Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo: What's a Yoyovania?

Tighten up that string and bust out the yoyo moves, the back of the case declares: It’s time to discover the secrets of the streets (and sewers) in your first-ever yoyovania! Is this the developers being rightfully cheeky or a too arrogant claim to link the metroidvania genre to their 2D top-down yoyo-venture? Let’s find out. My reason for buying the game isn’t the curious yoyovania mention. Rather, it’s the screenshots and videos I saw that oozed a certain 2D Zelda charm that I’ve seen other developers try and fail to cultivate. The word charm does Pipistrello injustice, it’s much more than just that. For instance, as soon as you boot the game, a CRT filter pops in place and the camera zooms out to proudly display a rotating 3D model of the Pocket Trap Game Device, a clear nod to the Game Boy Advance. Then, we see the Pipistrello cart being inserted and the first piece of evidence of the impressive dynamic music as the game shifts from “GBA/Pocket Trap”-style to the real thing on my…