Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is out right now on Switch, with the folks over at Playtonic Games doing a cracking job of tickling our nostalgia bone. The game reminds us of Donkey Kong Country, Banjo-Kazooie and even Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle all mushed into one, and it's lovely.
But what's next for the studio? Well, when we last sat down with the team, they spoke of their lofty ambitions and how everything they create from now on will be "unshackled", and if that wasn't exciting enough, they've just gone ahead and name-dropped two of the most popular Nintendo franchises as potential avenues for inspiration going forward.
Speaking to Spanish media outlet 3DJuegos, Playtonic's Mark Stevenson and Steve Mayles said that they "could work on any kind of game", such as a racer like Mario Kart or a shooter like Splatoon. Here's the full quote (thanks, Lant_War):
"I think we'll keep working on Yooka Laylee in the future. Really, we could work on any kind of game, a racing game like Mario Kart or a shooter like Splatoon. We've never intended Yooka and Laylee to be the protagonists of all of our games. On the future, we could make a spin-off with one of the many characters from Yooka Laylee, like Dr. Quack or Dr. Puzz. Being independent lets us follow whatever way we want and the one we think is right."
Kart racers are everywhere at the moment but we'd still be up for seeing what Playtonic could conjure up, and another vibrant multiplayer shooter wouldn't go amiss, either.
What would you like to see next from the minds behind Yooka-Laylee? Share your thoughts below - you never know, the team might be reading.
[source 3djuegos.com, via gonintendo.com]
Comments 54
I just want Splatoon 3.
Make a top-down old school Zelda styled game. Miss those...
Make goldeneye
"We copied Banjo-Kazooie. Now we're willing to copy any game."
splatoon like shooter plz! there’s a lot of racers but very few shooters with good gyro controls
Is being a game developer really as good as it sounds?
I'm imagining something like Jet Force Gemini. But better, obviously.
I'll take one Yooka-Laylee RPG in the same vein as Paper Mario Thousand Year Door please! Let those charming Playtonic characters and writing shine!
Whatever they make, as long as it’s quality, people will play it. Keep up the good work, Playtonic : )
Maybe they shouldnt? I cant say i found either Yookas to be better than average. I spent so much time with both games but ultimately...both are by the numbers platformers sadly.
@hadrian If you don't mind me asking, what was the last platformer you really enjoyed? I can understand not liking the original Yooka-Laylee but Impossible Lair is quite fantastic and just about on par with Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze
Loving The Impossible Lair. I bet they could come up with something great without copying Nintendo. 😛
@avocadopear But did they really copy Banjo if Playtonic is comprised of ex Rare developers? Can you even copy yourself? lol
@avocadopear "We made Banjo Kazooie - and a spiritual successor to it"
Knock yourselves out.
Impossible Lair is so good, better than the more recent DKC games even... though it gets pretty hard to 100%! I do have to grind for quills now and that’s probably my only complaint. Controls are solid, visuals are appealing, level design is smooth, and gameplay is fun!
That being said... I do hope they take another crack at the collectathon style. I realize the first game wasn’t well received but I sorely missed the early collectathon games and would love to see a more polished experience in the genre.
I'm not sure copying Splatoon would be the best idea. I just don't see a game like that taking off when you have the actual Splatoon already. A Mario Kart clone could be fun, but so few of those are successes either, you need true star power in characters to get those off the ground which Yooka Laylee just doesn't have. The best bet, in my opinion, would be to make some new IP, like a Zelda style game or an action-adventure game, and then put all of them together into a Mario Kart style game, but I'm not a game developer so if they want to do differently I won't complain.
I have throughly enjoyed both Yooka Laylee games... Impossible Lair only entered at 31 in the charts however..
It deserves to do better!!
@ShadJV Impossible Lair is a brilliant game, better than the SNES DKC's in my opinion and Returns, but nothing beats Tropical Freeze.
I also want them to return to Collectathon. I am one of the few that enjoyed Yooka-Laylee, but I will also admit the game had its problems. I feel they can return to the idea and make a game that could rival the original Banjo-Kazooie if they tried. There is still a Banjo-Kazooie shaped hole in my soul that needs to be filled.
Nintendo give them Diddy Kong racing!
@AnnoyingFrenzy same, I enjoyed YL despite being able to admit there were a few glaring flaws. It came the closest to reproducing the feel of BK of any 3D platformer though and I hope the poor reception doesn’t push them away from that. I want them to continue this trend of being old school Rare, trying to pick up the pieces from their older games. Like I wouldn’t mind a Diddy Kong Racing style game with these characters either and am glad they are branching out, but I do also want a Twoka Laylee.
@Dragonslacker1 The Rare people that made Goldeneye are all at a different studio and made the Timesplitters games.
I'd personally love another Diddy Kong Racing styled game, or as @Franklin mentioned, a Jet Force Gemini game that actually works.
@Zach777 have I got good news for you.
@Noid
Have you now?
@Zach777 Impossible Lair is mostly a 2D platformer, but also heavily features top-down adventure elements in its' hub world.
Not sure how many of their staff members worked on Killer Instinct but a one on one fighter would be interesting. Maybe with a tag element that’s used in other beat em ups. Although there are a lot of that genre on Switch. Maybe a first person shooter.
@avocadopear I was kinda thinking the same thing lol
A Diddy Kong Racing-esque game would be nice, and also an RPG in the same vein as Paper Mario as someone else mentioned also sounds good.
I think they could do something along the lines of the 3D platformers made by Pangea for the Macintosh; Ottomatic or Bugdom could make for a good console experience.
turn based rpg like paper mario is the way to go
or maybe like mario & luigi
just do Yooka & Laylee please
a DKR style game would be amazing
I would like them to define a new genre that us mere mortals can’t even begin to imagine. Too much? Ok YL2 please with all the good bits and less of the guff.
A Yooka-Laylee kart racer in the style of Diddy Kong Racing would be awesome.
I personally would like to see an RPG from them. They actually had the chance with Project Dream, but this game slowly transformed into Banjo-Kazooie.
I always wanted to see an RPG in the style of the typical Rare fashion. With a story that takes it not serious enough and stars a bunch of funny cartoon animals and characters.
@avocadopear They are made up of Rare members. You know, the very people who made Banjo?
Sweet! Can't wait to see what they come up with.
@RareFan That would be fun.
If they could only get the golden handshake from Nintendo.
We wouldn't need to wait 5 years for retro studios to release something.
"You got splatted by Trowser Snake!"
Honestly, I'd just like them to not give up on 3D platformers.
I'm sure they could take what they learnt and maybe this time got for a more focused pure platforming fun approach instead of the collectaton (not that I have any problem with collectatons, having loved the first game). How about an isometric platformer?
Just don't give up on 3D or inventive platforming please.
If it has to be a kart racer then make it story based, with mission modes - lots of single player content. Mario Kart has been stingy on such things of late – so that's your door into standing out.
Or do a Starfox – and make it a properly crafted wave rails shooter not some stoppy-tarty space helicopter BS like Star link.
@Franklin Jet Force Gemini style would be cool
@Chunkboi79 @roadrunner343 @Tempestryke Depends on if you think it's the same team when the lead designer/director of Banjo-Kazooie had nothing to do with Yooka-Laylee or Playtonic. It's kinda like The Beach Boys touring and making music without Brian Wilson, ya know?
Do what works and what people are liking don’t take the Sonic Team approach.
An adventure shooter mixed between Splatoon and Metroid Prime, with gyro controls and lock-on mechanics.
Metroid Prime's lock-on mechanic was actually very fun on the Gamecube, and would translate well on the Switch due to its shallow and loose analog sticks.
Include mystery/exploration elements with some 3D puzzles thrown in.
@avocadopear one person doesn't make a team.
@Chunkboi79 Whoa really?
@avocadopear Yeah surprising right? So it's still ex-rare employees making a game they basically crafted the formula for. Still fail to see how it's copying.
@Chunkboi79 Oh boy
@Chunkboi79 Similar logo, exact same text boxes, Similar concept, Pagies, etc.
Yeah, they can and are ripping off Banjo-Kazooie quite a lot
@tobsesta99 So Bayonetta is ripping off Devil May Cry because they are both action games. Even if Kamiya invented the tried and true formula?
Banjo Kazooie is Rare's baby, they made it, crafted it, defined it. Of course they are going to make it as close to Banjo Kazooie considering Playtonic is a bunch of ex rare developers. Realistically they probably would have made a banjo kazooie game if they had the rights.
@Chunkboi79 Many indie developers use “spiritual-successor” nowadays as a cover up for “absolute rip-off”, even if they created the original. The fact is that while they created it, the company who owned the rights still owns it. Playtonic is technically ripping iff a Microsoft IP. Yooka-Laylee is a ripoff through and through.
@tobsesta99 Oh yeah? Comparing two very similar action games developed by the same team is a dumb argument?
I'm sorry did Microsoft own Banjo Kazooie since their inception? Did I completely miss the fact that Banjo Kazooie was developed solely by Rare? Again the real question is can you copy yourself if you developed the game to begin with? As far as I am concerned Microsoft hasn't done anything new with the formula (unless you really consider Nuts and Bolts a positive change to the formula). Microsoft has owned Banjo Kazooie in rights only, the developers over at Playtonic again crafted the formula and yes they made a spiritual successor. The last big Banjo game was in 2000, why would they alter the formula when a good majority of new gamers haven't had the chance to play. There are unique elements to Yooka Laylee, larger worlds, RPG elements of unlocking new abilities, general different abilities as well. Sure the structure of the game is more or less the same but if a Banjo Threeie was going to be made it would more or less be structured
like Yooka Laylee.
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