But the Wii U port is no more
You know, up until this year, I’ve never had the chance to play the likes ofBanjo Kazooie, Conker’s Bad Fur Dayor any of the other oft-acclaimed Rareware classics. As a child, I never owned a Nintendo 64 of my own, and I rarely even had access to Nintendo’s fifth-generation gaming platform. Needless to say, I don’t have any nostalgic memories whatsoever what many consider to be the golden age of Rareware, prior to its acquisition by Microsoft in 2002.
I only got around to trying my hand at some of these games when I picked upRare Replayalongside an Xbox One a couple of months ago. Interestingly enough, even when going intoBanjoKazooienearly two decades later and with absolutely no sentimentality attached to it, I found that it still holds up pretty well. So much so that I immediately developed an interest inYooka-Laylee;a spiritual successor to the beloved platformer by Playtonic Games, which isa studio comprised of several former Rare developers.
Well, it doesn’t appear as if the wait forYooka-Layleewill be all that much longer. According to a new trailer by Playtonic Games,Yooka-Layleewill come out on the 11th of April, 2017. That is,precisely one week after the release of the much-anticipatedPersona 5.
An Xbox Store page forYooka-Layleealso confirms that the game will retail for $40 USD. Pre-ordering it will net you a copy of theToyboxdemothat was previously distributed to backers of Playtonic’s originalKickstarter campaignto fund the game.
I do have to say that I’m not particularly thrilled with the idea of having to pre-order a game to get your hands on a playable demo for it. I understand that it is definitely nice to see Playtonic increase the availability ofYooka-Laylee‘sToyboxdemo (which was previously exclusive to Kickstarter backers), since I’m sure that there are many people who missed out on the opportunity to back the game’s original crowdfunding campaign. But at the same time, I see demos — alongside game reviews — as a way to make an informed decision about whether or not I’ll actually enjoy a title before I drop my money on it. The idea of locking something like a demo behind a paywall defeats the purpose of having one in the first place, in my eyes.
Playtonic Games has also Tweeted that it is currently working with Nintendo in hopes of bringingYooka-Layleeto its upcoming console; the Nintendo Switch.
Playtonic is working closely with Nintendo to look to bring Yooka-Laylee to Nintendo Switch
More details:https://t.co/x6ti44iXCHpic.twitter.com/jL8OzF8SCj
— Playtonic (@PlaytonicGames)June 26, 2025
Unfortunately,Playtonic then went on to say in a recent blog postthat the Wii U version ofYooka-Layleehas been cancelled. The reason behind this decision is that the studio “…encountered unforeseen technical issues…” when trying to bring the game to Nintendo’s current-generation console platform. Anyone who backedYooka-Laylee‘s Kickstarter campaign with the intent of grabbing a Wii U copy will be able to select a different version of the game to pick up instead.
Even though it’s a shame to see the Wii U lose out onyet another previously-announced title, I can’t help but find the idea of playing a game like this in a portable format to be pretty interesting. For this reason, I can’t help but find this news to be a little bittersweet.
