Polygon - 5.5

Yooka-Laylee looks the part of an updated platformer, but some of its mechanics should have stayed back in the era it came from. There was a reason we haven’t seen more games like Banjo Kazooie on modern platforms, and it wasn’t just because Rare as we knew it was gone; its ideas were very specific to a gameplay era that we’ve evolved past. Fourth-wall breaking dialog, shiny characters and lush graphics can’t save Yooka-Laylee from the dated framework that it’s built on

Game Informer - 8

Though camera problems and outdated level design are present at times, the moments of exhilaration, discovery, and satisfaction far outweigh those pitfalls. It feels like ages since I've played something like Yooka-Laylee. This is a game that was built for those who look back with fondness on the classics that spawned it, and in that regard, it delivers completely. 

Destructoid - 8

Banjo Threeie is probably never going to happen, but after playing Yooka-Laylee I'm fine with that for the first time in 17 years. Playtonic's first foray is rough around the edges, but the center is so full of heart that it'll melt away the more you play it. How much of that roughness you can put up with entirely depends on your history and mental fortitude for mascot platformers. For some of you that threshold is pretty low, but for me, it's as high as Laylee can fly.

IGN - 7

Yooka-Laylee contains all the pieces needed for a fun, enjoyable throwback to the 3D collectathons of the 64-bit era. The characters are charming and funny, your set of abilities is vast and entertaining, and four out of five of the worlds are fun playgrounds to explore. While it lacks the heart and polish of some of its incredible predecessors, it’s a good reminder that this genre, once thought to be dead, still has some life left in it.

Videogamer - 4

The anthropomorphic 3D platformer had a great run; for nigh on fifteen years the general public couldn’t get enough of those cutesy, jumped-up mammals. Rare was one developer that excelled in the genre, so it’s no surprise that breakaway dev, Playtonic Games, would attempt to fill that hole. And if nothing else, that’s exactly what they’ve done: they’ve made a video game that could easily live on the Nintendo 64. It just feels very out of place in 2017.

Jimquisition - 2

Yooka-Laylee is a game out of time, clinging so desperately to past glories it doesn’t seem to understand the Earth kept spinning after the N64 was discontinued. It’s everything wrong about the formative years of 3D platforming and it somehow retained none of what made the genre’s highlights endure.

Gamespot - 6

Ultimately, Yooka-Laylee’s best and worst aspects come directly from its predecessor. Despite attempts at modernizing the formula, its style of gameplay is still outdated, and it doesn’t stay challenging or interesting for long as a result. But if you’re looking for a faithful return to the Banjo-Kazooie formula, Yooka-Laylee certainly delivers--from the font to the music to the wealth of collectibles, it’s worthy of the title of spiritual successor.

Guardian - 8

Pleasingly, the game continues to add ideas and new, often-bonkers, tools over its course: lick a cannonball and you’ll be able to temporarily absorb its power, allowing Yooka to walk steadfastly when faced with a brisk headwind. What the game loses by not having had a Rare/Nintendo-sized QA department to smooth its rough edges it compensates for with a princely pile of ideas, and a lovely control scheme that only improves with elaboration. Younger players may be less willing to forgive its anachronisms but for its target audience, those ageing mourners of a lost fashion in games, it’s a promise that’s proven worthy of backing.

PC Gamer - 68

Playtonic did a fine enough job of recreating the nostalgia of playing Banjo-Kazooie, but Yooka-Laylee simultaneously revives all the bad parts of those games while never quite living up to the good parts. As a spiritual successor, it stands nicely as an homage that didn't quite hit all of its marks. But as a game on its own, removed from the context of its roots, Yooka-Laylee is an alright 3D platformer that unfortunately doesn't make a strong case for the revival of a genre I love. 

http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/yooka-laylee

http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-one/yooka-laylee

damn :/ I expected much more

Another Mighty N°9 ? Why does this keep happening? just to make us suffer ? every night i can feel the old rare .... n64 era ... even snes era... Seeing this currently... TSC .. Dont Stop Hurting...

Welp, that was surprising. Will wait to see if that is just a random thing or if it continues to get around 60 scores.

More reasons to never do crowdfunding projects... When will people learn?

Also damn Jim... 2/10

http://www.thejimquisition.com/yooka-laylee-review/

yeah it never looked great to me, but was still expecting a 70 as a minimum.

EDIT: Oh the X1 version got a 75 with only 6 reviews less.

Wow all the previews and hands-on sounded so promising, gonna have to dive in the reviews but this sounds dissapointing! :OI

yeah, lots of the worse reviews are from outlets playing the PS4 version

2/10 from Jim, 4/10 from Videogamer, and 5.5 from Polygon are on the PS4 listing only

"Yooka-Laylee is a game out of time, clinging so desperately to past glories it doesn’t seem to understand the Earth kept spinning after the N64 was discontinued. It’s everything wrong about the formative years of 3D platforming and it somehow retained none of what made the genre’s highlights endure."

"Yooka-Laylee is, in a word, rubbish"

Damn, that is HARSH. Will this be a MN9 but without the long controversy, or will it pick up some steam with the upcoming reviews?

A Hat in Time always looked like the better game to me honestly, but it's still pretty disappointing to hear that this game isn't as good as it seemed (I'll still play it though, will wait for Switch ver.), more 3D platformers are always a good thing.

I'm not surprised at all to be honest.