Yooka-Laylee (Nintendo Switch) Review

What a game! It just has to be said from the start that anyone in any doubt as to whether or not Yooka-Laylee would be able to match the same standard set in the Banjo-Kazooie series should be able to set their minds at ease. The chameleon (Yooka) and bat (Laylee) have swooped in to seamlessly take over from where bird and bear left off, now traversing a place called Hivory Towers, on the hunt for Pagies, in the hopes of stopping a new big bad, Capital B (a worker bee) and his side-kick, Dr. Quack (a duck-in-a-jar… with wheels). They have a nefarious plan to transform all books into pure profit. Those dastardly villains! Who needs Gruntilda, right? Well, perhaps Capital B does not quite fill the witchy boots as well as some might have hoped, but the story is not the strong point, and never was meant to be, with the action instead relying on comical script-work (which is delivered in spades), and highly entertaining platform adventuring (dished out in… shovels…?).

This is a 3D adventure, with heaps of collectibles included. Not quite to the extent of the overkill found in the Rare-developed Donkey Kong 64, but still quite an intense trip for those riding the nostalgia train and looking for something not as quick and easy as some more modern platform titles. Yooka and Laylee work so well together, each with separate moves, and combination ones that grow in intensity as the game progresses, with a Snake named Trowzer (oo-er) dishing out new techniques in return for a set number of Quills, which can be found dotted around each of the five main worlds visited, some only discoverable when each land has been expanded. Speaking of which, set numbers of Pagies need to be collected via the various trials throughout before a 'Great Tome' (read: world) can be opened, and then eventually expanded (once more Pagies have been accrued) to unlock new areas within. Certain moves are also required to actually access the entrance to each world, so getting caught somewhere you should not really be yet is not possible.

That is not to say there is not scope for free-rein, wide-scale exploration, because the worlds themselves are great in size - sometimes narrow and high, other times flat and wide, always mixing things up - and scenery can be clambered upon in order to reach seemingly inaccessible sections, more often than not unearthing a cheeky Quill hidden away, or one of the many quirky characters that can either be spoken to as part of a particular mission or collected and added to a running total of critters, or even stumbling upon tokens to open up retro mini-games, items to unlock special transformation features within a world, health expansion power-ups, and much more.

Yooka-Laylee is all about taking a classic, keeping the feel - graphically and aurally (complete with unintelligible utterances from the cast, and a classic David Wise/Grant Kirkhope/Steve Burke score) - and the team at Playtonic has done the job absolutely perfectly. So much attention to detail has gone into this, to the point where there is even a reference to the classic Stop 'N' Swop idea that was meant to unlock special features in Banjo-Tooie after completing Banjo-Kazooie on Nintendo 64, both in terms of the actual expansion of worlds in general, and a certain ice key featured in the early stages that will have long-term fans giggling with retro-filled excitement.

Five worlds, all expandable, brimming with secrets…except the fourth world is actually a casino filled with mini-games, so that slightly brings down the fun factor, especially as it is expected in these sorts of games that the worlds will become more and more elaborate the deeper into the adventure you get. However, momentary disappointment aside whilst working through that - albeit still enjoyable - world, the actual key issue is not with the structure, but with the camera, especially the auto-positioning mode that gets so confused, sticking on pieces of scenery too often when trying to revert to behind the duo after being moved. Changing to a manual style, where once rotated and tilted as desired, it stays where you have placed it, is a far better option, but even then there are some close-quarters situations where it fails to provide the best viewing angle, and can lead to accidental deaths, or at least an annoying tumble from height after spending ages carefully climbing upwards. Loading times, as well, can be extraordinarily painful at times, even when loading up the small, bonus retro titles, and no matter how amusing the one-liner quips are that show on-screen, the wait can be excruciating.

Overall, though, it is hard to fault Yooka-Laylee too much because its heart is so big, its bosses are so amusing, the challenges are so…challengey…and the script is filled with comedy throughout, with plenty of trademark British humour and great puns (one moment discussing trash, garbage and the British term of rubbish sticks in the mind). The range of abilities granted to the lead twosome also makes for some very intriguing platform antics, from the special jumping moves, rolling skills, and attacking arsenal, to even Kirby-esque absorbing tricks, temporary invisibility, and even a snazzy flying talent bestowed upon them in the latter stages, making collection of any final hidden bits and bobs far easier for the less initiated that are trying this out. For all of those people saying this relies on recycling ideas too much, just remember…recycling is good, and is saving the world. Kudos to Playtonic Games for being such world savers!