Yoku's Island Express Reviews
A glorious marriage of pinball and platforming and a wild-spirited adventure to cherish.
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 blend of mismatched genres that somehow works, Yoku's Island Express is a beguiling game of modest brilliance.
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.
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
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
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.
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
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 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.
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 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
Beyond its colorful and cartoonesque visuals, Yoku's Island Express delivers a strong Metroidvania experience mixed with flipper mecanics. This generous and smart adventure keeps a balanced challenge from start to finish, and mixes typical flipper challenges with deep exploration gameplay. Despite a binary system of flippers and few bosses, Yoku's Island Express is a good ride with a fresh tone.
Review in French | Read full review
Yoku's Island Express is whimsical, charming and a joy to play. It's developed by people who have an obvious love and deep knowledge for both pinball and Metroidvania games, and frequently delights and surprises by taking established genre conventions and quite literally flipping them about.
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 a great game. Combining Metroidvania exploration with pinball gameplay was an interesting decision that paid off big time. Despite its short length, Yoku's Island Express is still a complete adventure, one that is relaxing and an absolute pleasure to take in.
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