique cocktail, Yoku's Island Express mixes with taste, and in intelligent way, the typical elements from metroidvania adventures with pinball's game mechanics, giving as a result a very enjoyable and adictive game that feels unique and it's very fun. A game that those who are tired from the same formulas will enjoy the most.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Yoku's Island Express has been a fantastic surprise. This original mix of platforms, exploration, RPG and the gameplay of a pinball works and is very entertaining. The design of levels is careful to detail and the game is full of surprises, hidden phases, interesting characters and a story that you want to complete.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
For as many great, engaging or immersive outings we've already been treated to in the past few years with this genre, Yoku's Island Express can now be added to that same list of essential efforts with an identity that is all its own.
One part Metroidvania, one part pinball game, Yoku's Island Express is a beautiful mashup that just shouldn't work. But it does, and as a result, it's just wonderful.
Yoku's Island Express is a genuine breath of fresh air, combining pinball and Metroidvania mechanics in a way that feels truly inspired. Add in one of the most appealing fantasy worlds you'll find on the eShop, and you have yourself an instant left-field classic.
Yoku's Island Express is the open-world pinball adventure you never knew you wanted, but that you desperately need to play. The vibrant art, expansive world, and fun story come together with the best elements of metroidvania and pinball games to create a new experience unlike anything else out there.
Yoku's Island Express is a beautiful adventure that uses the concept of Super Metroid, but adds unique and surprisingly appropriate integration of pinball to the mechanics. If you are a fan of metroidvania genre and have long wanted to try something unusual, then this project is a must-play for you.
Review in Russian | Read full review
The beautifully drawn and wonderfully composed Yoku's Island Express is another nice addition to the Xbox One's library of platformers.
Yoku's Island Express is one of the most surprising games of 2018. The combination of pinball and Metroidvania is, on paper at least, a little like dipping your French fries into your milkshake; as good as the two elements are separately, they shouldn't really work together. But thanks to an array of smart design choices, a wonderful art style, and some genuinely inventive puzzles, Yoku's Island Express is a game that only rarely frustrates – and frequently delights.
Yoku's Island Express is one of those titles to be valued without reserve, hoping to send a message to the market and the development team, and to have an ecosystem populated by less approved and braver projects.
In short, if you are looking for a good platform game, fun and challenging, Yoku's Island Express will not only meet your expectations, but will exceed them. An excellent game that mixes two genres in a very successful way.