When I sat down with Graev to play through Yoshi’s Woolly World I can honestly say I wasn’t expecting much. The premise of playing a character in a world of yarn was strange and certainly not my preferred textile. But within minutes all of that predisposed bias went out the window as I stuck my tongue out, ate Graev, and ‘produced’ a yarn egg with his face on it. I proceeded to throw him at the nearest thing and watched as it brought the scenery to life.
The video above should give you a great frame of reference for what I’m talking about.
Yoshi’s Woolly World is an awesome platformer, and one I must admit would not be anywhere near as fun playing by myself. Gameplay is straight forward: You run, jump, hover with a little upward motion, stick your tongue out to pull things in, spit stuff out, and ‘produce’ balls of yarn if you choose to have the item you just ate come out the… other end. This will all feel completely familiar to anyone who has ever used Yoshi in any of his forms. Unique to Woolly World is the ability to use yarn which you can aim and throw to build and alter parts of the stage.
Co-op play, again, is the key here. ‘Utilizing’ each other to overcome obstacles, find new areas unique to co-op, and just overall working your way through the levels is way more dynamic with two players. As usual, Graev and I often feel like playing together makes the stages more challenging. Jumping on each other to save ourselves tends to foster a, “WTF did you do that for” experience. 😛
Each level requires careful attention to detail to uncover the myriad of hidden daisies, bundles of yarn, beads (that I think look more like gems), stamps, and hearts to try and beat the level with full health. Gathering all of the yarn bundles on a level gives you a Yarn Yoshi themed to that level that you can then use anywhere. You’ll want gems so that you can purchase badges to use on levels such as making all yarn balls big and other neat little boosts. While any given level can be beaten fairly quickly — in fact, very quickly — taking it slow to find all of these collectibles is where you’ll find the most depth and enjoyment.
I was expecting the levels, for the most part, to be a cakewalk. They’re actually pretty tough, especially when you play the hidden levels unlocked by getting all of the daisies in a world. The levels feel incredibly hand-crafted and some of the puzzle-like nature of unraveling or manipulating the cloth and yarn makes for an awesome “Oh wow look what I found” moment. The various mechanics they introduce are fun and fitting to the setting.
There’s tons to see and experience.. I think Nintendo was very clever with incorporating the theme of a yarn and clothlike world. It works, and they definitely embrace it to its fullest. I think my only complaint would be that you do reach a point on some levels when you’re like, “Okay I’m ready for something new…”. Â Oh, and sometimes I think finding all of the items can be a little tedious, especially if you realize at the last second, “Crap I missed that Yarn and can’t go back!”
Overall, Yoshi’s Woolly World is an awesome game and one of the best on the Wii U.
