Yooka-Replaylee

A Rare Example.

Back in 2015, Playtonic Games, comprised of several ex-Rare developers, launched a Kickstarter campaign to build their spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie. And, in 2017, with Yooka-Laylee, an action platformer starring a lizard and a wise-cracking bat, they succeeded. 

Well… Mostly. 

The game, at the time, was heavily decisive amongst its fanbase, largely due to various gameplay elements, slippery controls, and just how the game felt to play. While many adored the game's attachment to being what it was, some saw it as a vastly inferior copy that just didn’t do its inspirations justice. Now, some eight years later, with Yooka-Replayee, Playtonic has delivered the game they likely wanted to release in the first place, even if much of the game's early inspirations have been left behind.

The original release felt very much like Banjo-Kazooie, and that was absolutely intentional. Nearly every facet of the game hung its jacket on the same rack as the Rare-branded platformer. However, Replayee updates a lot with adding a map, far more collectibles, and a ton of coins to purchase a wide range of new costumes. These updates take the game further from the Banjo inspirations and more towards a certain plumber's Odyssey, if you catch what I'm throwing down. Granted, borrowing from objectively the best platformer in the past decade isn't a bad thing, but it does still feel at odds with the game's original vision.

Regardless, Yooka-Replayee is a vastly better and more enjoyable experience this time around. With a new and improved camera, Yooka and Laylee’s entire platforming moveset unlocked from the start, and nearly twice as many collectibles to track down, makes it so even those who have explored every single pixel of the original will find countless more hours with all the new and improved areas of the game. And, with completely revamped controls, it makes it a far better experience, even if I wish I could remap my controls to allow jump to be on the B button. 

What I really enjoyed is that Replayee begins with the duo remembering this adventure via a scrapbook, but then embellishes these events, allowing for these changes to feel like an unreliable narrator detailing the original game’s events. It works extremely well as a genuine way to remake this game from the ground up. So yes, this is not a typical remaster but more of a full-blown remake, given the complete overhaul to nearly every facet of the game.

The story revolves around a magical book that can alter reality for those who write in it. As the pair encounter it on the way to discover treasure, as their ship has seen better days, the book gets captured by an evil capitalistic Bee named Capital B, and his equally evil Duck Scientist named Dr. Quack. However, before being captured, the book shakes its “Pagies” free, and the duo then looks to track them down, even if that is the plan put in motion by Dr. Quack, who, to be honest, is a wonderful character and a standout design. Frankly, he might be in my top ten best boss designs ever. I love him.

This collectathon fuels the gameplay across each of the game's five locations, including a hub world, as you jump, glide, and run to track down each and every Pagie. More collectibles have been added, such as quills that serve as currency to buy upgrades. You can also spend gold to unlock a host of outfits for Yooka and Laylee, as well as Tonics, that can make the game easier or harder, depending on the tonic. And, with gold and quills almost everywhere as you explore, you’ll easily be able to play around with these systems and get what you want from them.

Now, with some of these changes, such as a fast travel system, a map that can detail where every single Pagie is, the game is considerably more linear than before. And, given that there are twice as many Pagies per level, it is possible to just enter into the last encounter before even setting foot in some of the later levels. It’s bizarre that the Pagie count for some doors was not increased to prevent such an oddity. 

Combat is also both enjoyable and yet something that could have seen improvements to make it more engaging. Enemies simply lack any AI to be even remotely challenging, almost just wanting to be slapped around until they explode into a series of coins as you spin around. That said, bosses are wildly enjoyable, such as a lashing out tentacle, or one of the later bosses that reminded me of a very particular Fall Guys level. You know the one.

This new revamped version comes with far better visuals and dramatically improved lighting. Characters are far more expressive than before, and the overall presentation of its color and vibrancy is a huge step up. The only downside is the Switch 2 version, as while it runs at a pretty constant 30fps, with some dips during boss fights, it also sees some pretty lengthy load times. Playtonic had mentioned they didn’t have a great deal of time with the Switch 2 dev kits and are looking at a possible performance patch down the road. Still, it does run fairly well, but pales in comparison to the console and PC versions. 

Yooka-Replaylee is a solid platformer, even if it does feel like some of its original vision has been dissected away in favor of improving the overall feel of the game. With the conveniences of a map, fast travel, and better controls, some of the original’s flaws can creep up, but honestly, they rarely got in the way. While it is certainly not looking to compete with the platformers of today, I still love that Playtonic spent the time to improve a game they were so deeply passionate about. 

Developer - Playtonic Games.
Publisher - Playtonic Games, PM Studios. Released - October 9th, 2025. Available On - PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC. Rated - (E 10+) - Fantasy Violence. Platform Reviewed - Nintendo Switch 2.
Review Access - Review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.