This is my entry for Playtonic's Art Contest for Yooka-Replaylee(More info on the contest here), featuring the Corplet Punisher being Manager of the Year for besting Yooka and Laylee.
Drawing this was fun, especially because it let me keep drawing.
(Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this product from https://www.keymailer.co)
2017's Yooka-Laylee looked to revive the glory days of N64-era collect-a-thon platformers. A spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie, Yooka-Laylee was developed by much of the same staff now working under Playtonic games. After crowdfunding a record breaking 2-million pounds, expectations were high.
It came and went with the general consensus referring to it as "lukewarm" and not the experience players were expecting, citing antiquated backtracking, large maps with nothing to explore and other issues.
I can remember the hype and after reading the reviews, I decided against giving it a chance. I honestly hadn't even thought of Yooka-Laylee since that time, however, Playtonic wasn't finished with Yooka-Laylee. Playtonic developed a 2D platforming sequel titled Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair in 2019 that built back some of it's goodwill with the community that was disappointed with their initial outing. I have to feel that that momentum led to 2025's Yooka-Replayee - a remaster/remake of Yooka-Laylee that promises to redeem itself.
The big question is do they pull it off? From someone who hadn't experienced the original, Yooka-Replayee is a CLASSIC. It's so good! It's great!, It's wonderful!
We could end there, but for intergrity's sake, I have to explain why. Yooka-Replayee is everything you loved about the N64 days but tweaked to suit modern sensibilities. The "tweaking" might upset purists in that it's not 100% a vintage collectathon with backtracking and unlockables that demand revisiting prior levels, but for someone like me who don't have hours to spend on arbitrary backtracking anymore while laundry piles up, work goes unfinished and my kid is climbing the walls, I welcome these little advancements that recognizes a large portion of us from the good ol' days are now getting gray hairs. It's a big adventure, don't get me wrong, but you can satisfyingly play and make some advancement with 30 minutes a night if that's all you got to work with.
Yooka-Replayee plays more like a sandbox collectathon. All your special moves are unlocked at the beginning of the game (there's a good tongue-in-cheek joke in the beginning referencing this) and the game turns you loose to explore. Your main goal is to collect "Pagies" from the "One Book" stolen by the game's villains Capital B and Dr. Quack. The One Book would give our villains the ability to rule the universe and we don't want that so a-hunting we will go.
The atmosphere is everything you love from the N64 days - snappy humor, inanimate objects with big bug eyes, the sense of open adventure, the memorable music that perfectly represents each different setting. Its a nostalgic experience, but by no means does it ever feel outdated.
True to the formula, there's plenty of side quests, mini-games and boss fights here to add some variety to the experience. Different forms you can take (a snowplow, what the fudge) to transverse different terrains and complete missions. If you're familiar with Banjo, Donkey Kong 64, you already know the drill.
On the technical side of things, Yooka-Laylee controls great. I used a 360 controller for my play through and had a seamless experience. Everything is responsive and snappy and begs you to explore your space and see what tricks you can pull off and what you can reach by just mastering the games' physics and abilities. Graphics are colorful and bright and character designs are pleasant. The camera was never a problem and if it ever was, I've already forgot whatever issues it presented.
They're unlockables too! The game is littered with currency you can use to buy cosmetic items, reveal Pagie locations, upgrades like extra HP and even items for a more challenging experience like 1-hit KOs or fall damage. To unlock everything you'll have to complete the game and that ensures you'll have plenty to do once completing the main quest.
I can't really think of anything about the game I didn't enjoy, I had an amazing time with Yooka-Laylee. If I'm picking, I could say the game is on the easy side and players wanting something a little more hard-nosed may want more challenge. I guess the boss fights could have more of a buildup to them to give them some weight but it's no different than the King Bob-omb boss fight being the first mission in Bob-omb Battlefield in Super Mario 64.
Yooka-Replayee is to Banjo-Kazooie what Perfect Dark is to Goldeneye; a spiritual sequel that improves on the initial experience while never abandoning what made the original experience so great. In my eyes, Yooka-Replayee is a classic and I'm on board for their future adventures 100%. If you ever wanted a true celebration of Nintendo 64's platforming, collect-a-thon era, you got it.
Huge thanks to Playtonic for sending me a review copy to play.
Playtonic Games ha annunciato Yooka-Replaylee, una versione rimasterizzata e migliorata del platform Collectathon Yooka-Laylee pubblicato nel 2017, per PC (Steam).
