Yooka-Laylee was an ambitious game that sought to recapture the spirit of the classic 3D platformers, especially Banjo Kazooie. It was a decent experience, but had a lot of issues. Rather than give up on the series though, Playtonic Games went back to the drawing board and looked to the 2D platformers for inspiration for the sequel Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair. It is easy to claim that this is a spiritual sequel to the Donkey Kong Country SNES trilogy, just as the first game was a spiritual sequel to Banjo-Kazooie, but that would be selling this game short. While it does take inspiration from those games, it also looks at other platformers while adding its own twists on the genre.
Yooka Laylee And The Impossible Lair sees Yooka and Laylee team up to rescue the bees that Capital B has brainwashed. To do this, they must travel through a variety of levels in side scrolling action, while also exploring a unique overworld. The overworld is what sets this game apart from the rest, as the 3D setting is practically a world in and of itself with much to explore and discover within. Of course, the main draw is the polished 2.5D levels and Playtonic did a great job giving these levels a distinct feel. The worlds have a great variation from level to level, and nothing ever outstays its welcome, while you always feel a desire to explore the worlds to their fullest.
There are multiple secrets to find within the levels, including five Trowzer coins in each world and more. These give the levels a great sense of replay value, but Playtonic went a step further and gave the levels such care that you can complete them with only one character if necessary. It is at this point I should explain that getting hit once sends Laylee flying off, and Yooka only has a few seconds to catch her. If Laylee flies away completely, you are more vulnerable to hits and can no longer glide or ground slam. This takes away to the ability to reach certain areas in most ways. The creative level design comes into play here, and Yooka can reach most of these areas still, but will require more time and effort to do so. It actually works well as a bit of a self imposed challenge if I am being honest, and that is a great addition to the game as well.
The levels can be played in alternative ways, and this is achieved via the overworld. To once again mention the overworld, I like that Playtonic put in secrets here to affect the side scrolling levels, as well as finding new collectibles and bees to rescue. I should now mention why the bees are important, as they act as protection for the final level, the titular Impossible Lair. The Impossible Lair is a massive death trap that is actually available right away to play, but you will not get very far without the aid of the rescued bees. I like that Playtonic put this in, as it encourages players to repeatedly try the Impossible Lair and learn what they need to do as they continue in the game.
Lastly, I want to discuss the excellent music and visuals. Rather than be designed with the PC first and consoles second, this game was designed with the Switch as a base and other versions as improvements. This made the performance much better, and the visuals remained stunning throughout, even on the Switch’s handheld mode. There was a degree of polish here that many other games lack. The soundtrack was also absolutely brilliant thanks to the work of Grant Kirkhope, David Wise, Dan Murdoch and Matt Griffin. The music for each level was inspired, and I was just left always wanting more, which is the best praise I can give for composers. Each level’s soundtrack fit perfectly and did a great job of getting me into the game.
Overall, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a sequel that does everything right. It learned from the mistakes of the first game and improved on them in every way. I highly recommend this.