QCF: Yooka-Replaylee

n an age where we can still get sequels or remakes for IPs that have been dormant for decades, like Pocky & Rocky, Joe & Mac, Snow Bros., or the anomaly that keeps coming back, Bubsy, there’s a certain Bear and Bird duo that hasn’t been active since their weird build-a-car stint that was exclusive to the Xbox 360. The furry pair have left a near-indomitable mark on the 3D Platformer genre, so much so that a big chunk of the development team that worked on the property went on to pitch a spiritual successor through the crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter, and were able to successfully release an entirely new property, Yooka-Laylee.

Despite getting enough traction to release an arguably more beloved side-scrolling sequel that paid homage to another classic from their old stomping grounds, Donkey Kong Country, the response to the original Yooka-Laylee was a bit more polarized than anticipated. I, for one, enjoyed it for what it was, but also felt like it didn’t quite add up to the sum of its parts, especially when the core idea seemed to revolve around the idea that “bigger means better.” As time went on, though, every attempt to revisit the game after my first run of it gradually soured me more and more with each return to it—the juice it promised just didn’t have the shelf-life I thought it would.

Yooka-Replaylee, swings back hard on this oversight by unfolding the dense origami-like world design of the original into a more fleshed-out version that unlocks all of the expansive nooks and crannies into a more seamless, open-world experience, and that’s just one of many upgrades and improvements to be found in this revamped take of the 3D platformer throwback.

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QCF: Yooka-Laylee

here’s been somewhat of a void in gaming that I’ve steadily seen getting filled the last two years. It seemed like forever and ago when we had something to play that was just whimsical or wholesome from a title that wasn’t developed by Nintendo. The dearth of platformers has led to KickStarter being used as a platform to those vocal few however; a demand for the comeback of games that featured charming characters who would run around and pick things up until something happens.

The Veteran team members from Rare’s Nintendo 64 days like Chris Sutherland, Gavin Price, and Grant Kirkhope heard that demand, and decided that the crowdfunding route was going to be their best shot at making it happen, and made it happen they did. These men and several other members formed the studio Playtonic Games, and launched a KickStarter for a game named Yooka-Laylee.

The spiritual successor the Bear and Bird Games that’re still held in high regards was able to reach its projected goal of $270,041 in less than an hour, and quickly went on to earn a million dollars faster than any other video game project has ever earned on KickStarter—this was a big deal.

Fast-forward to two years later to where the Platformer is just days away from release, and while I can’t tell whether or not that it’s still a big deal with games like Super Mario Odyssey, A Hat in Time, and a slew of others hitting 2017. I can tell you that they’ll have a hard act to follow because this Buddy-duo adventure is a great romp, even with its fair share of fumbles.

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PPR Presents Play Play: Yooka-Laylee

t was almost twenty years ago that a bear and bird captured the heart of nearly every cartridge-based gamer around—and that reverence for Banjo-Kazooie lives on to this day.

So much so that there’s been a noticeable void in the collectable platformer genre for the current generation that seems to be reserved for anything that’s 8-bit or 16-bit when it comes to retro tributes. Luckily, a group of ex Rare developers saw that gap, and decided to form their studio named Playtonic Games, crowd sourcing interest for a next-generation collectathon titled Yooka-Laylee, and man did that thing make a whole lot of money the moment it hit the internet—people were famished of this kind of adventure.

Well, the wait’s over, the game’s here, and while it might be George’s favorite game of 2017 so far, there are some problems that Ser and him just can’t help but address; here’s our Play Play for Yooka-Laylee.

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QCF: Rare Replay

hen you’ve been in the business of developing games for over thirty years, the work and charm you put into your games gets more and more noticeable. In the case of Rare though, this sort of quality that truly defined them, and pushed them to get where they are today.

A brand that was once synonymous with a certain gaming giant, and responsible for vast majority of the gems available on their hardware nearly two decades before, has since found a new home, and been quietly established a new identity with the big M ever since.

Granted, it is fourteen years late, but the giant has finally decided to host one best celebrations to be found on a commemorative game collection called Rare Replay; an assortment of classics to bear the Rare name (well, most of them anyway) in a value priced package priced at just thirty dollars.

While the deal alone makes the trip down memory lane worth all the hype, the attention to detail and care put into this title, makes it one of the best love letters to video games that I’ve seen in years.

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