Yoku's Island Express Reviews

Yoku's Island Express is ranked in the 89th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
85 / 100
Jun 8, 2018

A blend of mismatched genres that somehow works, Yoku's Island Express is a beguiling game of modest brilliance.

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Tom Marks
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
May 29, 2018

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.

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Recommended
May 29, 2018

A glorious marriage of pinball and platforming and a wild-spirited adventure to cherish.

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Metro GameCentral
GameCentral
Top Critic
8 / 10
May 30, 2018

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.

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8.5 / 10.0
May 29, 2018

To think, Sonic Spinball was onto something all of those years ago. Yoku's Island Express is delightful and fun from start to finish

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9 / 10
Jun 5, 2018

The unique blend of Metroid and pinball makes Yoku's Island Express as entertaining as it is charming.

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9 / 10.0
May 31, 2018

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.

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7 / 10
May 29, 2018

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.

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8 / 10.0
May 29, 2018

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

85 / 100
May 29, 2018

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

8 / 10.0
May 29, 2018

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

8 / 10.0
May 29, 2018

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.

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GameMAG
ACE
Top Critic
8 / 10
Jun 25, 2018

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

May 29, 2018

The beautifully drawn and wonderfully composed Yoku's Island Express is another nice addition to the Xbox One's library of platformers.

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8 / 10
May 29, 2018

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.

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9 / 10.0
May 29, 2018

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.

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9 / 10.0
May 29, 2018

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.

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Generación Xbox
Top Critic
8.3 / 10.0
Jun 25, 2018

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.

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8 / 10
Jun 29, 2018

Yoku's Island Express packs just enough to be a fun and simple 2D platformer with a delightful pinball component to make it standout amidst all the recent incursions of the Metroidvania style. While the game could certainly use a longer lifespan, its marvelous level design, music, gameplay mechanics and fun adventure will keep the players well amused for some time.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

83 / 100
Jun 5, 2018

Yoku's Island Express is a unique genre mix with fun pinball mechanics and great presentation. A lot of fun for pinball fans

Review in German | Read full review