Yoku's Island Express

released on May 29, 2018

Yoku’s Island Express is an open world/metroidvania-style pinball adventure, Seamlessly blending platform navigation with pinball mechanics across a large open world. Yoku the dung beetle sets foot on the beach of Mokumana Island, ready to take on the duties as the new postman. But the ancient island God is trapped in a restless sleep and the islanders are plagued by quakes and storms brought forth by its nightmares. Yoku's Island Express is a unique and quirky adventure with handcrafted visuals, where you'll soar through the air, vacuum explosive snails, fight a Screetch, feed starving lemurs, discover the mystery of the Fruit Altar, wake an old god, and hopefully help tiny Yoku rebuild the island post-office.


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Turning a pinball game into a Metroidvania is such a deliriously inspired choice that it almost makes me want to give this a higher rating. Unfortunately, some elements of the pinball mechanics translate to being more frustrating than fun - namely traversing the world and entering/exiting the various "encounters" you bounce around. Sad to hear that the developers behind this have split since its release because this feels one iteration shy of being something truly next cutting edge for the subgenre. Still, it's charming, silly fun and that's all you can really ask for sometimes.

its ok
grew on me a bit throughout the game but yea still ok
this game is at its worst when you are trying to hit a specific angle on the flippers its miserable

could have used some more polish but generally a very fun interpretation of a platformer. i would be interested to see more ways to implement pinball as a game mechanic. though i also probably would add a reticle so you know where your ball will go after getting launched so it doesn't feel as random


The Game Pass Metroidvania train keeps on a'chuggin' as I finish yet another. Yoku's Island Express is what would happen if someone took Sonic Spinball and made it a Metroidvania with a charming, light tropical island theme. It is, as strange enough as it is to say it, a pinball take on the Metroidvania genre, and it actually pulls it off pretty damn well! I did 95% of the stuff in the game, apparently (the last couple achievements were so time consuming I didn't bother) and it took me probably around 12-ish hours (the game has no playtime counter, so far as I can tell, and the Xbone itself won't tell me either).

You play as Yoku, the new postmaster on the island of Mokumana. Though a dung beetle, Yoku rolls around a white ball of rock to get from place to place, and that is your pinball. In places that aren't too steep, you can use left and right to roll around, but otherwise you're usually using the left and right triggers to activate yellow and blue bumpers all over the world to get you from point A to point B. You get new powers as you go through the game, as fits the genre, such as a noisemaker to toggle things in the environment, wallet upgrades to allow you to hold more fruit (basically coins that are also a kind of points that you earn as you play that unlock stuff in the game), the ability to swim, but the overall mechanic of pinball doesn't change much outside of the occasional spot to grapple hook.

There generally two kinds of areas in the game's fairly large contiguous map. You have more corridor-like areas where you're doing more simple bumper-based platforming to get from place to place, and then you have what are effectively mini-pinball tables to get through to get to the next area (often after doing some kind of thing within the table). Those tables are fun, but can often be frustrating with the very precise angle you need to hit. This is mitigated a bit by the bumpers themselves glowing where you touch them, so there's a clear visual cue for your position and therefore the spot you should be aiming to hit once you've done it correctly, but it's still so tricky that it's never really a solved problem (if you view it as a problem in the first place). Those tables also make it a real pain in the ass to re-navigate through them though. Navigating to a specific spot on the island can be a real chore due to the lack of save points and somewhat limited fast-travel system, but the very good overworld map helps mitigate that.

The writing is simple, but the humor is charming and not overtly in your face. The presentation overall is very laid back and pleasant. The music is very good, especially the main theme is one I can't stop humming to myself X3. The world is also awash in color and style. The 5 or so areas of the island have their own look to them, and the pretty, painted-looking style to the world makes everywhere very pretty. Put that on top of how there's never any kind of failure state beyond having to redo a little bit of pinball or re-collect a bit of the already super abundant money-fruit, and this makes for a very laid back Metroidvania experience (outside of getting frustrated at pinball, anyhow XD).

Verdict: Recommended. The frustration on the precision of the bumper hits and how long it can take to get around the island keeps this from being higher recommended, but I still had a fun time with this. It took me a time or two booting it up to really get into it, but once I did I was hooked and had a great time with it. It's certainly not for everyone, even people who consider themselves fans of Metroidvanias, but if the concept of a pinball Metroidvania sounds like something that'd be up your alley, then Yoku's Island Express is probably something you'll enjoy ^w^

Incredibly fun, charming pinball metroidvania (if that makes any sense). I want a sequel so bad!

I bought the game in a bundle of smaller games when I got myself the SteamDeck.
The game is just perfect for it. You can always jump into the game quickly and complete a few smaller sections. It's very charming and cozy. The game mechanic with its mix of Pinball and Metroidvania is a great idea, even if it's not fully exploited. I'd be happy to play a similar game in the future that delves a little deeper into this genre mix. For example, it would have been great if the Pinball areas weren't so separate and if the mechanic was also used more as a tool to get around the map instead of walking from stage to stage.
Overall, it's a small delight, nothing too special, but it's just fun to play.