Yooka-Replaylee Hands-On Preview: A Rewritten, Rare Love…

As far as love letters to classic Rare platformers go, Yooka-Laylee was an impressive entry when it was released in April 2017. Helmed by key staff formerly of Rare and wearing its Banjo-Kazooie inspiration on its sleeve (right down to the musical instrument pun), the chameleon and bat duo made a splash. Now, Playtonic is preparing for a remaster of the title, Yooka-Replaylee, and The Best War Games recently went hands-on with a Steam version.

Yooka-Laylee's story sees the Hivory Towers Corporation’s CEO Capital B trying to rewrite the universe using the legendary One Book. To get their hands on the One Book, Hivory Towers steals all the books in the world, leaving protagonists Yooka and Laylee to liberate the sentient Pagies of the One Book. They also collect sentient quills and befriend a sentient cannon, with the game being very classically Rare in its execution.

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By Joshua Duckworth

Yooka-Laylee faced fair-to-mixed reviews, however, as critics were split over how much mileage capturing the nostalgia of Rare-styled platformers went and were unimpressed with what some said felt like outdated gameplay. Now, the better part of a decade on from the original’s release, Playtonic is taking another stab at things with Yooka-Replaylee. For the sake of this preview, I played through Replaylee's Glitterglaze Glacier and then went to the original version to check out the differences.

Replaylee-ing

Ice physics, in particular, can easily be one of the most distinguishing things in a platformer and range from the honestly challenging to the deeply irritating. Yooka-Replaylee, thankfully, keeps this in the challenging category. Ice rarely left me unable to control the titular duo once I understood how it worked, and it is used far more for making me think about traversal in certain parts of Glitterglaze Glacier rather than to be a true hindrance. Certain slippery slopes required turning Yooka into a Sonic the Hedgehog-style ball that Laylee ran on top of, which made my characters a bit faster and able to move up those slopes more easily. Other slippery slopes were one-directional, making me consider my angle of approach for particular challenges, but rarely did I feel like I truly lost control of my characters.

The puzzles themselves varied from ones that expected very good execution to those that were immensely forgiving. In particular, there was a puzzle that expected me to use a power-up that would make me resistant to the wind blowing from faces on walls (which had eye-tracking that struck me as slightly unsettling, but in the somehow charming platformer way). I decided to attempt the puzzle without using the intended strategy and, though it took a few tries to get the timing just right, I was able to be successful just as my plain old chameleon self. I struggled far more with a flight puzzle that required more patience than I was willing to give. There was also a puzzle requiring me to aim shots of explosives well over a long distance that was relatively simple. The varying levels of challenge from the game’s puzzles were nice, as they provided a good way to go from one kind of difficulty to another, keeping the experience fresh overall.

It also bears mention for newcomers to the game, or those who might have hazy memories of the original: the characters are impossibly cute. I was constantly remarking on the sounds made by Laylee whenever she was exerting herself. Running on top of ball-Yooka and carrying her companion in the air always provided sound effects that were charmingly adorable. The character design manages to emulate the animal mascot platformer aesthetic Rare was known for while avoiding being too over-the-top.

One small gripe that, it stands to reason, would likely be addressed for the game’s full release was a lack of an options menu. I usually reduce the master volume of my games to roughly half and, depending on the game, further tailor it after that. This wasn’t an option in Yooka-Replaylee. I also used a controller to play the game, which was comfortable and responsive, though I can easily see how an options menu, and in particular keybinding, would be important if someone wanted to use keyboard and mouse. Using a PlayStation 4 controller, I also observed the inputs the game gave me were assuming I was on an Xbox controller, though this is a burden that PlayStation controller users are likely used to at this point.

What’s Different in Yooka-Replaylee

Obviously, Replaylee gives the entire world of Glitterglaze a meaningful facelift. Water, in particular, looks far more beautiful in Replaylee. As do characters, who look simultaneously sharper and still in style with the nostalgic brand of Rare character design. The fear of swimming that I got from feeling a little awkward with its controls in Replaylee did persist, but I would say the underwater environment is also more stunning in Replaylee.

But the changes are far more in-depth than just a facelift. Replaylee has a genuinely surprising density of enemies in some areas, making my little chameleon twirl for all he’s worth more often in Replaylee. In fact, I found myself using my abilities far more overall in Replaylee than in the original. There were also changes to the world itself, adding more rewards and traversal assistance tools throughout Glitterglaze. At times, it can make what to do next feel a little too obvious, but the variable difficulty between tasks is a strength of Replaylee, not a weakness.

Speaking of those tasks, some have seen major changes between Laylee and Replaylee. A musical crystals memory puzzle inside the caves of the glacier is completely different in the remaster, and a puzzle requiring players to blast rocks away from a statue for Capital B is rethought to add extra, though relatively simple, steps for the new version.

In general, the new version of Glitterglaze Glacier is a substantive improvement over the one in 2017’s Yooka-Laylee, with more to do, greater concentrations of simple enemies in the player’s way, and some redesigned puzzles to make Laylee veterans have to stop and think again. Those are hallmarks of memorable and successful remasters. The changes aren’t as extensive and sometimes baffling as the ones in the Ocarina of Time Master Quest edition, but were enough to not simply make Replaylee a prettier carbon copy of its original.

There are a few changes, though, that might raise eyebrows. First, the original version's text is better for some players. For a visually impaired player, the larger and simpler text display for character conversation was much more comfortable than the rather simple modern approach to text boxes used in Replaylee.

There’s also a major shift in mood between the games as it pertains to the glacier. In Laylee, the glacier was shown at daybreak, with darkness that drew more attention to the ice’s shine in the morning light and brought with it that apprehension of the earliest moments of sunrise. Replaylee shows the glacier seemingly an hour or two later at dawn, where it feels more like morning. A shift in lighting reminiscent of The Wind Waker HD may not be to everyone’s taste, but it was something of a neutral shift, as the brighter look of the Glitterglaze Glacier worked well for a busier and more visually impressive map.

Replayleeable on Steam Deck?

The version of Yooka-Replaylee I got to play was not properly formatted for installation on the Steam Deck, or rather if it was, I couldn’t get it to launch due to the installation package I was attempting to use. I wasn’t content with that answer. Based on the game’s specifications, how well it works with controller (I can’t emphasize enough how smoothly it controlled), and the overall lack of keyboard input the game was demanding, I was convinced that the final release of Replaylee would feel especially at home on the Steam Deck.

I started again, this time streaming the game from my PC to the Steam Deck. I can say that the extra effort of getting the game verified as Steam Deck compatible out of the gate would be well worth it for Playtonic. The game was as responsive with the Deck in hand as with a controller, and being able to lay in bed and play it for half an hour on the device before sleep felt like a great way to unwind at the end of the day.

The smaller screen didn’t hinder the beauty of the game, and though it was a struggle for my visually impaired eyes, the average gamer should have no issues with the text. The game didn’t suffer from in-home streaming over wi-fi, which was nice. Obviously, native Steam Deck support would make it a game that could travel exceptionally well. I could see myself playing Yooka-Replaylee on a flight or long car ride.

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Is Yooka-Replaylee Worth Replayleeing?

Even in its current state, Yooka-Replaylee seems the definitive way to experience the game. No remaster will ever please all the fans of the original title, but it’s easy to say that this particular remaster preserves the nostalgia-filled spirit of the original while adding new content, shaking the etch-a-sketch just a little, and making players consider their approach to the Glitterglaze Glacier (and other levels) more than they might have the first time around.

There are some things Replayee could use before launch–an options menu and Steam Deck support being things I would love to see–but from where it stands today, Yooka-Replaylee may be one of the better re-releases in recent years.

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