Spiritual Successor To ‘Banjo-Kazooie,’ ‘Yooka-Laylee’ Is A KickStarter Success Instantly


The team at Playtonic Games has come up with a hit it seems with their upcoming platformer, Yooka-Laylee. A spiritual successor to the old Banjo-Kazooie games, Yooka-Laylee has been funded via Kickstarter on its first day.

The ex-Rare staff launched the Yooka-Laylee Kickstarter campaign today and already it has raised well past its £175K goal ($270K). Currently the Kickstarter campaign has raised well over $600,000 and counting. Yooka-Laylee is setting itself up to hopefully revive the dying 3D platformer genre in gaming.

Many of the old staff that made Banjo-Kazooie are present on Yooka-Laylee, including Steve Mayles who created not only Banjo-Kazooie, but also the Kong family in Donkey Kong Country. In addition, Chris Sutherland will be working on the game as well, lending his voice to Yooka and Laylee, much as he did with Banjo-Kazooie.

Yooka-Laylee Banjo-Kazooie Successor
Yooka-Laylee, created by Playtonic Games. Team made up of original Rare vets, including Banjo-Kazooie team members.

Yooka-Laylee features a chameleon/bat duo named, well, Yooka and Laylee. The team wanted to create a duo that would bring a certain moveset to the table, enabling them to move around the platformer in unique ways. Laylee can help Yooka float across a gap, while Yooka can use his tongue as a whip to take out enemies. According to the Kickstarter, there may or may not be the occasional use of a fart bubble as well.

Fans have been clamoring for Rare to make a new Banjo-Kazooie game ever since Microsoft bought the company in 2002. While no official word has ever come down that it won’t happen, fan expectation is low. The Kickstarter success of Yooka-Laylee shows that there is a tangible want and desire for a game like this, and with the team of the original platforming duo at the helm, hope is high that the game will deliver.

Yooka Laylee Flight
Laylee helps Yooka cross this chasm in hopes of collecting more of these coins they need.

In addition to many Rare veterans designing and creating the game, the Kickstarter also details the sound team for Yooka-Laylee. They include David Wise (Donkey Kong Country, Diddy Kong Racing), Grant Kirkhope (Banjo-Kazooie, GoldenEye 007, Viva Piñata) and sound designer Steve Burke from Banjo and Conker’s Bad Fur Day.

Yooka-Laylee is being planned for release on PC, Mac and Linux in October 2016, though if Playtonic reaches certain stretch goals the plan is to also release on Xbox One, PS4 and Wii U. In fact, if the Kickstarter hits £1,000,000 in funding a simultaneous Computer/Console launch will be planned.

Interested in helping make Yooka-Laylee a reality? Head over to the Kickstarter and make your pledge.

[Images via Playtonic]

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