When I first saw ‘Yoshi’s Wooly World’ I was captivated by the aesthetic, every texture and character made out of wool or some other fabric. When I eventually got round to starting the game I was blown away with how good it looked, an 8 year old game on a console 2 generations prior looking this good? Out of curiosity I booted up the game in a Wii U emulator to see if it could be made any better and honestly I couldn’t see any difference, it was that good.
What also appealed to me about the game is that it looked like an easier version of the Mario games which can often get to the point where only a child or a veteran of the series could complete the input perfect levels. While this was true for the most part, the latter half of the game got pretty stressful and I could only play 1-2 levels at a time before I had to switch it off due to frustration. On the contrary though, there was one day I was in a low mood after failing to enjoy ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ and started up ‘Yoshi’s Wooly World’ and it really helped make me feel better. The game does cut you some slack and lets you trade the gems for stickers.
Stickers give Yoshi extra powers or protection against pits or other enemies. Naturally I picked invulnerable to fire and lava for the fire and lava levels. Thankfully there is no life system as that would have probably tipped me over the edge. One thing I would change though, is that when you die you get to keep the collectables you found on your last run to save you going through the hassle all over again. Later Mario games would offer this feature.
As for the collectables, if you collect all 5 yarns per level you unlock a new Yoshi. You can also collect daisy looking smiley flowers that if you collect all in a world you get a bonus level after the boss. I tried my best for every level to collect as many as I could but I never returned for ones I missed. The later games had the collectables hidden in harder to reach places which would very often result in Yoshi dying so I stopped bothering with them.
The controls for the game are relatively easy to get your head around, running, jumping, licking things into Yoshi’s mouth, spitting them back out, throwing yarn balls and ground slamming. The ground slamming was the one move that would often cause me to die as all you need to do is press down on the joystick. I’d be trying to navigate difficult timed jumps and Yoshi would literally do the complete opposite of what I wanted him to do and forcefully pound himself to death in a pit.
The variety in level design must be congratulated, every single level is unique and offers their very own game mechanic. The game mechanics are easy to understand and get your head around but it really keeps things fresh and exciting without becoming too repetitive. Some of the mechanics are really creative such as ghostly platforms which you must stay behind a curtain to use. There are bonus levels too which are very fun as Yoshi takes on the form of a mermaid and leaps through the air collecting gems. These are probably more enjoyable to me as there is less risk of dying by the enemy. Again with the later levels and added stress, to progress forward, the next area is hidden behind a wall which I found very unfair as I got stuck for ages.
Despite taking me about a year to complete the game as this was my game on the side that I would play when the living room was unavailable, I had loads of fun with it. I’m looking forward to trying out Yoshi’s crafted world some time soon on the Nintendo Switch.
What also appealed to me about the game is that it looked like an easier version of the Mario games which can often get to the point where only a child or a veteran of the series could complete the input perfect levels. While this was true for the most part, the latter half of the game got pretty stressful and I could only play 1-2 levels at a time before I had to switch it off due to frustration. On the contrary though, there was one day I was in a low mood after failing to enjoy ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ and started up ‘Yoshi’s Wooly World’ and it really helped make me feel better. The game does cut you some slack and lets you trade the gems for stickers.
Stickers give Yoshi extra powers or protection against pits or other enemies. Naturally I picked invulnerable to fire and lava for the fire and lava levels. Thankfully there is no life system as that would have probably tipped me over the edge. One thing I would change though, is that when you die you get to keep the collectables you found on your last run to save you going through the hassle all over again. Later Mario games would offer this feature.
As for the collectables, if you collect all 5 yarns per level you unlock a new Yoshi. You can also collect daisy looking smiley flowers that if you collect all in a world you get a bonus level after the boss. I tried my best for every level to collect as many as I could but I never returned for ones I missed. The later games had the collectables hidden in harder to reach places which would very often result in Yoshi dying so I stopped bothering with them.
The controls for the game are relatively easy to get your head around, running, jumping, licking things into Yoshi’s mouth, spitting them back out, throwing yarn balls and ground slamming. The ground slamming was the one move that would often cause me to die as all you need to do is press down on the joystick. I’d be trying to navigate difficult timed jumps and Yoshi would literally do the complete opposite of what I wanted him to do and forcefully pound himself to death in a pit.
The variety in level design must be congratulated, every single level is unique and offers their very own game mechanic. The game mechanics are easy to understand and get your head around but it really keeps things fresh and exciting without becoming too repetitive. Some of the mechanics are really creative such as ghostly platforms which you must stay behind a curtain to use. There are bonus levels too which are very fun as Yoshi takes on the form of a mermaid and leaps through the air collecting gems. These are probably more enjoyable to me as there is less risk of dying by the enemy. Again with the later levels and added stress, to progress forward, the next area is hidden behind a wall which I found very unfair as I got stuck for ages.
Despite taking me about a year to complete the game as this was my game on the side that I would play when the living room was unavailable, I had loads of fun with it. I’m looking forward to trying out Yoshi’s crafted world some time soon on the Nintendo Switch.