Playtonic brings gamers back to N64-style colorful fun and adventure with Yooka-Laylee. After spending hours destroying giant bosses in Dark Souls, it was a great change of pace to return to the days of Banjo-Kazooie with a fun game focused on collectibles and slight platforming. Playtonic is a team made up of veterans of Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong Country who worked together to kickstart Yooka-Laylee in hopes to garner support from fans of the previous games. They succeeded on an epic level. The project raised over 2 million pounds on a goal of only 160,000. This meant that it was for the developers to meet the expectations of the fans who had a great appetite for Yooka-Laylee.
More info from the developers:
Yooka-Laylee is an all-new open-world platformer from key creative talent behind the Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong Country games!
Explore huge, beautiful worlds, meet (and beat) an unforgettable cast of characters and horde a vault-load of shiny collectibles as buddy-duo Yooka (the green one) and Laylee (the wisecracking bat with the big nose) embark on an epic adventure to thwart corporate creep Capital B and his devious scheme to absorb all the world’s books… and convert them into pure profit!
Using their arsenal of special moves, our heroes will tackle a huge variety of puzzles and platforming challenges in their search for Pagies, the golden bounty used to unlock — and expand — stunning new worlds, each jammed to the gills with oddball characters, hulking bosses, minecart challenges, arcade games, quiz shows, multiplayer games… and much more!
As soon as I fired up Yooka-Laylee, the feeling of nostalgia hit me. Bold colors and a great open space with a fun story and adorable characters permeated my senses. After a few cut-scenes, I was finally set free in search of golden pages. The controls of the game feel natural and fluid. The camera at times does not, as I encountered some issues occasionally that hampered my ability to complete tasks. There are 5 worlds to explore outside of the initial start point, which does not seem very deep, but I was able to spend close to 20 hours rummaging around to do what was needed to complete the game. I even decided to try it out mobile on my PS Vita.
Playing Yooka-Laylee during dinner made sense since it is truly comfort food for gamers. The next test was to pass it to my 6-year-old son to see how the next generation enjoys this type of game. He had a blast: the speed, fun, and music had him enthralled and it is a wonderful family couch game either co-operatively or alone. When you consider the limited titles for the Nintendo Switch, I would definitely recommend it for those who need a break from The Legend of Zelda.
In total if you are looking for a great family game that everyone can enjoy at an affordable price (only $40 new) then Yooka-Laylee is a great choice for you. I am sure that the price will even be more affordable soon, making this a must-have for the living room!
You can purchase a copy for Ps4/XboxOne/here. The Nintendo Switch release date has yet to be determined.
A copy of the game was provided by Playtonic.
