Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair Reviews

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is ranked in the 89th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
9.5 / 10.0
Oct 3, 2019

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is essentially a spiritual successor to Donkey Kong Country that ends with a difficult Super Mario Maker-like dungeon. It friggin' rocks.

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Spaziogames
Top Critic
7.5 / 10.0
Oct 3, 2019

Despite a strong game structure change and the presence of 2.5D levels, Yooka-Layle and the impossibile Lair has nothing to envy to the previous chapter.

Review in Italian | Read full review

9 / 10.0
Oct 3, 2019

I love Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair. It feels fresh while keeping some of the great traits of the first game. The changes may even change the minds of players which did not enjoy the game that preceded it. It controls very well, looks great, sounds great and is a lot of fun. Just give it a shot, I think you will like it.

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4 / 5.0
Oct 5, 2019

Delightful a package this ends up being — with a surprising glee to be had when it comes to fiddling about with the many game-altering tonics on show — it's by no means an argument for Playtonic to ditch altogether the idea of revisiting traditional 3D for a hypothetical "Twooka-Laylee" follow-up.

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8 / 10.0
Oct 7, 2019

By incorporating some of the classic 2D design of previous generations this once N64 throwback has matured and grown into its own slice of platforming gold.

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5 / 5.0
Oct 26, 2019

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair may have made it into one of the best games of 2019!

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80%
Oct 3, 2019

After the first Yooka-Laylee, you could be forgiven for not being desperate for more, but Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a more accomplished and markedly different game to its forebear. And it's all the better for it.

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8 / 10
Oct 3, 2019

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair ironically does justice to the impossible task of living up to the name of great platforming games like Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong Country, and Rayman Legends. It's a joy to play, feeling simultaneously modern and yet nostalgic. The odd omission of boss battles and some issues with variety aside, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a game any self-respecting platformer fan should play.

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8.5 / 10.0
Oct 3, 2019

This time around, Playtonic has swapped out the retro 3D stylings of the original for something that plays more like a Donkey Kong Country sequel, offering a variety of levels where skill and strategy are necessary to succeed.

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9 / 10
Oct 3, 2019

Donkey Kong Country fans rejoice: this is the spiritual successor you've been waiting for. The worst thing you could say about it is that the overworld exploration may prove to be too involved for those who are in it purely for the runny-jumpy stuff, but those who are happy to mix platforming with top-down adventuring and don't mind adapting to the constantly changing pace will find the best of both worlds here. Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a fantastic sophomore effort that pays tribute to Rare's past and establishes Playtonic as one of the UK's most exciting studios.

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GameXplain
Top Critic
Liked-a-lot
Oct 3, 2019
Can Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair Top Tropical Freeze?! - REVIEW (Switch) video thumbnail
4 / 5.0
Oct 3, 2019

In many ways the first Yooka-Laylee felt like the developers were trying to make up for lost time and bring audiences the Banjo Three-ie everyone wanted. With this follow-up, you get a distinct sense that the game has been allowed to breathe and find its own identity, and it’s an overwhelmingly positive thing.

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9 / 10.0
Oct 3, 2019

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair marries a variety of platforming mechanics in a meaty campaign with tons of challenges ahead. It’s as polished as it is focused and as true to the genre as you can get. Now, sign me up for the next one.

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7.5 / 10.0
Oct 3, 2019

Side-scrolling sequel Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair has creative ideas, assuming you have the patience to wrangle with its difficulty.

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Generación Xbox
Top Critic
8.5 / 10.0
Oct 3, 2019

A simple but effective aspect, a well-implemented gameplay and worked with enough depth to avoid falling into monotony and a story with good humorous moments are the perfect cocktail for a great platform title.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

8.3 / 10.0
Oct 4, 2019

Two years after the birth of Yooka and Laylee, Playtonic returns to work on the exploits of the funny animal duo making Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair , a platform title "à la Rare" that , compared to its predecessor, it leaves the cards unexpectedly positive.

Review in Italian | Read full review

8 / 10
Oct 8, 2019

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a great hommage to the Donkey Kong Country series, mixing its 2D mechanics with a 3D worl map to explore. The last level is alaways accessible to try out, but the collectibles you will find along your journey gives the game a tiny feels of an RPG. With so many secrets to fond accross both the levels and the environment, there are plenty interesting things to look out in PlayTonic's second game.

Review in French | Read full review

85 / 100
Oct 11, 2019

Excellent 2D-Jump & Run, that dares little new, but combines its individual elements into a very coherent whole.

Review in German | Read full review

87 / 100
Oct 14, 2019

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is one the best surprises of this year. An epic tribute for DKC that everyone should play.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

8 / 10
Oct 19, 2019

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a marvelous piece of a platform game that may not reinvent the whole genre but which has enough of the right stuff to provide an experience that's enjoyable and delightful to play. Thanks to its gaming worlds, humorous dialogues and challenge level, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair will fit well with both fans of platform games and those taking their first steps in the genre.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review