Yooka-Replaylee Delivers a Charming, If Monotonous, Platforming Experience – Review
October 9, 2025 – Playtonic‘s Yooka-Replaylee has arrived on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2, offering a vibrant and engaging platformer that prioritizes precision and a unique feel over bombastic action. While performance varies across platforms – with the Steam Deck surprisingly running with direct SD optimized settings at a fixed 45fps, occasionally experiencing frame pacing issues – the game provides a surprisingly smooth experience, even on older hardware like an RTX 2060, tho memory limitations can cause occasional stutters.
The review highlights a importent advancement in control feel compared to the first Yooka-Laylee title. Players will find a more “floating” sensation, with lower gravity reminiscent of classic Mario titles, requiring adjustment for those accustomed to more modern platforming mechanics. “The feeling of gravity is also lower than modern Mario episodes, and we are easier to run off the edge of the edges,” the review states. “I wouldn’t necessarily call this inaccurate…it is indeed a matter of habit.”
However,the game’s combat is identified as a potential weak point. The reviewer notes a repetitive nature to encounters, with a limited variety of enemies and a reliance on a simple spin attack to dispatch them. “The player runs between exactly the same modest mobs in all worlds, and the most painful is that it is enough to stop in the middle and press the spin button,” the review explains. While obstacles like rolling stones and detector-equipped barriers are present, the reviewer feels the game could benefit from a greater diversity of enemy types.
Despite this, Yooka-Replaylee ultimately succeeds in delivering a compelling experience. the reviewer emphasizes the game’s natural flow and engaging gameplay loop,noting it’s easy to lose track of time while playing. “We have to be a very muffur or take a series of thick fur of prejudices so that we do not enjoy the adventures of Yooka and Laylee as a genre gourmet,” the review concludes. “The whole flows nicely. Entertaining.It runs in for 2-3 hours in your seat without even noticing.”
Yooka-Replaylee is available now for €30, published by PM Studios, Inc. and PlayTonic Friends, and developed by Playtonic.