Yooka-Replaylee Preview: Playtonic’s Second Chance

UK-based developer Playtonic Games delivered an exclusive experience to EGX x MCM Comic Con in London this weekend, presenting a playable demo for their upcoming remaster of the 2017 3D platform game Yooka-Laylee.

The remaster, playfully titled Yooka-Replaylee, sees chameleon Yooka and bat Laylee return for the first time since the 2019 spin-off Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair.

For the uninitiated, the original Yooka-Laylee became a huge Kickstarter triumph that endeared itself to a legion of fans nostalgic for the return of 3D platforming icons such as Rare’s iconic Nintendo 64 duo, Banjo and Kazooie.

Playtonic Games, comprised of former Rare developers, channeled what players loved about Banjo-Kazooie, namely the colorful characters, open-level design, and ‘collect-a-thon’ gameplay, where players find and pocket a treasure trove of collectibles in each level, into a modern title that ultimately received middling reviews due to a number of shortcomings.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. Glitterglaze Glacier
3. Remaster, Remake, Remix
4. The Bottom Line
5. FAQs

Show Full Guide

Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. Glitterglaze Glacier
3. Remaster, Remake, Remix
Show Full Guide
4. The Bottom Line
5. FAQs

Glitterglaze Glacier

Yooka-Replaylee, then, is a chance at redemption for the Playtonic Games team. An opportunity to address the issues of the original release and finally deliver the definitive ‘collect-a-thon’ for the modern era. It’s been almost ten years since the formation of the Playtonic team, and it feels like the perfect time for the team to put the record straight.

My hands-on Yooka-Replaylee demo in the heart of the ExCel Centre’s Rezzed Zone saw me taking control of Yooka and Laylee in the second world of the game, Glitterglaze Glacier.

This icy biome, populated with fuzzy yeti creatures, opened with an introduction to one of the new members of Yooka-Replaylee’s cast, Coinelius. No, that’s not a typo; Coinelius is a ghostly white piggy bank that conjured a series of rings for me to pass through using Laylee’s glide ability.

The snow covered playground is crisp and brilliantly white, with soft powder that now deforms and compacts under Yooka’s footprints where the original exhibited only a basic white texture. The frozen cliffs stretch upwards towards the sky, making the area feel suitably chilled and grandiose.

The various collectibles scattered throughout this world all gently shimmer and shine, enticing players to seek out and pick up the many Quills, coins, and Pagies in each stage. The new lighting combined with the reworked textures makes everything feel grounded in the world, considerably more so than the 2017 original.

Likewise, the enemies in this opening area now benefit from a layer of fuzzy fur and gnarly, yellow teeth that look far superior and menacing when compared to the smooth creatures they once were. It speaks to the level of visual overhaul that Playtonic Games are applying to Yooka-Replaylee’s graphics, which is not simply upping some of the textures but instead reworking and redesigning them where they’re needed to make the overall experience feel more modern.

It’s not game-breaking, of course. Pop-in is always distracting and breaks the immersion of whatever game you’re playing, but it’s an issue that will hopefully be gone by the time of a full release.

Another element that brings Yooka-Replaylee up to the standards of modern 3D platformers like Mario Odyssey and Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a new soundtrack. The new Yooka-Replaylee score, performed by the City of Prague Orchestra, adds extra depth to the existing soundscape. Legendary composers David Wise and Grant Kirkhope still lead the musical credits here, but the orchestration elevates the music to a higher level.

The same is true of the Yooka-Replaylee controls. 3D platforms live and die by their control schemes, and the original release saw the titular pair often stuttering to perform their actions fluidly. Thankfully, things are a lot smoother this time around, with the controls feeling much more responsive in 2024.

A perfect example is how Yooka and Laylee now seamlessly transition between moves in a combo, effortlessly flowing between a roll and a jump into a Buddy Slam to destroy several igloos to save Clara Lost in one of Yooka-Replaylee’s puzzles.

Remaster, Remake, Remix

At EGX this weekend, I spoke to Anni Valkama, the Brand Manager from Playtonic Games, about the upcoming remaster and how the development team has approached polishing their most famous creation.

When asked where Yooka-Replaylee falls on the spectrum of remaster to remake, Valkama revealed that the developers see the game as more of a ‘remix’. They emphasize correcting the issues of the original release to reward long-time supporters of the now sixty-strong studio and introduce enough reconfigured content that those same fans will still find something new to enjoy.

That remixed content seems to stretch across the entirety of Yooka-Replaylee. While the levels and their layouts will be familiar, the location of collectibles has all been tweaked to present a challenge to returning players who may feel there was nothing new for them in returning to the world of Yooka-Laylee.

There’s also scope within Yooka-Replaylee for new content to become seamlessly integrated with the remixed offerings, and I’d love to see what a beefed-up Playtonic Games can accomplish now that the controls have been tightened up and the visuals have been given a substantial face-lift.

The returning player base will also benefit from a discounted price point across all platforms, although Anni was quick to point out that exactly how much discount hadn’t been finalized yet. One thing that is a given, however, is that the original Kickstarter backers will once again appear in the credits, without whom Yooka-Laylee may not exist at all.

The Bottom Line

It remains to be seen whether Playtonic will successfully apply the improvements made to Glitterglaze Glacier across the entire adventure and whether tweaking those previously underwhelming gameplay elements will be enough to attract returning players back for one more roll with this colorful duo.

From what I’ve played so far, though, things are looking good for this ‘Remix’ of the original. The new visuals add a layer of polish that brings Yooka and Laylee, their cohorts, and their world up to par with its contemporaries. The controls feel much smoother and that orchestral soundtrack sounds fantastic and like it always belonged. Yooka-Replaylee is shaping up as a new start for the series overall, but as for how well Yooka-Replaylee performs on release, that page is still unwritten.

FAQs