- A new kart racer is in development with an SNES-aping visual style
- Super Yooka-Laylee Kart is a racing spin-off of the platforming game series
- PC release, eight-player split-screen, online multiplayer, single-player campaign mode
There’s a new Yooka-Laylee game on the way, and this time it involves kart racing.
The platformer series, originally a tribute to the Banjo-Kazooie series and made by some former Rare employees, will venture into the competitive driving scene with Super Yooka-Laylee Kart.
Perhaps incidentally, but Rare also created kart-racer Diddy Kong Racing for the N64 in 1997.
It features a retro visual style, reminding the Traxion team of the superlative Mario Kart Super Circuit for the Game Boy Advance, which used ‘Mode 7’-style visuals akin to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
The aesthetics aren’t the only element reminiscent of Nintendo’s family-friendly juggernaut, with boost pads, weapon pick-ups and collectable on-track coins featuring. The latter can be spent on a perk system within a single-player campaign mode.
The creators, however, are keen to print out some key differentiators, such as a lengthy suite of race customisation options, split-screen support for up to eight players and online multiplayer with ‘friend lobbies’.
On track, there is a revenge-based balancing system. The debut trailer shows one karter suffering from a volley of attacks, which then triggers a payback-enabling rage mode.
While it’s clearly an accessible game, publisher Playtonic Friends highlights a layer of competition for skilled players, which it calls “precision-focused arcade racing built around mastery, skill expression, and advanced techniques.”
Super Yooka-Laylee Kart was unveiled at the Summer Game Fest Day of the Devs event. There is currently no release window and it’s listed as PC only for now, although the creators do say that “additional platforms to be announced at a later date.”
