Yoku's Island Express Reviews
Overall, there's not a lot to dislike about Yoku's Island Express. It's deep, it's fun, and while the main character may not be memorable as a Rayman or a Mario, the gameplay is so well-planned that you aren't in need of a strong lead character to make it all work. Villa Gorilla did one helluva job with this release and it's a game that shouldn't be overlooked.
Yoku's Island Express is wholly unique - a seamless blend of platformer, pinball, and puzzle game that never outstays its welcome our wears out its charming visual style. Highly recommended.
A nice show of unique gameplay mechanics with the inclusion of boss battles that mixes both platforming and pinball action that never gets old as each and every area is unique and properly executed. A flurry of characters… oh sorry! I meant a ton of furry characters that looks great and side quests that is actually fun to do as you think your way out of sticky situations or just tap your way, every way, along the way!
Yoku's Island Express is the best indie game of 2018 so far and an unmissable wholesome jaunt that manages to bind pinball gameplay with a gorgeous sun-soaked open world brimming with wholesome characters and secrets that will keep you paddling for hours on end.
If there’s one type of game I never thought I’d be praising to the high heavens in 2018, it’s a 2D Metroidvania-esque puzzle pinball platformer featuring a Dung Beetle as its protagonist. Even those words written together make very little sense to me, and on paper Yoku’s Island Express should be an absolute trainwreck. Keeping as many genre balls the air as developer Villa Gorilla are doing here Yoku feels like somewhat of a herculean task, and yet here we are. Yoku’s Island Express is my favourite platformer of 2018 so far, and I’m not even sure it’s a platformer at all.
In conclusion we must say to be very satisfied with this little indie labeled Villa Gorilla; Yoku's Island Express is really a nice game, colorful, fun and full of adventure. It offers an always exciting challenge and proposes a genre that is certainly different from the usual one that mixes a classic platform with pinball components and exploratory parts. In short, a varied title with excellent facets that will surely offer you a good chance for fun!
Review in Italian | Read full review
Yoku's Island Express delivers on an idea of pinball for platforming and doesn't ever veer too far off course. Great graphics and catchy tunes will keep you playing, even if the game sometimes puts you in a table that feels impossible.
As you watch Yoku’s ball fling the dung beetle helplessly across Mokumana Island for the hundredth time, it’s hard not to come to the realisation that Yoku’s Island Express is a rare and special treat.
Yoku's Island Express is the perfect combination of your favourite Metroidvania game, a watercolour painting and pinball. The majority of your time within the game will be spent flying around the screen as you furiously try and make it through all of the pinball-based enclosed areas, areas which never repeat, never get old, and never overstay their welcome. The rest of your time will be spent interacting with all of the lovable characters, experiencing the humour of the writing, collecting items, and delivering mail. Not bad for the first day on the job for our young protagonist!
The unique blend of metroidvania and pinball is done excellently and with a great aesthetic to match. The world is also full of secrets to find, but is victim to a number of boring fetch quests.
Yoku's Island Express is a very original title that combines two popular genres of video games. In addition to that audiovisual is very beautiful. It takes a little more time and more difficulty, but that is not enough to stop it from being a very enjoyable game.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
A glorious marriage of pinball and platforming and a wild-spirited adventure to cherish.
Beautiful to look and gentle at first, but some sections can ramp up the frustration to breaking point
A cool hybrid of platforming, puzzling and pinball, Yoku's Island Express is a bit of a one-off, and therefore well worth seeking out.
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
Yoku's Island Express is far from bad. It has great ideas, a very good soundtrack, and competent gameplay. But while there's not too much actively wrong with it, it doesn't do anything exceptionally well either. It'll do.
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.
For everyone out there who has been beaten down by the relentless pursuit of thrills and high scores, Yoku's Island Express is going to feel very refreshing. It's a charming vacation filled with beautiful locales. Taking the time to explore everything is highly recommended. The emphasis on pinball lends the game a superbly-realised identity. Utilising an array of bumpers and flippers to get around is somehow more fulfilling than tapping a jump button repeatedly. Altogether, this is a worthwhile venture for anyone who needs a break.
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 great time, it's a charming and enjoyable for any audience.