TheShovel Knighttier of excellence and theMighty No.
9tier of childhood comprising disappointment.
9.Unfortunately, its also an equal distance removed fromShovel Knight.
For fans of that particular style of game, their efforts are a gift from above.
The collectathon has fallen out of favor since its N64 prime.
From a pure presentation standpoint,Yooka-Layleeis not going to disappoint anyone who remembers titles likeBanjo-Kazooiefondly.
Honestly, though, its the little touches that steal your heart.
When playingYooka-Laylee, its hard not to feel like such a renaissance is equally relevant in the modern day.
Theres no piece of visual or audio design in this game doesnt jump off the screen.
While thats what makes this title so notable, its also the source of the games many problems.
You may have noticed that Ive been referring toYooka-Layleeas a collectathon rather than a 3D Platformer.
Thats not a trivial distinction, but rather a classification that speaks to the bulk ofYooka-Laylees gameplay.
Even better, they are all arranged in such a way that encourages the organic exploration of every area.
The problem is the redundancy of it all.
Outside of the boss fights, combat inYooka-Layleenever amounts to much more than arbitrarily striking a few underpowered enemies.
In turn, those exploration sequences suffer from the games surprisingly unenjoyable basic platforming.
Every movement feels like its in service of getting somewhere more important.
It almost feels like Playtonic assigned some nostalgic value to genres most prominent flaws and worked to preserve them.
Besides, thereareaspects ofYooka-Layleewhich dont adhere to the confines of the games predecessors.
Almost everything is implemented in the service of offering more content, but the content itself feels hollow.
Yooka-Laylees faithfulness to old-school Rare games invokes an interesting dilemma.
See,Yooka-Layleeis exactly the game that Playtonic told everyone it was going to be.
Matthew Byrd is a staff writer.
