Yoku's Island Express Reviews
Yoku's Island Express combines pinball with exploration in an irresistibly charming and gorgeous adventure game.
Yoku's Island Express is the perfect mixture of pinball and video games. Taking the best of both worlds and dropping it into a charming setting filled with likable characters makes for a relaxing romp that shouldn't be missed.
Yoku's Island Express brought something to the table few games, even among those I enjoyed, have managed to recently - a true sense of freshness. It really is unlike most games on the market, and it manages to grow beyond this defining gimmick, nailing almost every other aspect. Between the fantastic gameplay, lovely presentation and endearing characters, minor faults like excessive backtracking and a somewhat flat main storyline are negligible.
A cool hybrid of platforming, puzzling and pinball, Yoku's Island Express is a bit of a one-off, and therefore well worth seeking out.
Overall, there's not a lot to dislike about Yoku's Island Express. It's deep, it's fun, and while the main character may not be memorable as a Rayman or a Mario, the gameplay is so well-planned that you aren't in need of a strong lead character to make it all work. Villa Gorilla did one helluva job with this release and it's a game that shouldn't be overlooked.
A mash-up of genres whose flaws can be overlooked thanks to a huge dollop of charm.
Beyond its colorful and cartoonesque visuals, Yoku's Island Express delivers a strong Metroidvania experience mixed with flipper mecanics. This generous and smart adventure keeps a balanced challenge from start to finish, and mixes typical flipper challenges with deep exploration gameplay. Despite a binary system of flippers and few bosses, Yoku's Island Express is a good ride with a fresh tone.
Review in French | Read full review
Yoku's Island Express is whimsical, charming and a joy to play. It's developed by people who have an obvious love and deep knowledge for both pinball and Metroidvania games, and frequently delights and surprises by taking established genre conventions and quite literally flipping them about.
Yoku's Island Express is a genuine breath of fresh air, combining pinball and Metroidvania mechanics in a way that feels truly inspired. Add in one of the most appealing fantasy worlds you'll find on the eShop, and you have yourself an instant left-field classic.
Yoku's Island Express is a great game. Combining Metroidvania exploration with pinball gameplay was an interesting decision that paid off big time. Despite its short length, Yoku's Island Express is still a complete adventure, one that is relaxing and an absolute pleasure to take in.
Yoku's Island Express is a unique genre mix with fun pinball mechanics and great presentation. A lot of fun for pinball fans
Review in German | Read full review
Yoku's Island Express packs just enough to be a fun and simple 2D platformer with a delightful pinball component to make it standout amidst all the recent incursions of the Metroidvania style. While the game could certainly use a longer lifespan, its marvelous level design, music, gameplay mechanics and fun adventure will keep the players well amused for some time.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
In short, if you are looking for a good platform game, fun and challenging, Yoku's Island Express will not only meet your expectations, but will exceed them. An excellent game that mixes two genres in a very successful way.
Yoku's Island Express is one of those titles to be valued without reserve, hoping to send a message to the market and the development team, and to have an ecosystem populated by less approved and braver projects.
Yoku's Island Express is the open-world pinball adventure you never knew you wanted, but that you desperately need to play. The vibrant art, expansive world, and fun story come together with the best elements of metroidvania and pinball games to create a new experience unlike anything else out there.
Yoku's Island Express is one of the most surprising games of 2018. The combination of pinball and Metroidvania is, on paper at least, a little like dipping your French fries into your milkshake; as good as the two elements are separately, they shouldn't really work together. But thanks to an array of smart design choices, a wonderful art style, and some genuinely inventive puzzles, Yoku's Island Express is a game that only rarely frustrates – and frequently delights.
The beautifully drawn and wonderfully composed Yoku's Island Express is another nice addition to the Xbox One's library of platformers.
Yoku's Island Express is a beautiful adventure that uses the concept of Super Metroid, but adds unique and surprisingly appropriate integration of pinball to the mechanics. If you are a fan of metroidvania genre and have long wanted to try something unusual, then this project is a must-play for you.
Review in Russian | Read full review
One part Metroidvania, one part pinball game, Yoku's Island Express is a beautiful mashup that just shouldn't work. But it does, and as a result, it's just wonderful.
Yoku's Island Express has been a fantastic surprise. This original mix of platforms, exploration, RPG and the gameplay of a pinball works and is very entertaining. The design of levels is careful to detail and the game is full of surprises, hidden phases, interesting characters and a story that you want to complete.
Review in Spanish | Read full review