I would be lying if I said I did not enjoy some of the so-called “collect-a-thons” back in the Nintendo 64 days. Rare was at the top of their game then and it showed, as some of their most beloved releases were put out, chief among them the Banjo Kazooie titles, starring a lovable talking animal duo that at the time rivaled even Super Mario 64 when it came to sheer among of quality to be had.
Decades later and under a new banner, some of the devs behind those games decided to revel upon their past success with Yooka-Laylee, a character platformer that had a lot of charm but a few blemishes inherited from its distant cousins, chiefly among them, a horrible camera. Now it’s time to revisit that one in Yooka-Replaylee, which is hands down the best version of the 2017 game.
Yooka-Replaylee stars Yooka and Laylee, a cute-as-buttons tag team of chameleon and bat as they adventure around colorful and extremely busy worlds in search of pagies, all the while, their happy-go-lucky activities are aimed to be exploited by the evil Capital B, who is greedily after their collectables. All in all, the humor in this is as sharp as the one seen in the Banjo games, with jokes that both kids and adults can enjoy, given the somewhat dark undertone of the story.
If you’re enjoyed the aforementioned “collect-a-thons” of the past, you’ll find that there’s plenty more to have a good time with here. Yooka-Replaylee doesn’t aim to reinvent the wheel in any way, even when compared to the original version from years ago. The biggest complaint from the 2017 title is fixed here, as the camera is tightly responsive and at your total control. Best of all, especially for those looking to polish trophies/achievements, there’s even more to be picked up along the way.
And that’s not saying there was not much in that regard before. There are notes, pages, ghost authors and a host of other types of bips and boops to line your pockets with, all of which can be used to up your completion percentage even more. Let’s not beat around the bush here: it’s what we’re all here for, after all. Nostalgia be damned, we like to pick up shiny things!
Perhaps the biggest thing going for Yooka-Replaylee outside of it existing and offering plenty of saturated fun to those looking to jack it into their veins is how close it sticks to its inspirations when it comes to presentation. Even more so when it comes to the soundtrack. All of the talent that contributed to the N64 classics clocked into Yooka-Laylee and do so again in this, meaning that Grant Kirkhope, David Wise, and Steve Burke – legendary names from just about every Rare hit since 16-bit – all have had their fingers in the excellent tunes that you’ll hear as soon as you press start to play this game.
Other than that little nugget which might be enough to warrant a purchase, there’s the sheer charm when it comes to the visuals, not just graphically, but in terms of design: characters are adorable, even the bad guys, and it’s easy to see the Rare DNA shine through what is on offer here. What the Nintendo 64 couldn’t do back in the day is totally being done now as this game shows, with ridiculously well animated characters that are still hilarious in the way they speak in gibberish. Honestly, it wouldn’t be the same if you could understand the sounds coming out of their mouths and beaks.
All in all, Yooka-Replaylee is all that you could ask from a remake of a game that’s not even 10 years old: limited but smartly implemented additions that make what was an otherwise middle-of-the-road title into one that finally succeeds in what the original was going for. It’s an easy recommendation for anyone hankering for the old feeling of picking up shiny things as there are plenty of those to go around here, and likely a bit more just to prove a point.
