Yooka-Laylee, the Banjo-Kazooie-inspired platform collect-’em-up from developer Playtonic Games, is getting a bit of a spruce-up for PC and unspecified consoles by way of a newly announced (and dubiously named) remaster, Yooka-Replaylee.
The original Yooka-Laylee launched back in 2017, garnering modest acclaim – Eurogamer called it a “gentle, irreverent platformer let down by spotty handling and a slight shortage of genius” – and was followed by a far superior side-scrolling sequel, the Donkey Kong Country-inspired Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, two years later.
Yooka-Replaylee, though, revisits the colourful if occasionally cumbersome original with an eye to polishing things up for a new generation of players. To that end, Playtonic is implementing an improved camera, revised controls, a world map, a challenges tracker, and more.
There’s an expansive art and animation overhaul (behold that thick, luscious grass, for instance), higher resolution support and performance enhancements, plus new and remixed challenges, a new collectible currency, fresh secrets, and new accessibility options. Yooka-Laylee’s original soundtrack has also had a major makeover, now presented in arranged orchestral form.
There’s no release date for Yooka-Replaylee yet, and no word on the consoles it’s targeting, but Playtonic is holding a Q&A session “soon”, so hopefully we can expect more details then.
