For lovers of relaxing platformers, Yooka-Replaylee might be the perfect game for you. We spoke with Ryan Teunion and Ross Bullimore from Playtonic Games at Gamescom to learn more about this reimagined edition of the 3D platformer, Yooka-Laylee.
Playtonic has upgraded every aspect of the game, not just the visuals, but also with improvements focused on the core gameplay experience. Every move and mechanic has been redesigned to make the adventure more modern, accessible, and enjoyable. According to Gavin Price, the studio’s director: “It’s bigger, brighter, bolder, and full of all the little details we’ve always dreamed of.”
The game is set to release on October 9, 2025 and will be available digitally on PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S consoles. A physical edition, which includes exclusive bonuses, is also available for pre-order at a price of 49.99 dollars.
What’s new in Yooka-Replaylee?
Bullimore: There’s so much new. We’ve changed and improved so much. I think a good starting point is the character controller. We’ve made it way more responsive and made the moves chain together better. We’ve also looked at the animations and made it so that as soon as you press the button, you go straight into the move. Everything is way more responsive. We also changed how some of the moves are triggered. For example, the ball roll move, which used to use up stamina, now doesn’t. This makes moving through the world a lot more pleasant.
Teunion: We’ve added a lot of completely new content. There are twice as many pages as before, and a new collectible called quids. You can spend these on new tonics and cosmetics. The arcade games have been completely replaced with a new adventure game for Retro to go on. We also have a live orchestral soundtrack, and the art has been completely upgraded with more visual effects like fog, snow, and grass.
Can you tell me more about the cosmetics?
Teunion: You can spend quids on specs and other cosmetics to dress up the characters. It’s just a fun little feature. We’ve also added new challenges, bosses, and enemies. We’ve redesigned some of the older enemies and added brand new ones to address the feedback from the original game that there wasn’t enough enemy variation.
Where did the idea to reimagine the game come from? Are you trying to get a new audience to play it?
Bullimore: When we made the original game, our goal was to create a traditional N64-style platformer. That was 10 years ago. Times have moved on, and a modern game has slightly different tastes and sensibilities. Modern gamers expect certain features. We wanted to take the game that helped create our studio and modernize it to appeal to a broader, more modern audience.
But we also believe that people who loved the original will still really enjoy the improvements and new content. We went back and looked at community feedback. A lot of people expected a map, so we’ve added one, along with warp points. This will hopefully appeal to a broader range of people, not just those who wanted the traditional old-school experience.
How has the game’s reception been during the Gamescom? Are you satisfied with it?
Bullimore: Yes, absolutely. Seeing people play it here and hearing their feedback has been really good. People are telling us they love the new controls, so I think we’ve achieved the goals we set out for. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
Can you tell me a bit about the animations?
Teunion: We’ve basically rebuilt the player’s moveset from the ground up: the design, the code, the animations. We’ve chopped out frames from the animations to make them feel snappier and more responsive. For example, when you jump, you get into the air faster. With the design and code, we’ve aligned the moves to chain together better. We also have new cutscenes to add more story, updated animations for NPCs, and new collection animations to celebrate your big achievements. It gives the world a lot more life and excitement.
How long would it take to complete the game right now?
Teunion: It varies. You can get to the final boss without 100% completion in about six hours if you’re really rushing. But if you want to get everything, it will take 20+ hours.
How much of the core team has stayed for this game?
Bullimore: Everyone from the original core team is still here. Some people have come and gone depending on what we needed, but all the original people are still working on this as well.
What’s the biggest difference between this game and the first one?
Bullimore: I think the biggest change is the overall flow. The moves flow together much better. We’ve added a new intro level to onboard the player, and now you have all your moves available from the start, which is a big change.
Teunion: We’ve also filled out the world. The maps are the same size, but where there were empty spaces before, we’ve added new content. You’ll be doing a challenge and see something else, which will lead you to the next thing, so you hopefully won’t want to put the game down.
What about the new arcade games? What caused you to change that?
Bullimore: We were never really happy with how they turned out in the first game. This was a chance to try something new. The new arcade game has the same core mechanics across all the machines in the world, which allowed us to spend more time getting it right and then using it in multiple places. It also has a completely new art style.
What’s your opinion on the current gaming industry?
Bullimore: I think it’s good, especially for platformers. It’s great to see 3D platformers doing well on different platforms, like Astro Bot and the new Donkey Kong game. And of course, there are always new Mario games. This just shows that there’s an audience for this kind of content. It’s reassuring to know there’s a market and that people want to make and play these games.
There are always stories about how hard it is to get into the industry. What’s your take on that?
Teunion: It’s a very competitive field because making games is such a fun job. It’s a tough time right now with the way the industry is generally, but I definitely think it’s still possible to get a job and do this for a living. I really hope the passion for it doesn’t die off because I think it’s a very important and fun industry.
Do you have any ideas on what you’re going to do after you finish this game?
Bullimore: There are projects ongoing within the company, but nothing has been announced yet. I have some fun things in my future, but I can’t say what they are just yet.
What are your current expectations for the game?
Bullimore: From the feedback we had at Gamescom, I’m hoping it’s going to do really well because people seem to genuinely enjoy it. It’s exciting to see people play it and feel the difference, especially those who thought it was just a simple remaster with slightly different graphics. This is a remake for a remaster; it’s a whole new game.
