Yooka-Laylee

Genre: 3D Platformer

Players: 1

The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

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Review:

Yooka-Laylee is a 3D Platformer in the same vein as Mario or, let’s be honest, Banjo-Kazooie. This was a game designed by former B-K creators, for B-K fans, and designed to imitate B-K in virtually every way. And that’s this game’s greatest strength and one of its greatest weaknesses.

If you’re going to imitate a game, you might as well imitate one of the greats, and Banjo-Kazooie is a classic 3D platformer, with solid gameplay, endearing character design, and a lot of variety to its platforming antics, and Yooka-Layle is very much the same way. In fact, at times, it’s eerie how similar the two are – the goofy Simlish voices, the Comic Sans-esque font, the way characters move and interact, the different types of collectables and the way levels on the hub-world are gated until you find enough… for all intents and purposes, this game is Banjo-Kazooie 3 (no, Nuts and Bolts was not that).

There are some things that are new here, though. The power of modern consoles is enough to allow for a bigger world with more detail, for one thing, although this is a bit of a mixed bag, since the things to do are now stretched over a wider area that takes longer to traverse Also a mixed bag is the game’s “level upgrade” system, which ensures that you can come back to get even more stuff to do in a level… but it also means that you may very well go through a section of level to find a dead end where the upgrade places a new section, which is frustrating.

And then there’s the issue with the game’s camera. Man, it’s funny, in the time since the last Banjo game, we’ve had many, many, many generations of Mario games where Nintendo found multiple ways to improve upon the camera issues that plagued the N64 3D platformers, so to go back to many of those same issues here makes this game seem a bit behind the times.

Don’t get me wrong, Yooka-Laylee still has a lot of the old B-K magic here, and again, it’s following in the footsteps of one of the greats. But it’s also clear that the B-K formula feels a bit rusty and in need of some sprucing up. With any luck, we’ll see these issues touched on in a Twooka-Laylee.

tl;dr – Yooka-Laylee is a 3D platformer that deliberately follows in the footsteps of the classic Banjo-Kazooie, and it definitely still has that same sort of magic, even if it’s a formula that feels like it’s aged poorly in some areas, and some of the changes made to it here are a mixed bag.

Grade: B

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The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

Yooka-Replaylee

Genre: 3D Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

I have to admit, I went back and forth over whether or not to give Yooka-Replaylee a completely new review. perhaps more than any other game I’ve played, this is a game that tows the line between remaster and remake. far from a mere graphical overhaul of the game, this is a massive change, and while the core gameplay remains largely intact, you’ll notice changes from everything ranging from the game’s pacing and progression, your move set, and even some areas that weren’t present in the original. Suffice it to say, this is far, far more work than I think anyone felt was necessary from Yooka-Laylee, and credit needs to be given to the development team for really pouring their hearts into making this about as far from a lazy remaster as possible.

For those who own a digital version of the original Yooka-Laylee on Nintendo Switch, there’s good news – an automatic 30% discount will be applied to your purchase of this game, giving you extra incentive to upgrade even if you already bought the original release. This amounts to a reduction from $30 to $21, not too shabby.

While I make it a point to say that the graphics are far from the only improvement here, the graphics have indeed gotten an overhaul, upgraded to 1440p in docked mode, 1080p resolution in handheld mode, both at a mostly-stable 30FPS. The loading times don’t seem too drastically different, but numbers hardly do justice to all the visual differences here. There’s a ton more texture detail, improved lighting, tons more environmental details, improved lighting, improved water, a fully-remastered soundtrack… the two versions are stylistically-similar, but Yooka-Replaylee has absolutely had a massive overhaul to look and sound very much improved. That said, this version is still a far cry from what’s on other modern platforms, which boast better framerates and resolution.

As I noted, there are numerous gameplay improvements here as well. A new map, new fast travel points, improved controls, all abilities unlocked at the start, larger versions of levels unlocked at the start, with those levels filled with more collectables and more unlockables to get with said collectables.

That said, I didn’t find everything here to be an improvement. For example, I felt that while the combat feels more visceral this time around, it’s also more button-mashy in a way that gets tiresome fast.

However, while there are still some flaws here, this is overall a massive improvement over the original game, and one that truly transforms the experience… though not so much that I would say players who already bounced off or tired of the original Yooka-Layle will want to return. However, if you loved the original game and have been craving an excuse to go back, or if you enjoy 3D Platformers and never got around to playing Yooka-Layle in its original incarnation, Yooka-Replaylee is the perfect excuse to finally pick up this game and play it in its best version yet.

tl;dr – Yooka-Laylee is a 3D platformer that deliberately follows in the footsteps of the classic Banjo-Kazooie, and it definitely still has that same sort of magic, even if it’s a formula that feels like it’s aged poorly in some areas. This reworked version of the game on Nintendo Switch 2 is a massive overhaul that tows the line between remaster and remake, and is absolutely the best version of the game, and a must-play for fans of 3D Platformers.

Grade: B+

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2025 Game Awards:

Winner:

Best Paid Nintendo Switch 2 Game Upgrade – With many of the paid upgrades games received on Nintendo Switch 2 in 2025, playing the game on Nintendo’s newest hybrid console felt like playing an entirely new game thanks to the improved visuals and performance or added content, but Yooka-Replaylee is one case where there’s a strong argument to be made that you actually are playing a new game. So much has changed in this release that it’s honestly stunning that an upgrade path was offered at all, yet players who own the original aren’t left in the cold, and I think publisher PM Studios and developer Playtonic deserve credit for going above and beyond in giving Nintendo Switch 2 players a way to upgrade their experience.

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