Yooka-Laylee

 Xbox One
Yooka-Laylee Image
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73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 39 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
5.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 129 Ratings

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  • Summary: Yooka-Laylee is an all-new 3D platformer from the creative talent behind the Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong Country games. Our new heroes, Yooka (the green bloke with no pants) and Laylee (the wisecracking lady-bat with the big nose) were conceptualised from the ground up for stellarYooka-Laylee is an all-new 3D platformer from the creative talent behind the Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong Country games. Our new heroes, Yooka (the green bloke with no pants) and Laylee (the wisecracking lady-bat with the big nose) were conceptualised from the ground up for stellar platforming gameplay, created by the same character artist behind the rebooted Donkey Kong family and legendary N64 heroes Banjo and Kazooie. Using an arsenal of special moves like Yookas tongue grapple and Laylees tactical sonar blast, players will explore and expand gorgeous 3D worlds drawn up by esteemed environment artist Steven Hurst (Banjo-Kazooie series, Viva Pinata) and through skill discover the plethora of delicious collectibles hidden within.

    FEATURES:

    * Heroes Built for Fun: Our new buddy-duo were dreamed up specifically for entertaining platforming gameplay and exceptional colour coordination. We think we've captured the spirit of our past heroes while introducing our most inventive moves yet.

    * An Arsenal of Abilities: Sonar blasting, tongue whipping, sky soaring a move roster built for platforming fun and unlocked with added freedom. Additionally, there may or may not be a move involving a giant fart bubble.

    * A Dream Soundtrack: David Wise (Donkey Kong Country) and Grant Kirkhope (Banjo-Kazooie) combine in what's sure to be a melodic masterpiece! Seriously, clean out your ears - they're in for a treat.

    * Collect-em-up 2.0: A roster of shiny collectibles with gameplay progression at their core (as well as other, more valuable materials). Every collectible type in our new game will expand gameplay in a meaningful way. Yes, we employ the man responsible for DK64's myriad of trinkets, but we've had a stern word. Our main collectible, Pagies, are used to unlock and expand new worlds in Yooka-Laylee.

    * Expandable Worlds: Experience more of the playgrounds you love by spending collectibles to expand your favourites into bigger, more challenging worlds.

    * A Cast to Last: A huge cast of memorable characters to meet (or beat) brought to life by the art and audio teams behind Banjo-Kazooie and destined to endure in future games as part of Playtonic Universe. Expect all manner of grunts, squeaks and squawks.

    * Introducing Play Tonics: Discover these unique gameplay modifiers and use them to customise gameplay to suit your style. Will you run faster, hit harder or fly further? Also, are they named after our studio or vice versa? We'll never know.

    * Arcade machines: Each world hides at least one secret arcade game encasing old-school gaming goodness. Complete its retro-tastic challenge to claim your Pagie!    … Expand
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 39
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 39
  3. Negative: 1 out of 39
  1. XBLA Fans
    Apr 4, 2017
    100
    Yooka-Laylee is a fantastic introduction to both gaming and this particular genre as the joy this game creates is unbelievable. I've avoided getting too specific because Yooka-Laylee is an experience that is best served in a state of constant wonder. Needless to say, anyone with a proclivity towards collectibles, seeing pretty sights and solving neat puzzles in games should not miss this one.
  2. MondoXbox
    Apr 4, 2017
    90
    Yooka-Laylee strikes all the right notes: great platforming action, vast and gorgeous worlds with high variety and lots of secrets and hidden areas, tons of humor. Even without considering the nostalgia element, this is definitely one of the best platform games of last decade. A must have.
  3. COGconnected
    Apr 4, 2017
    83
    Yooka-Laylee is a whimsical and witty gem of a 3D platformer, offering a wealth of secrets to find, puzzles to solve and large colorful worlds to explore each of which are populated with some of the most charming characters to hit a video game in years. The good far outweighs the negative and any shortcomings found never outshine the fun to be had. Yooka-Laylee made me feel like a kid again and proves there’s still a place for the classic 3D collectathon.
  4. Destructoid
    Apr 4, 2017
    80
    Banjo Threeie is probably never going to happen, but after playing Yooka-Laylee I'm fine with that for the first time in 17 years. Playtonic's first foray is rough around the edges, but the center is so full of heart that it'll melt away the more you play it.
  5. DualShockers
    Apr 4, 2017
    75
    Yooka-Laylee is a fun, familiar, and nostalgic trip to a genre from the past that still holds up incredibly well in the present. It certainly proves that there is a place in the current landscape for games of this genre. If you miss the mascot platformer of yesteryear, then Yooka-Laylee will almost certainly give you your fill and make you feel warm inside.
  6. ZTGD
    Apr 4, 2017
    70
    Yooka-Laylee is exactly what Playtonic promised, and also exactly what I expected. While some of the levels are not great, the overall package takes me back to a different time where the genre thrived. For better or worse this game recaptures what made those games special, and frankly if it starred a certain bear and bird combo, it could have easily been a sequel to a game from that era. For those that long for collecting endless arrays of useless items, this game is a must play, for everyone else that grew out of that genre long ago, there is nothing here to bring you back. Except maybe for that music, my goodness is it good.
  7. The Jimquisition
    Apr 4, 2017
    20
    Yooka-Laylee is a game out of time, clinging so desperately to past glories it doesn’t seem to understand the Earth kept spinning after the N64 was discontinued. It’s everything wrong about the formative years of 3D platforming and it somehow retained none of what made the genre’s highlights endure...Yooka-Laylee is, in a word, rubbish.

See all 40 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 27
  3. Negative: 7 out of 27
  1. neomoonsevin
    Apr 10, 2023
    10
    Very good game definitely has banjo vibes and has some unique powers you wouldn't otherwise think about on that order but it's unique enoughVery good game definitely has banjo vibes and has some unique powers you wouldn't otherwise think about on that order but it's unique enough to stand alone by itself bring on the sequel to yooka … Expand
  2. TheVirtualDude
    Feb 24, 2020
    10
    Any kid that grew up with an n64 will love this game. This game helped me get back into adventure games and platformers instead of justAny kid that grew up with an n64 will love this game. This game helped me get back into adventure games and platformers instead of just playing sports games. I completed it 100% on switch and Xbox one. This is a game that I was thankful to play because it reminded me so much of growing up with banjo kazoo I’ve and Mario 64. The camera is amazing compared to the older style games on 64… Expand
  4. bubblegumfuji
    Apr 12, 2017
    10
    Absolutely unique, beautiful, and a blast to play. Yooka Laylee's gameplay is centered around one simple concept: fun. You'll spend theAbsolutely unique, beautiful, and a blast to play. Yooka Laylee's gameplay is centered around one simple concept: fun. You'll spend the roughly 30-40 hour quest playfully exploring giant colorful dreamscapes filled with a surprising amount of challenges and a plethora of quirky (and quite needy) characters.

    Yooka-Laylee doesn't hold your hand while forcing you along a linear path--instead, it trusts you to play the game at your own pace. This freedom not only provides a fantastic and epic adventure but also a great sense of accomplishment as you see your collectable list fill up with tokens marking your achievements.

    This game is a stunning creation by a very passionate team of developers and deserves a place in gamer's hearts. An instant classic!    … Expand
  5. Mathew714
    Apr 12, 2017
    8
    I found this game to be quite enjoyable. The characters and abilities are interesting. The only world I've really had a problem with is theI found this game to be quite enjoyable. The characters and abilities are interesting. The only world I've really had a problem with is the second one. It's a mess with all the caves and tunnels that connect different locations. Other than that the game is good. I rarely had problems with the camera. If you want a nice 8-12 hour platformer that will be a fun time then I recommend you try this out.… Expand
  6. AJ_antipop
    Jun 30, 2017
    7
    The main criticisms that seem to sprout from this game overall is that it's "just a banjo-kazooie clone" and that "it doesn't try to build offThe main criticisms that seem to sprout from this game overall is that it's "just a banjo-kazooie clone" and that "it doesn't try to build off of past elements in any way"... to which I say, while yes, it IS the true spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie and yes, it does share many elements from that game including the overall sound and visual design in general, but look just a little bit further past that and I'm confident you'll find a truly rewarding, relaxing, and uplifting 3D platformer experience in this title. Not only is this game incredibly engaging and hilariously clever in it's script-writing, but it's jam packed with an absolutely VAST variety of challenges and obstacles to overcome within it's stunningly gorgeous worlds. Add in the adorable character designs, and often ridiculously funny voice sounds, and you've got a fantastic hit all-around, in my opinion at least.

    On a side note, these average scores make me kinda ashamed to be part of the human race lol    … Expand
  7. BenLink
    Jun 1, 2017
    6
    The game had a lot of potential. I really liked the characters in the game. The writing is witty and funny. My problem with the game was theThe game had a lot of potential. I really liked the characters in the game. The writing is witty and funny. My problem with the game was the direction and checkpoint system. If you die, it's very punishing. You spawn way back at the beginning of the level, or back at the last loading screen you came out of. It gets very frustrating. If you make one little platforming mistake and fall. Back to the beginning. Not sure how this was overlooked. Also, there is not really any direction or feeling of completion within each world. I explored almost everything in World 1 and 2 but never got prompted to move on or go fight a boss. So I found myself roaming around wondering what to do next. As a result I got extremely bored after awhile and ended up wanting to quit. Which was weird because I really did like the characters. To end my review I must mention the camera. It's pretty bad. It catches onto geometry and gets you killed a lot. The camera definitely needs improvement. I would be willing to try out a sequel but the design needs to match the characters and writing to be something special.… Expand
  8. Broyax
    Apr 4, 2020
    0
    Beuaaarrrgh... quelle horreur, ce truc en 16 couleurs avec surtout du vert, duvert et du verdâtre... on se croirait presque dans le sale trucBeuaaarrrgh... quelle horreur, ce truc en 16 couleurs avec surtout du vert, duvert et du verdâtre... on se croirait presque dans le sale truc à **** kévins, Fortnite ! des graphismes pour des gamins de CE2 en somme !

    On dirait clairement un jeu comme les daubes à Nintendaube ou les daubes de Rage Software et leurs univers gogols à n'en plus pouvoir, niaiserie et stupidité réunies pour les gniards un brin simplets, les moutards un peu "retard" comme disent les Anglais et enfin pour les adulescents qui n'ont pas grandi et sont restés coincés entre les deux .

    En tout cas, il faut sauter dans ce sous-jeu de trisomongols 21, il faut sauter ! c'est un sale jeu de plate-formes à golmons ! alors,viens par ici, petit, petit, oui c'est bien, avance encore un peu... le broyeur est juste là. Maintenant, aie la bonté et la politesse de tomber dedans, tu seras broyé en un instant, vermine d'étron indé !    … Expand

See all 27 User Reviews

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Awards & Rankings

30
#30 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2017
24
#24 Most Shared Xbox One Game of 2017