Yooka-Laylee Sequel Announced, Will Release In 2019
Back in 2017, former Rare developers at Playtonic took the Banjo-Kazooie formula and built an entirely new platformer called Yooka-Laylee. Now it seems they're ready for round two, and this time, they're looking to Donkey Kong Country for a little inspiration.
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair once again stars two unlikely animal friends in Yooka (a chameleon) and Laylee (a bat). But rather than build a 3D platformer this time around, Playtonic has instead opted for a bit of a mix. The platforming in Impossible Lair takes place in 2.5D, not unlike Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Things get flipped around, however, when Yooka and Laylee enter the game's overworld. There, the game moves into a top-down 3D view, and players won't be platforming so much as moving from area to area, solving puzzles along the way.
IGN got the early info on the game and also published a trailer, which shows off some of the new gameplay found in Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair. And if we can be entirely honest, what we're able to see so far looks great. The Banjo-Kazooie franchise will always be near and dear to the hearts of many, but one could argue that the 2D Donkey Kong Country titles are timeless. Tropical Freeze showed that type of game can still hold its own in the modern day, and if Yooka-Laylee is going to move away from 3D platforming and go in a different direction, this is definitely the one that fits best.
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair will be coming to PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch when it releases, which means just about anybody will able to pick it up. And there's even better news: the game is scheduled to come out sometime this year, with both physical and digital releases in the cards. Who knows when we'll get another Donkey Kong Country game; that series appears to be taking a bit of a break, and Nintendo's pipeline is already pretty full. This new Yooka-Laylee looks to be the closest we'll get to a game like that, and for that reason alone, we're eagerly awaiting its arrival.
Playtonic plans to talk more about Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair at E3. Should any other important news surface about the game, we'll let you know.