I didn’t have that great of a time with the original Yooka-Laylee; A somewhat uninspired Banjo-Kazooie spiritual successor that failed to grab me. This sequel ditches 3D platforming for Donkey Kong-adjacent 2D adventures with a few really neat twists. I really had a good time with The Impossible Lair, even if the game has some weird quirks in spots. My time was so good that I beat the game and spent the effort to collect every little hidden thing. That might not sound like much, but I don’t beat all games I play, so I feel this is worth something!
Set after the events of the original game, you arrive into a world in crisis where the last level (and last boss) are available from the get go, after a quick tutorial. I find this concept really interesting! The level is brutal, but if you are really good at platforming, you might be able to beat the game on the first stage. For most people however, a death is inevitable and you will need to collect bee shields from the other levels in order to help you here. Each level you complete basically gives you one extra hit you can take during the last level.
You go from level to level by exploring a large legend-of-zelda-esque overworld, solving puzzles, doing light platforming and completing challenges to open up new paths. This is quite fun and there is a lot to find and figure out even tho I did have to use a walkthrough for the more obscure of unlocks. All levels have two versions that you unlock by interacting with them on the overworld. A level might be full of water, but if you freeze the lake its sitting in, the level will get covered in ice and change completely, for instance. The levels are pretty fun and you go through the classics; Barrels shooting you around, frenetic escapes as giant buzzsaws follow you, climbing on nets as acid rises from below, you name it. There are no boss fights except the last one, which is interesting.
In each level you’ll collect quills which are used to unlock things on the overworld and to buy tonics when you’ve discovered them. You’ll also find 5 coins that you need to gather both to progress - although you won’t need to find them all - and to get a bonus tonic slot which is kinda useless, because at the point you have it, you have completely done everything else in the game and tonics don’t work on the last boss. Tonics are modifiers that you can apply in slots to make levels easier or harder for you while getting more or less quills for your troubles. Being able to twirl in mid-air, making all enemies tougher, inverting your controls, you can craft your own challenge, but I’m a bit disappointed that most of the tonics only have visual effects. It’s neat, but ultimately useless.
I had a great time with Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair! The game is fun, accessible (you can skip over checkpoints if you die too much), there’s a lot to do, the music is great and the difficulty is just right. If you enjoy 2D platformers and have some nostalgia for Donkey Kong - Tropical Freeze is quite far away in the past - this might do it for you!
