The first playtest for Playtonic’s new racer, Super Yooka-Laylee Kart, is finally out. Honestly, it is not exactly great. It is just fine. You know that feeling when you mess around with old ROMs for ten minutes, decide you have had your fill, and start looking for something else to do? That’s Super Yooka-Laylee Kart. For the five people still craving a “mode 7” style racer in 2026, I am sure this will be a pleasant enough distraction. But if you were hoping for a spiritual successor of something like Diddy Kong Racing, which they should’ve made instead, then this definitely is not it.
The core mechanics are pretty basic, and the tracks themselves feel a bit dull and uninspired. The game just feels functional and safe. Essentially, it is “serviceable” but lacks any real excitement. It does not feel like a chore to play, but it also does not give you much of a reason to keep coming back once the novelty of the art style wears off.
You’ve played better kart racers.
But now, onto what you came here for:
The Spoilers!
As you probably saw in the featured image, Capital B has a son named Lowercase B (also referred to as CapBSon in the files).
Other characters labeled as Racers: Clara, Shovel Knight, Rock, Jelly, Capital B (different than Lowercase B), Rextro, Inept.
Yup, they brought Shovel Knight back again.
Tribalstack Tropics and Moodymaze Marsh are in the playtest, so those have been seen already. So here’s Capital Cashino, Glitterglaze Glacier, and Galleon Galaxy
And the last thing I’ll include for now, a sprite sheet for the Cups is included in the files.
Oh, and Playtonic’s EOS encryption keys are exposed to everyone.
