Super Mario Odyssey is the biggest 3D platformer in years and is the reason for the season when it comes to Nintendo Switch games, sales-wise. That said, earlier in 2017, another game came along that harkened back to the bright, colorful days of happily jumping around blocky Nintendo 64 worlds. It was even developed by some of the people who created those memories for so many people, and now it is coming to Nintendo Switch in the very near future.

Yooka Laylee, from developer Playtonic Games, is getting its long-awaited Nintendo Switch release on Dec. 14, Engadget reports. Originally released on PS4, Xbox One and PC in April, Yooka Laylee is a Banjo-Kazooie throwback from former developers of the Nintendo 64 classic. It stars a chameleon and his bat friend who jump, roll and spin their way through a variety of vertically oriented platforming levels.

Playtonic’s website promises the Switch version will be worth the relatively long wait.

“Players can expect a quality experience both on and away from the television and on top of that, Switch players will benefit from the huge list of updates we’ve added since launch such as a brand new camera mode, control improvements, menu options, music… and a lot more!,” the developer wrote on its blog.

IGN got its hands on the Switch version in handheld and posted several minutes of footage of the game running that way. It appears to look and play about the same as it does on other platforms, with the caveat that the resolution will be slightly lower. According to IGN, it runs at 900p when docked to the television and 600p in handheld mode, as opposed to the 1080p resolution it can reach elsewhere. However, Playtonic says it will run more consistently than other versions did at launch.

One last thing to note is the neat addition of single Joy-Con support for all eight of Yooka Laylee’s multiplayer minigames. In English, that means you can pull the goofy little side-controllers off the Switch and use each of them to play two-player mini-games with your friends or kids. You definitely cannot do that on your fancy Xbox One X or PlayStation 4 Pro.

Yooka Laylee has an interesting history. It was originally a Kickstarter project that exploded past its original goal to easily get funded in no time. The idea was to resurrect the long-dormant 3D platformer genre popularized by games like Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie. Playtonic was started by former members of Rare, the developers of Banjo-Kazooie, and they even brought along former Rare music composers Grant Kirkhope and David Wise for the project.

It did not light the world on fire like Super Mario Odyssey has, but it reviewed decently and Switch owners should look forward to having another family-friendly platformer to work through this holiday season. You can preorder Yooka Laylee on the Nintendo Switch eShop starting Dec. 7.

RELATED STORIES
Nintendo