Checking the Score: Yooka-Laylee

Is it really that big a surprise that Yooka-Laylee is this month’s choice? For anyone who’s grown up playing anyone of Rareware’s 2D/3D offerings during the ’90s, you’ll know well of the melodic effectiveness the studio’s soundtracks can often stand for. You only need to take a peek at the intros to some of their past games — which inevitably turns into a longer-term stay as you admire the variety of ideas spun in such a short period of time that is a mere intro — to see how well their composers could make use of even the most minimal of notes (be they arpeggios of a given pitch or otherwise).