Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a platform video game developed by Playtonic Games and published by Team17. As a spin-off of Yooka-Laylee (2017), the game was released digitally for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One in October 2019, with physical versions releasing only for the latter three on a later date.[2][3]

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
Developer(s)Playtonic Games
Publisher(s)Team17
Composer(s)David Wise
Grant Kirkhope
Matt Griffin
Dan Murdoch[1]
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Nintendo Switch
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
ReleaseOctober 8, 2019
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

The title is a side-scrolling 2D platform game. The player controls Yooka, a male chameleon, and Laylee, a female bat, to complete various levels. In these levels, players collect quills and T.W.I.T. coins, as well as free a member of the "Beetalion." The members of the Beetalion each give Yooka and Laylee an extra hit point for use on the final level. T.W.I.T. coins are used to unlock further progress on the overworld through Trowzer's "paywalls."[4] Notably, it is possible to enter the game's final level at any point in the game, though it is heavily encouraged that the player first secure extra hit points by beating the other levels first.

The "Tonics" feature from the first game also returned. Tonics are potions that can modify the gameplay in numerous ways after it was consumed by Yooka.[5] Between levels, an isometric 3D overworld is used for getting around. Characters can be found and spoken to alongside puzzles to solve for quills and tonics.[6]

Development

The game was developed by Playtonic Games, a studio composed of former Rare employees. While bearing similarities with the Donkey Kong Country series, the team opted not to use the moniker "spiritual successor" to market the game.[7] The game was officially announced on June 8, 2019 by publisher Team17.[8] It was officially released on October 8, 2019.[5]

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (Original Game Soundtrack) was independently released by Playtonic on October 16, 2019 on Bandcamp, with a fully distributed edition under the video game record label Materia Collective.[9] The music was composed by David Wise, Grant Kirkhope, Matt Griffin, and Dan Murdoch.

Reception
Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
MetacriticNS: 79/100[10]
PC: 81/100[11]
PS4: 82/100[12]
XONE: 84/100[13]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Destructoid7/10
Game Informer8.5/10
IGN8.7/10

The game received generally positive reviews upon release according to review aggregator Metacritic.[11][10][12][13] IGN gave the game a glowing review, calling it an "excellent modernized spin on the 2D platformer"[14]. Game Informer also spoke highly, touching upon the game's great replay value and fresh perspective on the 2D Platforming genre.[6] Euro Gamer's Tom Phillips called the game "a far more polished game than the studio's predecessor," citing the more modern game designs.

Despite the game's mainly positive reviews, some journalists found issues with the game's design. Destructoid's Brett Makedonski, while having overall enjoyed the game, describing the levels and controls as "not innovative" and "good enough."[15] Hayden Dingman of PC World found the game's difficulty too "taxing" to be enjoyable, giving it 3/5 stars. [16]

Accolades

The game was nominated for "Control Precision" at the NAVGTR Awards.[17]

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gollark: Two's complement is the fastest way if you have regular unsigned addition hardware IIR©, but BF does not have that.
gollark: Oh. Lookup tables. That is not one of the ways I was thinking of, but... sure?
gollark: How are you implementing trigononononononometric functions anyway?
gollark: Expanding on "people find it fun", consider that esolangs are also essentially not-very-useful tools.

References
  1. "Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair OST". Playtonic Games. Bandcamp. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  2. "NEW GAME: YOOKA-LAYLEE AND THE IMPOSSIBLE LAIR". Playtonic Games. June 7, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  3. "Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair – Release Date Announcement!". Team 17. September 3, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  4. Campbell, Colin (October 3, 2019). "Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair revels in the good ol' days of platforming". Polygon. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  5. Beckhelling, Imogen (September 3, 2019). "Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair comes to PC and consoles next month". Eurogamer. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  6. Shea, Brian (October 16, 2019). "Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair". Game Informer. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  7. Dring, Christopher (June 14, 2019). "Playtonic: "We are never using the term spiritual successor again"". Gameindustry.biz. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  8. Purlow, Matt (July 6, 2019). "Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair Announced". IGN. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  9. admin (March 2020). "Yooka-Laylee and Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair Soundtracks Released". Playtonic Games. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  10. "Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  11. "Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  12. "Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  13. "Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  14. Jagneaux, David (October 3, 2019). "Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair Review". IGN. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  15. Makedonski, Brett (October 6, 2019). "Review: Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair". Destructoid. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  16. Dingman, Hayden (October 3, 2019). "Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair review: Not impossible, but not very fun either". PC World. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  17. "2019 Nominees". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. January 13, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
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