Yooka and Laylee, everyone’s favorite chameleon-bat duo (are there any more?) are back and raring to go with Yooka-Replayee. Whilst pitched as a remaster of Yooka-Laylee, the game seems more like a complete remake in many areas, and I’m delighted to say that these are all changes for the better. I’m not particularly experienced with the original game, but I did revisit it in preparation for this review, and it’s staggering just how good Playtonic managed to rework the flawed original game to be with this massive upgrade.
I think I should start the review by putting specifics on how different this is for those who are familiar with the original release. Yooka-Replaylee has double the number of collectible “Pagies”, completely reworked or replaced almost every challenge in the game to accommodate for an expanded and immediately available moveset for Yooka and Laylee, along with snappier controls, new minigames, dialogue, secrets, enemies, story sequences and more. It’s an enormous feat by Playtonic, but one that’s made even more impressive by how well they actually managed to do it.
The world of Yooka-Laylee has always been beautiful to look at. I enjoyed how simple and charming it was, but Replaylee retains that charm whilst also making it actually impressive to observe, and making the most of the more advanced hardware it can run on now. Everything is luscious and detailed, from the crisp white snow, to the verdant forests, even to the cold and intimidating Hivory Towers. This is all encased by an orchestrated soundtrack that does wonders for the original tunes, arranged by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra to soar and glide as smoothly into our ears as Yooka and Laylee can glide through the skies. It feels like an incredibly high-quality product in the audio-visual department.
As a collectathon 3D platformer, it’s all well and good to have a shiny coat of paint, but the real area that Yooka-Replaylee needs to shine is with its gameplay, and once again I’m delighted to say it delivers. The main collectible of the game are the Pagies that have been scattered across the world and need to be collected by the titular duo. As they’ve been thrown all over the place, there’s really something to do in every corner of each area, even in places you least expect it. Whether it’s a fun minigame, a transformation that turns your characters into a completely different creature with new abilities, a side character with hilariously British dialogue, or collectibles that can be spent on meaningful gameplay modifiers or character customizations, there’s always something to do, and it’s never too hard to find something to enjoy in any of the Yooka-Replaylee worlds.
In fact, if there’s any issue I did have to find with the game it would be the lack of direction that comes from being surrounded by opportunities. When you first enter an area it’s difficult to decide which way to go or what to do, as there’s stuff everywhere, left and right and up and down. Unlike other 3D platformers like Donkey Kong Bananza or Super Mario Odyssey where there are collectibles to find but also a direction you’re pushed by the plot, Yooka-Replaylee is (unsurprisingly) more like Banjo-Kazooie in how it’s up to you find which way you’re going and which order you’ll do things. There is of course an overarching narrative that does require linear progression through Hivory Towers, but within each world it’s completely open as to how you explore, and that can be intimidating if you’re afraid of choice like I can be sometimes!
I mention 3D platformers, and Yooka-Replaylee is, for me, a standout in the genre. There’s something about the gameplay loop that was just so enjoyable. It’s low stakes, but there’s also so much to do. There are some tricky challenges, but there’s so many ways to do them. It feels so refined, yet also so willing to do weird and creative things with a wonderfully charming presentation that it all just clicks together. Yooka-Laylee had its issues, but Yooka-Replaylee refines its rough edges, makes the colors shine brighter, adds a wealth of new content and it comes together to prove itself as a standout in the genre that deserves way more love with contemporary gaming audiences.
Yooka-Replaylee is a wonderful game that I’d wholeheartedly recommend to any kind of gamer for the undeniable charm and wildly good time it offers with its moment-to-moment dedication to being fun. The only thing that leaves me unsatisfied is the thought of needing to wait a while before I get to see the duo return again. Please Playtonic, don’t make us wait too long for Twoka-Laylee.
Bobby played Yooka-Replaylee on Steam with a provided review copy.
