Yooka-Laylee Standard Edition - PlayStation 4

This is a great game for those who want to relive the nostalgia that Banjo-Kazooie give you. It still has the pain points of the old 3D platformers though (odd camera angles, depth of attack and moderate controls), only reason why I gave it 4 out of 5 instead of 5. I was really hoping that they would have addressed that right off the bat, but they stayed true to where they came from and nonetheless delivered a very entertaining game that brings back memories of easier times.

I came into Yooka Laylee with high hopes because of the studio behind the game. There were many creators from the original Banjo Kazooie games on the N64, and that got me excited. So when I picked up the game and popped it in for the first time, it was like a blast from the past. The game was colorful, fun, had wonderful music, and the characters were lovable. The game is definitely solid, but there are issues that I ran into. Sometimes the controls don't work like you think they should, and that can create some frustrations. Also, the gameplay can become repetitive after a while. Overall though, it's a solid game that I would definitely recommend.

Yooka Laylee turned out to be exactly what developers Playtonic promised it to be during their successful Kickstarter campaign, for good or ill. The game is a throwback to the exploratory, item-collection focused, mascot platformers that saw their heyday in the Nintendo 64 era. Fans of Banjo Kazooie, Jak & Daxter, Mario 64, Donkey Kong 64, Chameleon Twist, Glover, Toy Story 2, etc, will be right at home here. It's a celebration of late 90's and early 2000's design sensibilities dressed up with a modern coat of paint. Yooka Laylee provides the perfect opportunity for older game fans to experience a new game fueled by warm-and-fuzzy nostalgia, but it's also a chance to show a new generation of gamers the sorts of games that we used to play when we were their age. It's brightly colored, good natured, and full of fun characters. Perfect for enjoying with younger members of the family. On the technical side, Yooka Layle can be a tad frustrating. The camera, in particular does not feel right, and it may not always present the best angles for what challenge you hope to tackle next. Expect to spend a fair bit of time manipulating it manually to prep for tricky jumps. Jumping is serviceable, but it does lack sense of inertia that made Mario 64 such a masterwork. Overall these are small issues in what has proven to be a fun, engaging game that was clearly built with alot of heart.

I finally played through this, and cannot understand the weird backlash it has endured since release. It has some issues, most notably with the finicky camera, but I had a blast collecting ALMOST everything. If you loved Banjo Kazooie or Super Mario 64, there's no reason not to give this a try. None of this praise applies to the Kartos minecart levels. They are hateful pieces of game design made for masochists.

This game is fun. Reminds me of the old type of games I played as a kid.

This game is lots of fun! Great gift! It's better than it looks!

This game is Banjo-Kazooie in nature. Same charm, same graphics, same gameplay. Which is great if you loved that game, the only downside is that it doesn't expand upon any of those concepts either. Great game, but not innovative at all.

Yooka Laylee is a Playstation, Nintendo 64 era style platformer through and through. If you don't like Banjo Kazooie or Spyro the Dragon mechanics and controls you should move on even at the cheaper price. Like the Youtube personality Jim Sterling says, its a platformer that has none of the improvements modern games in the genre have made. While I agree with that statement, I still get nostalgia for my childhood while I play and there is enough humor and range of activities to keep me going. I think if the development team would have modernized it a little more it would have been more popular and a better game overall.