Review: Yooka-Replaylee

Yooka-Replaylee is a refreshed version of the much-loved platformer, bringing the game to new platforms while addressing the biggest flaws of the 2017 original. The developers haven’t drastically altered the core formula – it’s still a gameplay experience built around exploration and collecting various items.

The heroes are Yooka the chameleon and Laylee the bat, who find themselves on a mysterious island and discover a magical book capable of bringing its written stories to life. Naturally, things don’t go smoothly, as the sinister Capital B and his sidekick Dr. Quack stand in their way, intent on seizing the book and its enchanted pages. The goal is simple – recover the entire manuscript while traversing a series of vibrant and wonderfully colorful worlds. It’s a simple but charming story, full of wit, humor, amusing characters, and intentionally absurd gags. It’s just a shame there’s no Polish localization – younger players, who are largely the target audience, would get much more out of it than just pretty animations.

What changes does Yooka-Replaylee bring?

Let’s be honest – in games like this, the story is just a backdrop, and the gameplay is what truly matters. While the core structure remains the same, the developers weren’t afraid to introduce meaningful changes, resulting in something far beyond a simple remaster.

The most important change lies in how the characters acquire their abilities. Unlike the original, most skills are available from the start, allowing for free exploration without the need to backtrack to earlier areas. This improves pacing, reduces monotony, and makes discovery pure fun – you have the full range of moves right from the beginning, without artificial limitations. Admittedly, it slightly lessens the satisfaction of progression, but the new additions more than make up for it.

Yooka-Replaylee also introduces new types of collectibles – coins that can be exchanged for character upgrades, cosmetic items, and special bonuses. The energy system has been simplified, making basic actions less frustrating and reducing the need to constantly monitor stamina levels.

What was good remains mostly unchanged – but it’s not all perfect

The available challenges and world design still impress with creativity. The worlds are diverse and expansive, packed with secrets and light platforming or logic-based challenges. The gameplay is non-linear, encouraging experimentation and freedom. It’s almost sandbox-like, featuring minigames, boss battles, and various puzzles. A key element is also the ability to transform into things like a plant, bulldozer, or combat helicopter. It sounds absurd, but it fits perfectly with the game’s quirky tone and injects plenty of freshness into the experience.

Controls are smooth, responsive, and enjoyable for the most part, but there are still moments when jumps or the camera don’t behave ideally. In more demanding sections, the lack of precision can be frustrating. Minor bugs still pop up, such as collision issues or characters getting stuck in awkward spots, sometimes forcing you to reload from a checkpoint. Fortunately, such moments are rare, though you’d expect them to be gone entirely in a remaster of this scope.

It’s prettier and… smoother

A re-release like this couldn’t come without visual improvements – Yooka-Replaylee looks noticeably better. The game has been moved to the latest version of the Unity engine, resulting in richer visuals and more detail. Modern lighting effects have been added as well, enhancing the fairytale atmosphere. The game looks great in motion and, just as importantly, runs very smoothly. I spent a good chunk of my playtime on a Steam Deck – not exactly a powerhouse – yet performance was more than satisfying. In many segments, the frame rate was even more stable than in the original Yooka-Laylee.

Final impressions

Taking all the updates and improvements into account, Yooka-Replaylee is undoubtedly a solid remake. It fixes the shortcomings of the original while preserving its spirit. It’s not just about better visuals and refined controls – it’s also about new exploration and interaction possibilities, all wrapped in the same humor and charm as before. Some small issues remain, but they pale in comparison to the dozens of hours of joyful gameplay this title provides. For those without access to Nintendo consoles, this is finally a platformer that captures the soul of genre classics and reminds us that simple fun in gaming doesn’t have to fade away.