Preview: Yooka-Laylee

Chameleon is worth the karma

Credit where credit is due: you have to admire the guts of a developer who makes a kid’s game in which the main quest-giver is a penis euphemism. Trowza Snake is the gent in question. Despite having no limbs, this business savvy serpent has awkwardly jammed himself into some khaki shorts. Thus equipped, he basically sells you all of your 3D platforming moves, and, as a result, a helluva lot of nostalgia.

To be fair, Yooka-Laylee is less of a kids game and more squarely aimed at the “young-at-heart” crowd. It gets nowhere near the smut levels of the legendary Conker’s Bad Fur Day, but there’s plenty of stinky winks to adults to be found. For example, the main protagonists — Yooka (a chameleon) and Laylee ( a diminutive bat) – reside on a beached galleon called “Bat Ship Crazy”. Well played, Playtonic.

If, like me, you were lucky enough to be raised by a Nintendo 64 console in the Nineties, you’ll probably have fond memories of Banjo Kazooie (1998). Though Super Mario 64 undoubtedly started the craze of 3D platformers, Rare’s bird and bear duo refined that concept through better graphics, a more complex moveset for the player, and an infectious xylophone rendition of the Teddy Bear’s Picnic Song that I still can’t get out of my head. As time went on, a not-as-amazing sequel named Banjo Tooie (2000) appeared, and much later came the weird, mechanically-unfaithful Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (2008). Then… nothing. Series: dead.

Yooka-Laylee, for all intents and purposes, is the Banjo Three-ie, fans have never dared to hope for.

During my hands on, it was really hard to shake the pleasant feeling of deja vu. Much like the original, all of the dialogue in this adventure is chirped at you in text boxes and hilariously limited sound bites. Likewise, the kleptomania sets in early when you’re asked to double-jump around a vast, technicolour world in search of golden feathers (which, of course give a pleasant little flute trill as you scoop them up). Finally, the tag-team combat moves you unleash as Yooka and Laylee are so obviously ripped from the bear-and-backpack-bird school of martial arts, I’m surprised there hasn’t been a Nintendo lawsuit yet. This game handles so much like the original Banjo-Kazooie, I wouldn’t be surprised if it had some old code floating about in it.

The good news doesn’t stop there, either. The more time I spent inside this wacky world, the more impressed I became by it’s continual expansion. Obviously, the N64’s limited capabilities made for smaller playspaces, but even with that taken into consideration, the opening level of Yooka-Laylee is bloody huge (after you locate and spend the book “pagies” that unlock all the extra areas). I couldn’t traverse it all in my two hour play session, though that’s mostly because I was wasting time in the mini-game arcade (specifically, a two-player top-down racer). The spirit of Rare sure does lives on in new developers Playtonic. Donkey Kong 64 was chock full of extra-curricular activities; expect the same in Yooka-Laylee.

When my time was up, the local PR minders had to prize the controller from my hands. The old Banjo Kazooie was an extremely well-crafted game for its time, and it holds a special place in this heart of mine (which I never give to another easily). That said, it’s obvious to me that Yooka-Laylee revitalises a genre that has lain dormant for far too long. When it is released, I’ll double-jump into it without delay.

Posted in Blog, Games