In Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, each level you play has five collectibles. And in each level you play, it is absolutely possible to get every one of those collectibles in your first visit in a level.
That might sound like a weird point to start off the review on, but you need to understand that this kind of thing makes or breaks these kinds of platformers to me. In games in this vein, like New Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong Country, Sonic Colors, Crash Bandicoot or Kirby, actually beating whichever stage you're on can often be more of a trivial matter compared to getting the collectibles within. In my eyes the fun of these games is not to just beat them, but to show mastery of them, both mastery of their movement systems as well as of their general level design philosophy. Yet in so many of these instances, they just screw the process up in one or three ways: Sonic, for instance, can't collect all his Red Star Rings in Colors without first unlocking all of the Wisps, which arbitrarily locks half of the games' collectibles behind beating most of the game. Crash Bandicoot and the original Donkey Kong Country, despite the attention they both place on collecting, make so many of their objectives unnecessarily cryptic, removing most of the fun of feeling like you've solved the game.
I could go on, but my point here is that Playtonic's first endeavor into 2D platformer design absolutely NAILS collectible pacing. Levels are straightforward enough to where you'll always be able to find detours toward collectibles with a keen eye, and the controls of the dynamic duo in question lend themselves beautifully to moving around the environment in fun ways.
I feel like Playtonic is a studio not just made up of people who worked on some of the best platformers of the 90s, but of people who want to recapture the feel of those games without the hassle and standards of todays gaming world. Whilst I have little experience with Yooka and Laylee's first game, you can definitely feel that energy in this one in a lot of ways beyond just the excellent level and collectible pacing. Dedicating a solid 40% of your game to the space used to navigate between levels sounds like a disasterous idea by the standards of today, for instance, as things distracting from the "main gameplay" in many new games today become deephasized further and further, but in Impossible Lair they stuck to their guns and knew how good the team were at making it feel exceptionally well paced. This isn't a situation like Wind Waker where the space inbetween gameplay feels like a waste of time, rather that the developers gave just as much love and attention to the thing breaking up the pace of the main game as the main game itself.
That sense of flow really is the main takeaway I have from this game: The music is quite good, the level design is quite good, the overworld puzzles are fun to crack but not anything to write home about and the trademark Funny Dialogue is servicably Funny, but it really is the quick clip at which all of this is strung together that really elevates it all. The controls are a big reason for this of course, Yooka and Laylee have a fantastic moveset that lets you weave through levels crazy fast yet with enough weight to it to where it feels like you need to properly earn that good-feeling speed. Enemies make satisfying KER-PLUNK - sounds when hit on the head, launching the characters way high, and you can blast off at top speed right after your ground-slam move, and so on. The controls just strike that perfect balance, not just being nimble to let you skip everything to eliminate all actual challenge - though that has its benefits, go read my reviews on the Sonic Boom 3DS games to learn more - yet also not giving you so much restraint for the sake of balancing as to make moving around feel basic and uninteresting.
I feel like the Tonics are the best representation on all of these key points summed together, the pacing, the developers' mindsets and the prominent overworld. Essentially, they're little modifiers that you can equip a handful of to change your gameplay experience: Some flip the screen upside down, some give enemies more health, and some just give Yooka a really big head. There's no consistency to their use, be they difficulty modifiers or silly cheat codes, yet they all have the same value as a set of collectibles. They're one of the main reasons the game has such a great pace, as you're never too many steps away from a new Tonic and a new satisfying reward jingle for unlocking it. It gives the overworld a greater sense of purpose than it probably otherwise would have, and their varied effects makes each one a fun time to find since you never know what to expect. There's a Tonic for every type of player: Me personally, I put on the Tonic that halves checkpoints for a more engaging challenge.
Many of these tonics feel like they'd be toggleable by default in other games, or found in some plain shop, or god forbid sold as DLC, but here they're little fun bonuses to reward you for still playing the game, like a new set of surprises after each level. The game feels like one that respects your time, that wants you to have fun and be genuinely engaged with completing the game, and it was an offer I couldn't help but comply with: I 100%ed this game in a nice and tasty 20 hours and am really glad I did. Even if the individual parts aren't remarkable, and I've seen many aspects of it done better elsewhere, the remarkable flow of it all makes it one of the easiest recommendations for an uncomplicated fun time I could offer.
Also like, yeah, obviously, the music is amazing.
[Playtime: 20 hours]
[Key Word: Pacing]
That might sound like a weird point to start off the review on, but you need to understand that this kind of thing makes or breaks these kinds of platformers to me. In games in this vein, like New Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong Country, Sonic Colors, Crash Bandicoot or Kirby, actually beating whichever stage you're on can often be more of a trivial matter compared to getting the collectibles within. In my eyes the fun of these games is not to just beat them, but to show mastery of them, both mastery of their movement systems as well as of their general level design philosophy. Yet in so many of these instances, they just screw the process up in one or three ways: Sonic, for instance, can't collect all his Red Star Rings in Colors without first unlocking all of the Wisps, which arbitrarily locks half of the games' collectibles behind beating most of the game. Crash Bandicoot and the original Donkey Kong Country, despite the attention they both place on collecting, make so many of their objectives unnecessarily cryptic, removing most of the fun of feeling like you've solved the game.
I could go on, but my point here is that Playtonic's first endeavor into 2D platformer design absolutely NAILS collectible pacing. Levels are straightforward enough to where you'll always be able to find detours toward collectibles with a keen eye, and the controls of the dynamic duo in question lend themselves beautifully to moving around the environment in fun ways.
I feel like Playtonic is a studio not just made up of people who worked on some of the best platformers of the 90s, but of people who want to recapture the feel of those games without the hassle and standards of todays gaming world. Whilst I have little experience with Yooka and Laylee's first game, you can definitely feel that energy in this one in a lot of ways beyond just the excellent level and collectible pacing. Dedicating a solid 40% of your game to the space used to navigate between levels sounds like a disasterous idea by the standards of today, for instance, as things distracting from the "main gameplay" in many new games today become deephasized further and further, but in Impossible Lair they stuck to their guns and knew how good the team were at making it feel exceptionally well paced. This isn't a situation like Wind Waker where the space inbetween gameplay feels like a waste of time, rather that the developers gave just as much love and attention to the thing breaking up the pace of the main game as the main game itself.
That sense of flow really is the main takeaway I have from this game: The music is quite good, the level design is quite good, the overworld puzzles are fun to crack but not anything to write home about and the trademark Funny Dialogue is servicably Funny, but it really is the quick clip at which all of this is strung together that really elevates it all. The controls are a big reason for this of course, Yooka and Laylee have a fantastic moveset that lets you weave through levels crazy fast yet with enough weight to it to where it feels like you need to properly earn that good-feeling speed. Enemies make satisfying KER-PLUNK - sounds when hit on the head, launching the characters way high, and you can blast off at top speed right after your ground-slam move, and so on. The controls just strike that perfect balance, not just being nimble to let you skip everything to eliminate all actual challenge - though that has its benefits, go read my reviews on the Sonic Boom 3DS games to learn more - yet also not giving you so much restraint for the sake of balancing as to make moving around feel basic and uninteresting.
I feel like the Tonics are the best representation on all of these key points summed together, the pacing, the developers' mindsets and the prominent overworld. Essentially, they're little modifiers that you can equip a handful of to change your gameplay experience: Some flip the screen upside down, some give enemies more health, and some just give Yooka a really big head. There's no consistency to their use, be they difficulty modifiers or silly cheat codes, yet they all have the same value as a set of collectibles. They're one of the main reasons the game has such a great pace, as you're never too many steps away from a new Tonic and a new satisfying reward jingle for unlocking it. It gives the overworld a greater sense of purpose than it probably otherwise would have, and their varied effects makes each one a fun time to find since you never know what to expect. There's a Tonic for every type of player: Me personally, I put on the Tonic that halves checkpoints for a more engaging challenge.
Many of these tonics feel like they'd be toggleable by default in other games, or found in some plain shop, or god forbid sold as DLC, but here they're little fun bonuses to reward you for still playing the game, like a new set of surprises after each level. The game feels like one that respects your time, that wants you to have fun and be genuinely engaged with completing the game, and it was an offer I couldn't help but comply with: I 100%ed this game in a nice and tasty 20 hours and am really glad I did. Even if the individual parts aren't remarkable, and I've seen many aspects of it done better elsewhere, the remarkable flow of it all makes it one of the easiest recommendations for an uncomplicated fun time I could offer.
Also like, yeah, obviously, the music is amazing.
[Playtime: 20 hours]
[Key Word: Pacing]
it's all right! it wears its inspirations on its sleeve, but it never really feels like it excels at doing its own thing. particularly towards the back half of the game when it becomes apparent just how few original ideas the game has to offer when the same handful of thematically ill-fitting enemy types are haphazardly sprinkled along same-y looking stages that blur together in a slurry of increasingly annoying and uninteresting platforming challenges. it's impressive what they did manage to pull off, but i kinda feel like people are gassing it up a lil too much
The worst thing about Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is that it's trying to retain the "soul" and humor of Banjo-Kazooie, while clearly being an homage and iteration of the Donkey Kong Country series. Not to say that Donkey Kong wasn't funny at the SNES games, but the humor was in small gestures instead of being one of the main elements like it is in Banjo.
Everything that characterizes the characters in Donkey Kong is before and after a level (with the exception of the waiting animation that happens if you don't move the gamepad). While you're in the game designer's challenge, he wants you to fall in love with the music and enjoy the obstacles he made with so much care. Yooka-Laylee's music is completely forgettable, to not say that is altright BAD, and the whole aesthetic is horrible, from the characters to the collectables. However, the strength of this game comes precisely when it is being an honest platformer.
Well, the truth is, the game is kind of awesome. In my first two hours of Yooka-Laylee 2 (I'll call it that for short) I was finding it to be a completely normal game. It didn't arouse any good feelings in me, but none VERY negative either. But things started to get to me around 3 or 4 hours of gameplay, which is when I had gotten used to the gameplay. I mean, before I played Yooka-Laylee 2 (and the only reason I played it) I did a marathon with my friend Aiden (love you bro) playing all FIVE Donkey Kong Country to the end. And when you come off the adrenaline of having played two insanely good games that complement what the other games in the franchise did, and update the design philosophy for a new generation, it's hard not to feel that literally every other 2D platformer outside of these are weak.
What I mean by that is: the bar was set obscenely high, and I had to lower my expectations. Once I went into the game enjoying what he was offering me instead of asking for things he wasn't going to do, everything got much better. RetroStudio's Donkey Kong games are heavy and accurate. Each movement needs to be calculated to the millimeter, you need to feel and absorb the monkeys' gameplay and have a good enough connection to become an extension of your own body. Yooka-Laylee 2 is the opposite. In fact, its logic operates in a similar way to 2D Mario games. Take your skill set, and react instinctively, improvising whatever comes along (obviously within the limits imposed by the level. You don't have freedom, but that's the magic of Donkey Kong games). When I understood that, the game was a delight to play, I went through all the stages the way I most want to play Donkey Kong: using dash to run through the entire thing without looking back.
Best of all, Yooka-Laylee 2 has some great ideas. For instance: I love the hub world and how collectibles are implemented in your progression. The premise of the game is: the villain of the game has a lair... the so-called -IMPOSSIBLE LAIR-, that you can face at any time. The big issue is that the Impossible Lair is... almost impossible, as the name implies. So to have a better chance of winning, you need to go around the world solving puzzles, unlocking stages to play them in order to rescue a bee. When you rescue a bee, it becomes part of your shield in the Impossible Lair, this means that the amount of hits you can take increases the more stages you finish, because at the end of every stage there is, obviously, a bee.
The game has 48 bees and 20 levels. 8 of the 48 bees are "secret" and can be found in the hub world. But if it's one bee per level, how come there are 40? Simple: every level has two versions. Just as Symphony of the Night's castle has its inverted version, Yooka-Laylee 2's levels have a sister version that changes, most of the time, drastically the gameplay. It's hard to explain to anyone who has never played or seen a gameplay, so I won't go into the game's mechanics too deeply, but basically the overworld is full of interactions and allows you to play with the properties of the scenario. You might fill the surroundings of a level with water, and find that the "inverted" version of it is an aquatic level. Or, on a stage that is located near the furnace, you can place smoke on top of the stage, revealing that its "inverted" version is the same stage but with clouds that add another layer of platforming.
Yooka-Laylee doesn't have good music or decent sound design, so the setting work is all done through these interactions. Turn on the power of a level to make it energized, press a lever that lift the level to play a SCARY vertical version, make the level swing, to play a version where your main means of locomotion is ropes. These ideas are very good and cohesive with what the game does. It got to the point where I was genuinely looking forward to seeing what the next gimmick they were going to come up with, and that feeling is very DKC-like.
Talking about the Impossible Lair itself, it's probably the hardest video game level I've ever played in my life. Even with 47 bees, I sweat to pass. There are 4 bossfights (although one is almost a tutorial) and insanely difficult platforming sessions on a kaizo level, that require you to know all the game mechanics. As I said earlier, you can do Impossible Lair from the start, but the game is smart enough to wire all of the game's systems together so that you NEED to play all (or almost all) of the levels. Did you skip any? less bees, less coins to open more levels and less knowledge. Perhaps you skipped the level that presents the platforms that fall and come back every 3 seconds, and you will miss this mechanic.
This review doesn't exactly have a point, but what I'm getting at with all this is that, despite having a bad reputation, being ugly, having bad music, having bad characters, and a bunch more flaws: Yooka-Laylee 2 is non ironically one of the most inventive 2D platformers I've ever played, and overall I enjoyed it more than Donkey Kong Country 1 and 3 (less than 2, Returns and Tropical Freeze). I don't know if it's for everyone, because the game is HUGE, the levels are big, the difficulty scales and that requires dedication. But if you're a person who has already dedicated hours to the DKC games, it's worth a try.
Everything that characterizes the characters in Donkey Kong is before and after a level (with the exception of the waiting animation that happens if you don't move the gamepad). While you're in the game designer's challenge, he wants you to fall in love with the music and enjoy the obstacles he made with so much care. Yooka-Laylee's music is completely forgettable, to not say that is altright BAD, and the whole aesthetic is horrible, from the characters to the collectables. However, the strength of this game comes precisely when it is being an honest platformer.
Well, the truth is, the game is kind of awesome. In my first two hours of Yooka-Laylee 2 (I'll call it that for short) I was finding it to be a completely normal game. It didn't arouse any good feelings in me, but none VERY negative either. But things started to get to me around 3 or 4 hours of gameplay, which is when I had gotten used to the gameplay. I mean, before I played Yooka-Laylee 2 (and the only reason I played it) I did a marathon with my friend Aiden (love you bro) playing all FIVE Donkey Kong Country to the end. And when you come off the adrenaline of having played two insanely good games that complement what the other games in the franchise did, and update the design philosophy for a new generation, it's hard not to feel that literally every other 2D platformer outside of these are weak.
What I mean by that is: the bar was set obscenely high, and I had to lower my expectations. Once I went into the game enjoying what he was offering me instead of asking for things he wasn't going to do, everything got much better. RetroStudio's Donkey Kong games are heavy and accurate. Each movement needs to be calculated to the millimeter, you need to feel and absorb the monkeys' gameplay and have a good enough connection to become an extension of your own body. Yooka-Laylee 2 is the opposite. In fact, its logic operates in a similar way to 2D Mario games. Take your skill set, and react instinctively, improvising whatever comes along (obviously within the limits imposed by the level. You don't have freedom, but that's the magic of Donkey Kong games). When I understood that, the game was a delight to play, I went through all the stages the way I most want to play Donkey Kong: using dash to run through the entire thing without looking back.
Best of all, Yooka-Laylee 2 has some great ideas. For instance: I love the hub world and how collectibles are implemented in your progression. The premise of the game is: the villain of the game has a lair... the so-called -IMPOSSIBLE LAIR-, that you can face at any time. The big issue is that the Impossible Lair is... almost impossible, as the name implies. So to have a better chance of winning, you need to go around the world solving puzzles, unlocking stages to play them in order to rescue a bee. When you rescue a bee, it becomes part of your shield in the Impossible Lair, this means that the amount of hits you can take increases the more stages you finish, because at the end of every stage there is, obviously, a bee.
The game has 48 bees and 20 levels. 8 of the 48 bees are "secret" and can be found in the hub world. But if it's one bee per level, how come there are 40? Simple: every level has two versions. Just as Symphony of the Night's castle has its inverted version, Yooka-Laylee 2's levels have a sister version that changes, most of the time, drastically the gameplay. It's hard to explain to anyone who has never played or seen a gameplay, so I won't go into the game's mechanics too deeply, but basically the overworld is full of interactions and allows you to play with the properties of the scenario. You might fill the surroundings of a level with water, and find that the "inverted" version of it is an aquatic level. Or, on a stage that is located near the furnace, you can place smoke on top of the stage, revealing that its "inverted" version is the same stage but with clouds that add another layer of platforming.
Yooka-Laylee doesn't have good music or decent sound design, so the setting work is all done through these interactions. Turn on the power of a level to make it energized, press a lever that lift the level to play a SCARY vertical version, make the level swing, to play a version where your main means of locomotion is ropes. These ideas are very good and cohesive with what the game does. It got to the point where I was genuinely looking forward to seeing what the next gimmick they were going to come up with, and that feeling is very DKC-like.
Talking about the Impossible Lair itself, it's probably the hardest video game level I've ever played in my life. Even with 47 bees, I sweat to pass. There are 4 bossfights (although one is almost a tutorial) and insanely difficult platforming sessions on a kaizo level, that require you to know all the game mechanics. As I said earlier, you can do Impossible Lair from the start, but the game is smart enough to wire all of the game's systems together so that you NEED to play all (or almost all) of the levels. Did you skip any? less bees, less coins to open more levels and less knowledge. Perhaps you skipped the level that presents the platforms that fall and come back every 3 seconds, and you will miss this mechanic.
This review doesn't exactly have a point, but what I'm getting at with all this is that, despite having a bad reputation, being ugly, having bad music, having bad characters, and a bunch more flaws: Yooka-Laylee 2 is non ironically one of the most inventive 2D platformers I've ever played, and overall I enjoyed it more than Donkey Kong Country 1 and 3 (less than 2, Returns and Tropical Freeze). I don't know if it's for everyone, because the game is HUGE, the levels are big, the difficulty scales and that requires dedication. But if you're a person who has already dedicated hours to the DKC games, it's worth a try.
Playtonic has excelled with The Impossible Lair, surpassing their 3D platformer installment. I've always been a fan of the original game, even though it's not the popular opinion. However, I'm thrilled with the improvements made in every aspect with this shift. It's great to see that they hit their strides with this game.
The buddy duo Yooka & Laylee are an absolute blast to navigate through the tightly designed levels. They perfectly blend the challenging elements of Donkey Kong Country games with a satisfying flow that kicks in once you get the hang of controlling the characters.
The setup of this game is a nice twist & double that with the hub world which is a top-down structure like 2D Zelda. At first, I had concerns about its shallow nature, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much it has to offer. The puzzles are captivating, there are plenty of collectibles to explore, and mini-challenges are quick & fun to do. It offers a cozy experience, especially after enduring some intense levels. It serves as a refreshing break without feeling half-fasted.
The presentation has certainly seen an improvement in visuals and soundtrack compared to the first game. I'm glad they maintain their excellent writing style, adding charm & entertainment to the characters. It's impressive how they've carved unique personalities & not much being under the Banjo-Kazooie’s shadows as time goes on.
I have two main issues with this game. Firstly, a significant portion of the Tonics you collect are simply different visual filters, which I find unrewarding. Secondly, the few altered levels that exist are not particularly unique compared to their original forms.
Besides these complaints, this game goes for a significantly reduced price, often seen at bargain prices during discounted sales. It is such a steal considering that it is one of the finest modern 2D platformers that I have played. Playtonic has crafted a game that retains familiarity without being trapped in the past while introducing unique elements that set it apart without losing focus, a criticism often directed at their 3D platformer installment.
The buddy duo Yooka & Laylee are an absolute blast to navigate through the tightly designed levels. They perfectly blend the challenging elements of Donkey Kong Country games with a satisfying flow that kicks in once you get the hang of controlling the characters.
The setup of this game is a nice twist & double that with the hub world which is a top-down structure like 2D Zelda. At first, I had concerns about its shallow nature, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much it has to offer. The puzzles are captivating, there are plenty of collectibles to explore, and mini-challenges are quick & fun to do. It offers a cozy experience, especially after enduring some intense levels. It serves as a refreshing break without feeling half-fasted.
The presentation has certainly seen an improvement in visuals and soundtrack compared to the first game. I'm glad they maintain their excellent writing style, adding charm & entertainment to the characters. It's impressive how they've carved unique personalities & not much being under the Banjo-Kazooie’s shadows as time goes on.
I have two main issues with this game. Firstly, a significant portion of the Tonics you collect are simply different visual filters, which I find unrewarding. Secondly, the few altered levels that exist are not particularly unique compared to their original forms.
Besides these complaints, this game goes for a significantly reduced price, often seen at bargain prices during discounted sales. It is such a steal considering that it is one of the finest modern 2D platformers that I have played. Playtonic has crafted a game that retains familiarity without being trapped in the past while introducing unique elements that set it apart without losing focus, a criticism often directed at their 3D platformer installment.
And here Playtonic shows that they are able to create really good games, after the first Yooka-Laylee being a "for the fans of N64 collect-a-thons".
By adhering to 2.5D mechanic (such as DKC series), they have found their great strength - good controls, good levels, and INSANELY AMAZING MUSIC! My god, they did a wonderful job with the music on this - kudos again to David Wise/Grant Kirkhope/Matt Griffin and Dan Murdoch.
However, the game is not perfect. Some levels are kind of tiring to go through, and some difficulty spikes are unfair sometimes - the Impossible Lair is almost impossible (well, at least the name for this is OK). I shelved the game with only the last level to complete, but I've managed to complete all the other ones.
Please do give this game a try if you have an opportunity (Xbox Game Pass is a good way to play)
By adhering to 2.5D mechanic (such as DKC series), they have found their great strength - good controls, good levels, and INSANELY AMAZING MUSIC! My god, they did a wonderful job with the music on this - kudos again to David Wise/Grant Kirkhope/Matt Griffin and Dan Murdoch.
However, the game is not perfect. Some levels are kind of tiring to go through, and some difficulty spikes are unfair sometimes - the Impossible Lair is almost impossible (well, at least the name for this is OK). I shelved the game with only the last level to complete, but I've managed to complete all the other ones.
Please do give this game a try if you have an opportunity (Xbox Game Pass is a good way to play)
really solid 2d platformer with great level concepts and one of my favorite overworlds out there.
lost a whole star because the "impossible lair" was a really tedious and trash way to end the game. great concept, awful execution. everything else is extremely good though, and this is definitely an improvement from the predecessor.
edit as of 2/25/2021: it's come to my attention that playtonic added an update that now gives checkpoints in the impossible lair, making it much more doable. good on you playtonic. i'm giving you back that star just for fixing the biggest flaw in a fairly timely manner.
edit as of 2/25/2021: it's come to my attention that playtonic added an update that now gives checkpoints in the impossible lair, making it much more doable. good on you playtonic. i'm giving you back that star just for fixing the biggest flaw in a fairly timely manner.
A DKC-style platformer that really surprised me. Gameplay is tight and the levels are fun, even though some can be bland. I enjoyed it a lot.
I enjoyed this game enough to tear my hair out attempting the titular Impossible Lair over and over again until I beat it, so it must have done something right. Seriously though, a must for any platforming aficionados. The first game might have a poor reputation, but don't let this much improved sequel pass you by.
Most of the game is a solid (if unspectacular) platformer with great visuals and music, a fun little overworld to explore, and an interesting gimmick of altering levels through things like freezing them, or reversing them, or shooting a stream of monsters into them...
Unfortunately, then comes the titular Lair, which feels like playing a Mario game only for Bowser's Castle to suddenly be a Kaizo level. Despite the mechanic of collecting bees in the rest of the game so you can take hits, nothing in the rest of the game really prepares you for the Lair. It feels incongruous - like it should be an optional challenge or DLC separate from the main game, and it tanked my enjoyment of the game completely. After trying to force myself to have fun, I decided to call it a day.
I have other minor issues too - the controls felt a bit sluggish to me and the humour hasn't evolved at all since Banjo-Kazooie, but excepting the Lair this would be 4 stars as it was a fun romp up until that point.
Unfortunately, then comes the titular Lair, which feels like playing a Mario game only for Bowser's Castle to suddenly be a Kaizo level. Despite the mechanic of collecting bees in the rest of the game so you can take hits, nothing in the rest of the game really prepares you for the Lair. It feels incongruous - like it should be an optional challenge or DLC separate from the main game, and it tanked my enjoyment of the game completely. After trying to force myself to have fun, I decided to call it a day.
I have other minor issues too - the controls felt a bit sluggish to me and the humour hasn't evolved at all since Banjo-Kazooie, but excepting the Lair this would be 4 stars as it was a fun romp up until that point.
I had an itch for something like Tropical Freeze and this game certainly satisfied that. I liked that the levels had different versions and using the world map to affect those changes made the map feel more than just a hub. The platforming is solid. The soundtrack is great. There are some things I didn't care for. Being gated by requiring coins is a bit annoying, especially since I had to replay levels to do this and I just wanted to move on. The Impossible Lair lives up to its name, but even with all the bees collected which just extends your HP, I found myself dying often. This level requires precise platforming to a T. You have to go at the exact time. You are punished for waiting and for going to fast. It's fine in theory, but seeing how long the level ended up being just had me exhausted. I got what I wanted out of the game and I have no desire to go back to it. I'll still be listening to that soundtrack though.
I was surprised at first at how well thought the game was, the levels were all very interesting, and all of them have distinct twists. The soundtrack is astounding, it's is realy realy good and even now i listen to it often on spotify.
So all of this made a realy good platformer and i was ready to call it a "Tropical Freeze 2.0" that also had it's own qualitys, like the overworld puzzles wich were fun.
But the Impossible Lair is just not like the rest of the game, even with the checkpoints, is not fun, the difiiculty spike is out of the charts and i wish the game had ended before that, i finished all the levels and will end at that, still recommend the game to everyone, just skip the lair!
So all of this made a realy good platformer and i was ready to call it a "Tropical Freeze 2.0" that also had it's own qualitys, like the overworld puzzles wich were fun.
But the Impossible Lair is just not like the rest of the game, even with the checkpoints, is not fun, the difiiculty spike is out of the charts and i wish the game had ended before that, i finished all the levels and will end at that, still recommend the game to everyone, just skip the lair!
Honestly incredible and heavily inspired by the best platformer of all time (DKCR), it's a shame that this game goes mostly unnoticed.
It goes on sale for 6 dollars every month or so; so keep an eye out, and get it while you can.
(It's nothing like the first Yooka-Laylee, which is honestly a plus).
If you like Rayman, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and Shovel Knight, this game is perfect.
It goes on sale for 6 dollars every month or so; so keep an eye out, and get it while you can.
(It's nothing like the first Yooka-Laylee, which is honestly a plus).
If you like Rayman, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and Shovel Knight, this game is perfect.
Its a solid 2D platformer with decent level design and a good moveset. It's not on the level of something like Tropical Freeze because it's missing that extra layer of Nintendo polish but it was enjoyable. The ideas in this game are innovative for the genre like how effecting the overworld can create alternate levels. It had cool ideas. Didnt like the final level very much, precise platforming with janky hurt boxes from spikes and enemies was just not a fun time. Felt like it went against what made this game fun by making you play extremely slow and safe. It's like those slow levels in Sonic 1 you really hate but 10x worse but I got through it with 34 bees. Cool idea for a final level but it needed work.
mid
CRIMINALLY underrated 2D platformer and easily redeemed Playtonic from the original which was lackluster. I'd legit put this on par with DKC2/Tropical Freeze, it's that good.
"Why did you rate Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair five stars?"
The Short Answer: Several of my friends have their names in this game thanks to a contest that was held on Twitter before this game's release and that alone is enough to put a big goofy grin on my face.
The Long Answer: The best way to call this game is "If Tropical Freeze had a sequel with 1/10th of the budget that Tropical Freeze had but somehow managed to make something almost as solid with that budget". The mechanics in this game are surprisingly solid and there's so many different unique ideas that could've been disastrous if these ideas didn't stick the landing but end up working great together. The whole "overworld is a different perspective from the levels and you have to explore this mini Zelda-esque map to find more platforming levels to gather more hitpoints for the really long, hard platforming gauntlet that you can access at any time" gimmick was something I was not expecting to work as well as it did, but there were times where I wanted to explore the overworld more than actually play the platforming levels. I love that technically I can try to get to the ending at any time, but the platforming levels were also there as an option to help ease myself into the Impossible Lair's difficulty.
As for the levels themselves? Fantastic. My favorite part of this game is the fact that every level believably exists in the same kingdom, so instead of "grass level, ice level, lava level, sky level", you get "small bee town, small coastal bee town frozen over, factory next to the bee town filled with acid, airship docked near factory near bee town". It feels like a way to both save on cost (since this game isn't working from the same budget as a current DKC game) that also makes this world feel fleshed out and believable. I love that we get to see different parts of this bee-themed countryside with their little hexagon-shaped windmills and honey storage plants. It's cute! And while you're exploring these little bee-themed rooms with the honeycomb wallpapers, you get to hear David Wise, Grant Kirkhope, Matt Griffin and Dan Murdoch write some legit underrated video game bangers in the soundtrack.
Finally? Bee puns. Always get a huge kick out of any game that decides to go all the way with a game's theming and, in Impossible Lair's case, that means about 50 different bee and insect puns. Definitely beats the joke style in the original Yooka-Laylee, which is "I'm still sour about the Microsoft buyout".
The Short Answer: Several of my friends have their names in this game thanks to a contest that was held on Twitter before this game's release and that alone is enough to put a big goofy grin on my face.
The Long Answer: The best way to call this game is "If Tropical Freeze had a sequel with 1/10th of the budget that Tropical Freeze had but somehow managed to make something almost as solid with that budget". The mechanics in this game are surprisingly solid and there's so many different unique ideas that could've been disastrous if these ideas didn't stick the landing but end up working great together. The whole "overworld is a different perspective from the levels and you have to explore this mini Zelda-esque map to find more platforming levels to gather more hitpoints for the really long, hard platforming gauntlet that you can access at any time" gimmick was something I was not expecting to work as well as it did, but there were times where I wanted to explore the overworld more than actually play the platforming levels. I love that technically I can try to get to the ending at any time, but the platforming levels were also there as an option to help ease myself into the Impossible Lair's difficulty.
As for the levels themselves? Fantastic. My favorite part of this game is the fact that every level believably exists in the same kingdom, so instead of "grass level, ice level, lava level, sky level", you get "small bee town, small coastal bee town frozen over, factory next to the bee town filled with acid, airship docked near factory near bee town". It feels like a way to both save on cost (since this game isn't working from the same budget as a current DKC game) that also makes this world feel fleshed out and believable. I love that we get to see different parts of this bee-themed countryside with their little hexagon-shaped windmills and honey storage plants. It's cute! And while you're exploring these little bee-themed rooms with the honeycomb wallpapers, you get to hear David Wise, Grant Kirkhope, Matt Griffin and Dan Murdoch write some legit underrated video game bangers in the soundtrack.
Finally? Bee puns. Always get a huge kick out of any game that decides to go all the way with a game's theming and, in Impossible Lair's case, that means about 50 different bee and insect puns. Definitely beats the joke style in the original Yooka-Laylee, which is "I'm still sour about the Microsoft buyout".
Does Yooka like dick? I’ve never seen Laylee pregnant???? He keeps losing her so obviously he isn’t giving her good d. Maybe she’s fucking Trowzer? Idk anyway Capital B and Yooka seem to have this strong hate for each other… my thought is they are both gay furries and try to hide it by trying to kill each other??? Idk anyone else have these thoughts?
An improvement from the original Yooka in every way possible. Playtonic proves they can be more than "Banjo, but not as good" with "Donkey Kong Country AND on an almost equal level." Playtonic is essentially returning to their roots even further by opting to follow up their 3D platformer with a 2D one. Each of the 20 levels are very well crafted with a fantastic Soundtrack, while also taking the idea of the expanded tomes from the first game and making them 10X better with the new Change State function that completely alters how you play every level. The tonic system has also been reworked to be way more fun with a selection of boosters that can help or hinder your play of a level. Using more detrimental tonics can have a big risk, but big reward function, while helpful tonics can do the opposite. The overworld is also really fun to explore as this is where you'll find said tonics, along with puzzles that'll help you State Change a level, and some of the more memorable characters from the first game. The titular Impossible Lair is an aggravating, but very satisfying gauntlet to complete once you get the hang of things, and for the true masochist, Playtonic rewards you greatly for beating the Impossible Lair on your first try without the use of the games main collectible, The Beetalion army. It's crazy to think it's already almost been 5 years since the release of this. Hopefully Playtonix can break their silence soon. I'd love to see them finally take a 2nd crack at 3D platformers with everything they've relearned from the original Yooka and this one.
A solid Donkey Kong Country-like platformer, and more Donkey Kong Country is never a bad thing, right? Even if it feels unpolished at times.
I like how it just lets you try the hardest level in the game right off the bat, and I think that's where the game can actually be pretty thrilling, but I think experiencing it makes everything else feel dull in comparison. I'll probably just stick with the modern DKC titles since they feel better to control and are far more imaginative.
I fear Nintendo's four step level design formula (heavily borrowed here) is becoming an equivalent to the dramatic curve or shot-reverse-shot: a tool for competent assembly line experiences. This game is alright, I hade "fun" (for a while), it "works", it is "well-designed" but it is also blunt and predictable. I grinded out the last level with 38 bees and it was an expectedly decent climax.
solid blend of 2.5D platforming and vaguely Zelda-esque top-down overworld exploration that unfortunately falls prey to one of my least favorite platformer design tropes, making "optional" collectibles that aren't required to complete any particular level mandatory to unlock new levels. just finishing each stage should be enough of a challenge; if you want to hide bonus levels behind collectibles, fine, but effectively requiring that you replay previously completed levels to get tricky collectibles is just a cheap, artificial way to increase playtime and difficulty
I didn't play a lot of plataform games but this one isn't the best of I've already played. I was thinking about why I didn't like this game and I got some points:
- The tutorial is very boring and the history is not attractive.
- Puzzles in the map is good and was the thing that motivated me to keep playing.
- As other plataform games like Mario, you will need to collect some special item to proceed with the history/stages. Mario's game have the star and moon (Mario Odissey) and you understand that is a important and visible thing you will need to collect. In Yooka-laylee cases this same thing is a common coin that not seems like a big and important item. For sometimes, I passed without see this item because was hidden with your bad user interface.
-Other point is the characters. They aren't charismatic at all! No one have a personality or are cute XD
- Some stages are pretty good and fun to explore for find coins but others are awful and you only think about where is the exit of this stage.
I'd abandoned because I have no time to spend with a game that not bring me fun all the time
- The tutorial is very boring and the history is not attractive.
- Puzzles in the map is good and was the thing that motivated me to keep playing.
- As other plataform games like Mario, you will need to collect some special item to proceed with the history/stages. Mario's game have the star and moon (Mario Odissey) and you understand that is a important and visible thing you will need to collect. In Yooka-laylee cases this same thing is a common coin that not seems like a big and important item. For sometimes, I passed without see this item because was hidden with your bad user interface.
-Other point is the characters. They aren't charismatic at all! No one have a personality or are cute XD
- Some stages are pretty good and fun to explore for find coins but others are awful and you only think about where is the exit of this stage.
I'd abandoned because I have no time to spend with a game that not bring me fun all the time
I appreciate that Playtonic made a thoughtful and intelligent effort to modify the structure and progression of the 2D platformer formula. What they did was clever, and it worked perfectly well for this game. That said, throughout my playthrough, I found myself wanting traditional boss battles, hidden levels, gradual difficulty increases and aesthetic variety. I liked that they took chances and tried something creative, but the changes didn't necessarily improve the platformer template.
I don't think I've ever had a more lackadaisical approach to playing a game. I would meander around the overworld trying to muster the enthusiasm to enter another chapter to the point that I thought I probably should have played Yooka-Laylee (1) instead (I skipped it because this has a much better reputation and I think of myself as someone who prefers 2D platformers to 3D, but that's probably just because I have played so few of the latter). Simultaneously, however, I also thought I can see myself getting all the coins, badges, etc., because it's easy and fun enough. Then I got sucked into the Impossible Lair, got frustrated and wanted the experience to end as quickly as possible (not seeing the achievements through).
I have read or heard multiple comparisons of this game to Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. I understand why that comparison is made, even if I think it's a little generous. I also thought of Tropical Freeze, particularly the K levels, when attempting the Lair. In DKC, I would make a little progress, die, die some more, figure it out, make a little progress, die, memorize a series of button presses, make some progress, die, die, figure it out, die, then, eventually after building on each previous playthrough, breezing though earlier challenges, finish. It was the same in Yooka-Laylee, but you are able to measure your progress in the size of your remaining beettalion, so it was very easy to figure out if you were on track to improve or, alternatively, do well then get caught in a single fuck-up that snowballs into a bee-massacre.
Because check-points were so spread out (and started with a boss fight), in runs where I tried to conserve bees, I found myself restarting more often than dying. Surely the developers foresaw players hemorrhaging 8 bees in the water section, getting below 25 total and wanting to restart, so I'm genuinely befuddled as to why there wasn't an option to do so in the pause menu (instead of having to exit the level). A minor gripe in a vacuum, sure, but when you do it 30 times, it gets annoying. Maybe it's a me-sucking problem, and they didn't build the game for bad--but obsessive--players patient enough to get lucky.
Otherwise, the chapter level design is frequently great. It's the kind of easy that rewards your experience and makes you feel clever, while offering an occasional challenge (nothing to prepare you for the endgame though). I typically roll credits on a platformer before going for collectibles, but because I had so much fun exploring, I finished half of the 40 levels with all five coins on the first run (and all but about 35 total); it meant getting told by the obnoxious check mates I suck and should skip a level, a lot. Anyway, fun game, and I'm now much more eager to play its predecessor.
- Took 20:25 to beat eventually beat Capital B on my 43rd attempt (23rd with all 48 bees); 169 coins, 41 tonics. Very good: ★★★☆☆
I don't think I've ever had a more lackadaisical approach to playing a game. I would meander around the overworld trying to muster the enthusiasm to enter another chapter to the point that I thought I probably should have played Yooka-Laylee (1) instead (I skipped it because this has a much better reputation and I think of myself as someone who prefers 2D platformers to 3D, but that's probably just because I have played so few of the latter). Simultaneously, however, I also thought I can see myself getting all the coins, badges, etc., because it's easy and fun enough. Then I got sucked into the Impossible Lair, got frustrated and wanted the experience to end as quickly as possible (not seeing the achievements through).
I have read or heard multiple comparisons of this game to Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. I understand why that comparison is made, even if I think it's a little generous. I also thought of Tropical Freeze, particularly the K levels, when attempting the Lair. In DKC, I would make a little progress, die, die some more, figure it out, make a little progress, die, memorize a series of button presses, make some progress, die, die, figure it out, die, then, eventually after building on each previous playthrough, breezing though earlier challenges, finish. It was the same in Yooka-Laylee, but you are able to measure your progress in the size of your remaining beettalion, so it was very easy to figure out if you were on track to improve or, alternatively, do well then get caught in a single fuck-up that snowballs into a bee-massacre.
Because check-points were so spread out (and started with a boss fight), in runs where I tried to conserve bees, I found myself restarting more often than dying. Surely the developers foresaw players hemorrhaging 8 bees in the water section, getting below 25 total and wanting to restart, so I'm genuinely befuddled as to why there wasn't an option to do so in the pause menu (instead of having to exit the level). A minor gripe in a vacuum, sure, but when you do it 30 times, it gets annoying. Maybe it's a me-sucking problem, and they didn't build the game for bad--but obsessive--players patient enough to get lucky.
Otherwise, the chapter level design is frequently great. It's the kind of easy that rewards your experience and makes you feel clever, while offering an occasional challenge (nothing to prepare you for the endgame though). I typically roll credits on a platformer before going for collectibles, but because I had so much fun exploring, I finished half of the 40 levels with all five coins on the first run (and all but about 35 total); it meant getting told by the obnoxious check mates I suck and should skip a level, a lot. Anyway, fun game, and I'm now much more eager to play its predecessor.
- Took 20:25 to beat eventually beat Capital B on my 43rd attempt (23rd with all 48 bees); 169 coins, 41 tonics. Very good: ★★★☆☆
100% complete, will all bees and tonics completed, except for beating the "Impossible Lair" final stage. After their modern take on the 3D platformer with the first Yooka-Laylee, Playtonic's second game, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair now takes on the 2D platform genre, very much attempting to recreate the magic of the Donkey Kong Country games... and pleasingly, the game does so in fine fashion. Well-designed, interestingly themed levels present a decent challenge, made all the more interesting and enticing to explore by often well-hidden collectibles. Particular highlights of the game are its superb soundtrack (featuring several entries from the legendary David Wise and Grant Kirkhope), the ability to attempt each level in two alternate forms (each with their own unique challenges and collectibles) and, especially, a fantastically well-built overworld to explore.
One significant negative point bears mentioning, which comes from the final level - the eponymous "Impossible Lair" - a half-hour long, checkpoint-free mammoth. As you progress through the main game, you'll build up the ability to take up to 48 hits during each attempt, but even taking this into account, the final level is a very steep increase in difficulty, sufficient that many people won't be able to beat the game, leaving a bit of a sour taste right at the end. Up until this point, though, the game is excellent and one that I'd highly recommend.
One significant negative point bears mentioning, which comes from the final level - the eponymous "Impossible Lair" - a half-hour long, checkpoint-free mammoth. As you progress through the main game, you'll build up the ability to take up to 48 hits during each attempt, but even taking this into account, the final level is a very steep increase in difficulty, sufficient that many people won't be able to beat the game, leaving a bit of a sour taste right at the end. Up until this point, though, the game is excellent and one that I'd highly recommend.
A game that was doomed to be underappreciated simply because of it's prequel. Definitely give this one a chance if you like Donkey Kong Country.
another bad me-too indie platformer. this time it is blandly reproducing the retro Donkey Kong games with some aspects of modern kirby. you don't like these characters and the art direction isn't that good so why bother?
Wow this is so much better than the first Yooka Laylee. What a fantastic 2D platformer rolling off the ideas of the DKC series.
Impossible Lair does a pretty good job of being a better game than Yooka-Laylee (which isn't difficult to do) it has some awesome music and the gameplay is pretty fun.