Overview:
If there is one developer that live
their name, then it's Good Feel. The creators of Kirbys Epic Yarn and
the under appreciated Wario: The Shake Dimension are experts in
making games that just... feel good. So can their newest project live
up to that legacy?
Yoshis Wooly World was announced in
early 2013 in a Nintendo Direct. But it took nearly one and a half
years till we first got to see it and then another year (for us lucky
few in europe) till it arrived on the store shelves.
Story:
Like most Nintendo Games Yoshis Wooly
World overs a very simple and light story. The Yoshis are living
happily on Craft Island, but one day Kamek suddenly appears. He turns
all the Yoshis into Wonder Wool, except two. These two Yoshis now
have to rescue their brothers and foil Kameks plans.
Gameplay:
Yoshis Wooly World is a spiritual
successor to two games. Yoshis Island and Kirbys Epic Yarn. While the
presentation is obviously from the latter, most of the game play is
directly taken from the Super Nintendo classic.
Yoshi still has all of his abilities
from his debut, but he also didn't really expand on them. He still
eats his enemies and turns them into eggs, which serve as ammunition.
He also possess his flutter jump ability, which allows him to cover
large gaps and distances. Different colored melons let him spit fire,
ice or simple seeds at his enemies. Everything is just like over 20
years ago. Yoshi also still has the ability to transform into various
things, like Mermaid-Yoshi, Plane-Yoshi, etc. Controlling Yoshi also
feels just like in the good old days. The platforming can be very
demanding (especially in later worlds) and so precise handling of
Yoshi is mandatory.
So then what's different? Well firstly
you don't have to carry Baby Mario around any more. So no more
crying. Instead Yoshi now has a simple health bar, shown through
hearts. At full health the green (or whatever strange color
combination you give him) dinosaur can take up to five hits from
enemies. Lava and Spikes however, are still a One Hit KO.
And of course there is the obvious
thing. Everything looks like it's hand crafted out of different
materials. Mainly wool of course, but some enemies and environments
also incorporate other things like leather.
In Kirbys Epic Yarn the whole game was
fully 2D, while this time everything is 3D, moving in a 2D Plane.
Just like Donkey Kong Country Returns: Tropical Freeze for example.
Good Feel made sure that every level looks like it's created from
hand. As if it could be easily rebuild on in your own room. And the
succeed with this pretty well. But what does the wool aspect bring to
the gameplay?
Not as much as I would have hoped. You
can use Yoshis Tongue to unravel things and his wool eggs to create
new platforms. One of the most innovative uses is the stuffing of
enemies. Enemies, which are made out of wire, can be stuffed with
your yarn, turning them into objects or plattforms. Sadly this get's
used only in three levels and doesn't have a lasting impact on the
gameplay.
But it can't be denied, that the game
looks really great. Just from a gameplay perspective I think there
could have been done more with the Wool theme.
The level design, however, fully
utilizes the graphics aspect. In the six worlds you'll find plenty of
unique and different levels. Nearly every level has it's own gimmick
that makes it stand out. Be it a labyrinth inside a pyramid, a raft
tour through the jungle or conquering a ghost house full of spooky
fabric. No level is the same and nearly every one of them also has
it's own soundtrack.
The same variation can be applied to
the enemies. They're mostly already known adversaries of Yoshi, but
the Yarn look gives all of them a fresh twist.
Also, just like in in Donkey Kong, you
have an infinite amount of time to explore the levels, which fully
allows you to enjoy the detail put in every stage. And you should
always take a second look, if you want to make sure not to miss a
thing. Every level is filled to the brim with collectibles, most of
the already known from predecessors. Coins have been replaced by
gems, but like in the older games 20 of them are unique. Instead of
red coins it's Stamp Marks this time around. Collecting them unlocks
different Stamps for you to use in Miiverse posts. The flowers also
didn't change. Five of them are hidden throughout each level. Finding
them unlocks two things. Firstly the chance for a bonus game, if you
manage to catch a flower when jumping through the goal ring, and by
collecting all flowers in a world you unlock a especially hard level.
These levels are designed to test you to your limit, and also contain
the same collectibles as the standard ones.
A completely new collectible are the
wonder wools. Like with the flowers, five of them are hidden
throughout each level. Collecting all of them rewards you with a new
skin for your Yoshi. Gotta catch collect them all.
And lastly there are hearts. For 100%
you have to finish every level with 20 hearts remaining. That's
easier said then done. Hearts can be refilled by two means.
Collecting them after shooting down a winged cloud or by passing a
checkpoint. When you die you'll start over with 10 hearts, and if
you're a the last checkpoint it's often impossible to reach 20 hearts
from there. So this adds another challenge to the levels.
In any case Yoshi has a pretty good
difficulty curve. There are hardly and spikes or drops, but the game
rises the challenge in a consistent way. Just finishing the levels
can be done with a little bit of time and skill, but collecting
everything is a completely different story. But if the game still is
to challenging you can always switch to mellow mode. Here Yoshi has
wings and can infinitely flutter through the levels. You can't finish
any bonus tasks this way however.
Another help are different patches.
Before each level you can use one of them against a small fee. This
patches are unlocked after you beat different bosses and have unique
effects. One may spawn lots of fire melons throughout the level,
while another allows Yoshi to collect items with his tongue. This
allows for many interesting ways to approach difficult levels. Only
one patch can be equipped however.
Lastly there are two things to talk
about. Multiplayer and Amiibos.
The Multiplayer in Yoshis Wooly World
is pretty much the same as in other 2D Platformers from Nintendo. It
is really fund, but to effectively work together you need some strong
nerves. One Yoshi can eat the other and turn him into an egg. For
example, by shooting his partner the team can then access new areas.
However, abusing this is easier than using it wisely and often
happens on accident... the first few times at least. Still it's a
nice little feature, but once again it only works local. If you want
to play online Co-op with a friend far away, you're (once again) out
of luck. Also some of the harder stages are clearly made with only
one player in mind.
Amiibos are also on board. Nintendo
even produced special Yarn Amiibos for the game, which are harder to
get then job in this economy. By tapping a compatible Amiibo onto the
game pad you unlock a unique Yoshi look based on the used Amiibo.
And if you use a Yoshi Amiibo, you'll unlock a second Yoshi, who
mirrors all of your actions, enabling Co-op for single players. All
in all Amiibos are very well used in this game, enhancing and
enriching the game play without feeling invasive, like in Splatoon
for example.
Presentation:
Presentation wise this game is pure
sugar. Everything looks adorable and hand made. Each level is full of
details and creativity. It's a great example of Art Style over raw
horse power. Yoshis countless animations, be it him getting scared in
a ghost house or nearly falling of a ledge, just speak to the player.
Sadly the game sometimes stutters or slows down when lot's of action
is going on. Also the load times are really high sometimes.
Music Wise Good feel once again drew
upon their creativity. Just like in Wario Land: The Shake Dimension
nearly every level has it's own soundtrack. Each of them fitting and
sometimes even surprising. Hard guitar riffs during an intense lava
level are definitely fitting.
All in all the presentation is a really
strong point of Yoshis Wooly World, only slightly damped because it's
rough around the edges.
Bonusround or the game after the game:
Spoiler Warning:
Finishing all six worlds and beating
the final boss, unlocks the Boss tent. There you'll fight against
sped up versions of the bosses and unlock three additional Yoshi
skins.
There is also the Yoshi Tent and the
Amiibo Tent, where you can choose between all your unlocked Yoshi
skins.
And finally there is the museum tent.
Here you can take a look at all enemies in the game and listen to all
the music tracks.
Also there are the six S-levels, which
are extremely challenging.
Conclusion:
Many call it the best Yoshi Game since
his debut as main star in Yoshis Island, and I can wholeheartedly
agree. Controlling Yoshi just feels as precise as it did all these
years ago. The levels are overflowing with creativity and the wool
centric aspect of the game is incorporated rather well. It could have
been more, but still. Tons of collectibles add even more challenge to
the levels and are a lot of fun to hunt for. With Mellow mode and the
different patches, difficulty can be freely adjusted. All in all
Yoshis Wooly World is another great 2D Jump'n'Run for the Wii-U.
+ Unique, colorful and charming visuals
with lots of detail
+ Good old Yoshi Gameplay
+ Challenging and varied level design
+ Great music
- Nothing really new gameplay wise
- Wool elements could have been used
more
8/10
source of all pictures: Nintendo
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