By KYLE VANDERMARK
Staff Writer
Let me start off by saying this is very much like the other games of the “Yoshi’s Island” line. These games have always been loved by gamers who are already into Mario games. These games have a knack for being quite creative, and this is no different. Yoshi is an extremely popular character in the franchise, so this game would be a great introduction into the Yoshi based games! Anyway, on with the review:
Starting off right away, Woolly World is ADORABLE. Everything in this world is made out of felt, yarn, wool, sequins, whatever you can find in your everyday arts and crafts drawer. This wasn’t the first time this style has been seen from Nintendo. The Kirby franchise tested it out with “Kirby’s Epic Yarn” in 2010. Woolly World, in my opinion, did a much better job with this and was much tighter with the gameplay.
The vibrant colors are very inviting, even to users who haven’t seen Yoshi’s Island games before. Woolly World does a great job in using this world created out of thread to its advantage. In an everyday Yoshi’s Island game, Yoshi’s main way of attacking his enemies is by eating them.
He swallows his enemies, turns them into his trademark white eggs with the green spots, and throws the eggs at other enemies. In this case, the enemies, like Yoshi, are made of yarn. So when Yoshi tries to eat his foes, they are unraveled and turned into yarn balls which follow behind him.
This is a cute, and neat way of keeping a classic style of playing relatively fresh. When Yoshi throws his yarn “eggs” at his foes, they get tangled up in the yarn. Every now and then, you’ll see a Shy Guy (a common Mario franchise baddie) walking around with a crochet hook, ready to untangle Yoshi’s foes.
Yoshi cleverly adapts to his environment in various ways. When he jumps into water, his feet unravel and turn into a propeller. The same thing happens with ice- his feet turn into ice skates- and when he runs, his feet turn into wheels. It may not sound like much, but Nintendo is great at putting these little things in and it really makes the characters a part of the environment.
There are plenty of other ways that Nintendo has included the interactive environment that has been seen in previous Yoshi games. There are question mark clouds that, when hit with a yarn “egg,” can magically grow a yarn beanstalk so Yoshi can use its petals for climbing and reaching new areas. Throughout the levels, there are these “loose ends” sticking out of the scenery that can be unraveled to reveal secret areas.
Other bonus collectibles include five hidden bundles of colored yarn that will unlock a different colored Yoshi to play as if you collect all of them in a level. I’m not usually one to hunt for collectibles, but this specific one is quite satisfying.
Now for amiibos! Amiibos are these fun little action figures that have various different uses for in-game content. In Woolly World, amiibos unlock different Yoshis that resemble the amiibo entered in the game. For example, you place the Luigi amiibo on the Wii U Gamepad, and you’ll unlock a Yoshi with Luigi’s blue overalls, green shirt and hat, and of course, the mustache.
Woolly World is great for multiplayer, too. You can conquer the levels with a friend in a local multiplayer cooperative style. I love this option, because sometimes you’ll need to use a yarn “egg” to complete a certain puzzle, but you’ve already cleared the enemies out of the level. Luckily, you have your friend’s Yoshi standing right behind you! Turn around, eat their Yoshi, and Voila! You’ve got yourself a perfectly good yarn “egg.” This creates lot of tension between you and your friends after awhile… so tread lightly.
If you don’t have any friends, no matter how hard you try, you can purchase a Yarn Yoshi amiibo that you can enter in the game to play along side you during your adventures!
I love this game. It has been awhile since I’ve seen a Yoshi-based title from Nintendo, and they didn’t hold back with this one. It’s easy enough to play that it doesn’t scare away beginners, but it also takes a good amount of searching to find all of the collectibles for all of the collectible hunters out there.
But as a seasoned veteran and lover of Nintendo, I’m giving this one a solid 8.5/10. It’s a great title to add to any gamer’s library.
