Despite the game’s studio and development team having many links to the hit Nintendo 64 game Banjo-Kazooie, 2017 platformer Yooka-Laylee didn’t really live up to its predecessors – and with other games over time failing to capture the spirit and soul of the original – genuinely asked the question of whether this style of play truly shone in the capacity-limited annels of the fifth generation of gaming consoles. After shifting course in 2019 with a spin-off side-scrolling platformer titled Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, which fared much better, it seems like Playtonic Games has finally taken the opportunity to revisit their original work and give it a proper remake, having just released Yooka-Replaylee for PC and consoles. Is it more of the same, or is their second dive into the base game a significant improvement? Read on to find out!
Yooka-Replaylee is presented under the guise of the game’s titular characters, Yooka and Laylee, narrating their original adventure – and ultimately framed as a storybook with newly woven in cutscenes that tighten and expand the pacing, while stitching some of the beats together more cleanly. As is typical of the platformer series it aspires to be a successor of, you can expect breezy, punny humour, and self-aware quips. Across the board, the storytelling reads clearer and snappier than in Yooka‑Laylee, though a few gags still land unevenly depending on your tolerance for banter. Crucially, the retelling gives each world firmer context and stakes, nudging you toward goals without over‑explaining and keeping the momentum light.
One of the things that hampered Yooka-Laylee in the past was its design, not necessarily from an aesthetic perspective, but in how world-building made travelling from Point A to Point B sometimes tedious and left large swaths of each map with little to do. While gameplay is the make-or-break for many aspects, the game’s graphics are pleasing. Across the hub and its five storybook worlds, Yooka-Replaylee’s facelift is immediate: richer lighting, refreshed textures and denser set‑dressing. The art direction keeps the series’ bright, plasticine charm, with expressive character animation and a modernised UI that reads cleanly; many areas feel more lived‑in than the 2017 release. The denser points of interest are nice, though the scale is probably still a bit too open for a game like this, and, from a worldbuilding perspective, they still feel like they were striving for a Nuts & Bolts feel over classic Banjo-Kazooie.
Audiologically, the orchestra re-recording of Yooka-Replaylee’s music anchors the quality of presentation with strong arrangements from Grant Kirkhope, David Wise and Steve Burke (alongside newer contributors). The score’s playful motifs and warm timbres lean into nostalgia without feeling canned, lifting exploration loops and lending boss encounters some heftiness when needed. Dialogue still sticks to text with the short grunts, with the chatter still remaining the creative’s trademark style and has enough nostalgia behind it to be satisfying.
Actually playing the game, Yooka-Replaylee feels better. Movement is tighter and more responsive, animation blending is smoother, and the signature Reptile Roll no longer drains energy, which makes scooting around sandboxes snappier. A range of QoL improvements make the platforming experience more palatable and less grinding from the outset. The full moveset is unlocked from the outset, so you’re stringing together leaps, glides and utility skills almost immediately; combat reads cleaner and hits a little harder. The camera is generally more cooperative than previously, though it can still lag or briefly lock against geometry in tight spaces — an intermittent irritation rather than a deal‑breaker. Under the hood changes reshape not just the feel, but the flow.
Removing the former’s world expansion approach, Yooka-Replaylee has all five worlds arrive fully open. For some, this will translate to less backtracking, a faster tempo to discoveries and a welcome freedom to follow your curiosity – but for others it may flatten the sense of progression the expansion system once offered. The collectible economy leans into momentum: roughly 300 Pagies exist, with around half that needed to complete the game. Difficulty skews easy, bosses are serviceable rather than standout, and Tonics let you nudge challenge up or down – or get goofy with filters and cosmetics. Quality‑of‑life tools make the clean‑up loop painless, with a proper world map, clear checklists and Mark the bookmark for fast travel and gentle hinting. Side content also gets a lift: Rextro’s retro arcade has been replaced by short, isometric platforming vignettes, which are charming – although a shame that the original content wasn’t offered somewhere else as an extra.
All told, Yooka-Replaylee is the version Playtonic seemed to be aiming for back in 2017, offering tighter controls, brisk onboarding, and numerous noteworthy quality of life updates that make the game accessible. The refreshed opening lands cleaner beats, and even the side content is no longer a chore. The trade‑off is that some of the meaningful progression beats once aspired for are just dropped rather than rejigged, and can feel a bit aimless. Suppose this is a second pass for Playtonic Games before an eventual Yooka-Twolee. In that case, I hope that they manage to find a balance – and give us a solid story-driven platformer game to provide more competition to the likes of Super Mario Odyssey. Yet between the two, this is easily the version I would recommend to newcomers and veterans alike – it is not a perfect experience, but it fixes much of what the former release got wrong.
Final Score for Yooka-Replaylee
This review was conducted on a PC copy of Yooka-Replaylee, with a digital code provided by Playtonic Games to facilitate this review.
Yooka-Replaylee is now available on PC, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
