Yoshi’s Woolly World Review

A Very Tangled Tale:

Deep in the recesses of my wardrobe there’s a huge woollen sweater which I only ever dig out when it’s the middle of a winter and I can no longer feel my fingers. It’s a thing of indeterminate size and fuzziness, and when I pull it over my head it always delivers a little static zap that isn’t entirely unpleasant. It’s funny, but Yoshi’s Woolly World reminds me of that sweater: it’s a warm and comforting, and isn’t afraid to deliver a little kick every now and then. Anecdotes aside, Yoshi’s  Woolly World is an absolute delight in every regard.

Storyline:

In a land full of little yarn Yoshis, Kamek the wizard is cold. I mean he must be, right? Why else would he travel to Yoshi Island and brutally unravel the cutest creatures in the known world. He must be making a sweater.

In all honesty I didn’t quite cotton on (I’ll try to keep the fabric puns to a minimum) as to why exactly Kamek commits this act of senseless violence, but as the sole surviving Yoshis on the island you (and a potential co-op partner) must travel across the worlds, reassemble all the stolen yarn into your woollen friends and take down that no good, sweater-making jerk!

Nintendo’s wordless storytelling is at its traditional best here, and whilst nary but an evil cackle or a determined Hrrrnrnnngggg! Is uttered, you’ll understand every emotion on display. Throughout the adventure, you’ll meet a bundle of equally adorable friends and foes, and the level of yarn-infused cute on display always elicited an irrepressible ‘D’awwwww’ from me or my companion.

Gameplay:

Yoshi’s Woolly World is a simple and – for the most part – forgiving platformer that has its sights set squarely on a younger audience. As the loveable green (or, by the end of the game, any colour you want)dinosaur makes his way through stages he must jump and hover through smartly designed platforming sections. You can also swallow enemies and turn them into eggs, to be hurled at any interactive elements each level boasts.

Yoshi’s inexhaustible hover mechanic means many of gaming’s classic pitfalls are swapped out here for a challenge more suitable for the audience – but that isn’t to say that this game doesn’t have challenge for any older fans. Some of the later stages (and the very challenging bonus stages unlocked by fully completing a world) had me sweat unexpectedly, and overall the difficulty curve is a very enjoyable one.

The real charm here is in the smart level design that boasts an endless amount of secret areas and little tricks that were always a joy to unravel. It’s some of the best stage design I’ve seen in ages and always had me guessing as to where the next hidden gem would be.

Throughout the stages there is a generous swath of collectibles to gobbled up, be it bundles of wool (to reconstruct your Yoshi friends), stamps (for Miiverse posts) and the ever illusive flowers, which are the best kept secrets Woolly World offers. To get everything – and finish the level with full health (a surprisingly difficult task) – is a pretty monumental achievement, and as of writing I’ve only managed to 100% a handful of stages. The rest are begging to be re-explored and played to perfection, and it’s an addictive little side quest that’s bound to keep fans occupied for hours after their initial playthrough.

A lot of the combat is fairly simple. Jumping on enemies heads or tossing yarn-eggs at them usually dispatches a foe, and if that fails a combination of the two will more often than not be the solution. There are the occasional stage hazards that can be used against the trickier bad guys (or some of the oversized – and extra adorable – boss monsters) and these are always fun to discover.