2017 3D Plat Revival (Yooka, Mario Odyssey, Hat in Time)

In 2015, I had stumbled upon a kickstarter project for an upcoming game called Yooka Laylee. I didn't contribute to said kickstarter as I didn't have my own credit card yet at the time, but I was interested in the project nonetheless, as a lifelong fan of the Banjo Kazooie games. From what I've seen, the project reached its stretch goals nearly instantaneously, and all we had to do was wait a bit.

Fast forward to 2017, and Yooka Laylee is finally released. A bit later that year, Super Mario Odyssey, the latest mainline Mario outing, and a game which was heralded as a return to the non-linear 3D Mario structure of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, was released. Also that year, another platformer of a brand new IP known as A Hat In Time was released.

2017 seemed to be the year of revival for the 3D platformer genre, it was the biggest year for the genre since at least 2010, if not the biggest year for the genre since the PS2/Gamecube/Xbox era.

Yooka Laylee was the only one of these games I played at launch, when I bought it for the Xbox One. I couldn't play Super Mario Odyssey at the time as I didn't own a Switch until this year (2021), and I wasn't aware of A Hat In Time until recently and didn't play it until getting it for the Switch like a week ago, but now that I own and have played all three of these games, I'd like to discuss them all in this thread.

Feel free to share in the comments below.

As aforementioned, this was the only game in the bunch that I actually played in 2017... however, I haven't touched it since then, and that kind of sets the tone for what I'm about to say regarding this game...

I wanted to like this game, as a Banjo Kazooie fan, I really did want to like this game. But alas, after playing the first two levels, including an expansion of the first one, I got bored and shut it off.

To me, this game recreates Banjo Kazooie as well as Jack Skellington recreates Christmas Town. The characters are there, the collectables are there, but the polish that made Banjo Kazooie such a fantastic game is absent.

The quills are not organized to guide the player through the level as the musical notes were and in some cases are hidden as well as a pagie should be. The camera is also terrible, some people point out that Banjo Kazooie's camera wasn't that great either, but I found Yooka Laylee's to be even worse, and the worst part about it was when you'd exit a room near a cliff, yet the camera would focus on Yooka from the front and not behind so you can't see you're headed towards a cliff. Also, the worlds are way too big and have little to no flow about them, and navigating them is a huge pain in the ass. The transformations, side quests, and quiz minigames were also not fun at all, and overall, Yooka Laylee was just not a fun game for me to play, so I had to shut it off, and hadn't played it since then.

Now, I know many people like this game, and if you're one of those people, by all means, I'm happy for you that you like this game. It's my loss for not liking this game, not yours for liking something I don't.

Not only that, but I appreciate all the hard work that the team at Playtonic and Team17 put into making this game, and they have created really cool characters in the process.

I wouldn't even consider Yooka Laylee to be a bad game honestly, I would consider it more mediocre than anything, on the same par as games like Ty the Tasmanian Tiger or Rocket: Robot on Wheels.

It's no Banjo Threeie, but its no Sonic '06 either.

Grade = C-

This one is the most mainstream game in this bunch, as its an installment of one of the most popular gaming franchises in the world.

Many gamers herald this game as a masterpiece, and praise this game for being a return to the 64 and Sunshine style of 3D Mario.

I did really like this game, but a masterpiece? No. Also, a return to the 64 and Sunshine style of 3D Mario? Double no, I'll get to that shortly after.

As excellent as this game is, it also has more than its fair share of flaws. First, there's way too many power moons in this game, and the mechanics in which you collect these moons doesn't change all that much throughout each kingdom, and collecting all of them for 100% completion just becomes a repetitive chore. Plus, the game has no difficulty ramp whatsoever, unless you count Darker Side, but that's the very final level and is basically a bonus area that feels like a complete afterthought. All of the kingdoms might as well be interchangeable with how the difficulty is structured, and Mario Odyssey in general just feels way too easy if you're just going for rescuing Peach or unlocking all the kingdoms without going for 100%. There's also a lot of instances of barren space within the game, especially in Sand Kingdom.

On to the latter point I made, while continuing my first point regarding this games flaws, this game is not a return to the 64 and Sunshine style that people say it is.

People are too caught up on the aspect of Odyssey's worlds being so "non-linear" like 64's and Sunshine's without taking other aspects into account.

64 and Sunshine did have non-linear levels, but they were also compact and focused, and you collected stars or shines in a mission based structure within these worlds, and there was a hub world that held all these levels together where you'd start out in and would get thrown back in after getting a star or shine, or after choosing to manually return to the hub world. The structure of 64 and Sunshine was actually way more similar in the grand scheme of things to that of Galaxy than it was to Odyssey, as despite Galaxy being more linear, it still had that mission based level structure, as well as a hub world being present as well, not to mention that Galaxy did actually have its fair share of more open-ended levels, as well as plenty of secrets for the player to find within each galaxy, plus it was way more like 64 and Sunshine than it was like 3D World.

Odyssey on the other hand has a sandbox structure with the power moons just being scattered all over the map with no mission focus outside of an obligatory boss battle, and no hub world either, the level progression structure is actually more similar to that of the Sly Cooper games (minus Sly 1 which was a Crash Bandicoot clone), where your just going from sandbox to sandbox, but without the missions that kept those games feeling focused as well. That's another issue, Odyssey lacks the focus that 64, Sunshine, Galaxy, and even 3D World had, you're just running around aimlessly through each kingdom looking for power moons that are often just left out in the open, or going through a minigame that feels identical to the ones you've already went through in previous kingdoms, it can very easily just feel like a boring scavenger hunt.

Despite all its flaws though, Super Mario Odyssey was still an excellent game. Cappy was an awesome addition and using him to possess enemies was very fun, being able to customize Mario was a neat aspect, and did have some kingdoms that I really did like, my favorites being Lost Kingdom and Luncheon Kingdom due to those levels requiring tricky platforming with Cappy to navigate due to the deadly puts within those kingdoms, and it made those kingdoms just feel more fun to navigate. I just wanted to point out the flaws this game that I feel get way overlooked.

Grade = B+

This was the final game in this bunch that I've gotten to play. I just got it a week ago, in fact, after ordering a Switch copy of the game online.

After playing it... I must say... this game has easily become one of my favorite games of all time. It's easily my favorite 3D platformer of the entire 2010s decade, even better than Super Mario Galaxy 2.

This game just has so much charm, such memorable characters, brilliant mission structure, fantastic level design, and a dose of challenge on top of that which just made me adore this game.

If you do get it though, I'd also recommend buying the Seal the Deal and Nyakuza Metro DLC on top of it. I don't normally condone DLC, but the cost of this game combined with those two DLC packages is cheaper than what you pay for an average $60 Switch game, so it was all worth it for me.

The level structure of A Hat in Time is very similar to that of Super Mario Sunshine, where the main collectable follows a mission based structure within a non-linear but compact level, and where each level is seperated via a hubworld. In fact, the first level of the game, Mafia Town, is clearly an homage to Delfino Plaza. But unlike Yooka Laylee which just implements various concepts from Banjo Kazooie without executing on the structure that made Banjo Kazooie work, A Hat in Time actually improves on the Mario Sunshine formula, and implements concepts from other games as well, plus a few original ones, so that the Mario Sunshine homage doesn't feel like it overstays its welcome.

All the levels in the game are non-linear, but have a flow to them, and all have plenty of locales and obstacles within them to keep the experience interesting. Each mission puts you on a different path, or in a separate area in the case of the film studio level, so being thrown out of a level after collecting a time piece doesn't feel tedious, plus the fourth level as well as Nyakuza Metro don't throw you out of the level after you collect a time piece. 

The game also features a few changes of gameplay structure, such as a few stealth missions as well as a survival horror mission, yet the gameplay mechanics stay the same throughout, as you're always playing as Hat Kid on foot.

I also honestly found this game to be more challenging than Mario Odyssey, especially in regards to the boss fights. It could be a me thing, but I found myself dying more frequently on A Hat in Time's boss battles than I did with Mario Odyssey's, and I really like the challenge and change of pace that these boss battles offer. What I like most about this game over Odyssey is how focused the gameplay feels, the mission structure just works so well in this game, and the events within the game keep you engaged, like in the studio level where you're controlling which conductor wins the award, or in the haunted level where you're forced into a few contracts, plus all the memorable characters you meet in each level, this game is just filled with charm and personality. Hat Kid is also the cutest protagonist I've ever seen (cute as in puppydog cute, you can go away now Chris Hansen), and the game in general is just filled with memorable moments that put a smile on my face. Gears For Breakfast, thank you for this tremendous gaming experience.

This is not to say that A Hat in Time is perfect, the pons could've been implemented better, and they could've added more levels as well, plus more missions in the Time's End chapter besides just The Finale would've been preferential, but I really have nothing to complain about regarding this game. This game is everything I could've wanted in a 3D platformer and so much more, and I enjoyed playing through it.

Grade = A

So that's my analysis of all three of these games.

Yooka Laylee I didn't like but still appreciate what went through to make it, Super Mario Odyssey I liked but had my fair share of gripes with, and A Hat in Time was just an excellent gaming experience all around for me.

What about you, if you've played these games before?