Video Game Review - Yoshi's Woolly World

A while ago during the Wii days, Nintendo gave us the game Kirby's Epic Yarn (which I haven't played at the time of this review), a game where practically everything was made out of fabric. That game proved to be so successful that Nintendo then decided to make another game like that for the Wii U, but with Yoshi taking centre stage this time around and after a long wait, we have this very game. Now aside from his appearances in Mario and Smash Bros. games, Yoshi hasn't really had a proper home console outing since Yoshi's Story in the Nintendo 64 days, but has had a massive presence on portable platforms. But its nice to see Yoshi back on a home console and what better way to continue his series of games than in the year that marks the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. a game that started a series of games that would eventually have the world be introduced to this lovable green dinosaur as it were, before he got spun off into his own series of games and everyone has enjoyed his games ever since. But one thing I think Nintendo do seem to do a lot of these days, is for every triple A title that comes out on Wii U, a set of amiibos are released with it. Why, I guess they are just so desperate/keen to get people to try this game. But anyway, on with the review:

So as with most of the games in the series, Kamek is up to no good again and turns a group of Yoshis into balls of wool. That is except for two Yoshis who manage to escape such a fate and take it on themselves to save their kind from Kamek. Now the gameplay is very similar to that of the portable titles so those of us who are regulars to the Yoshi games, will get to grasp with the controls very quickly. Every bit of the game, is made in wool. The eggs, the levels, the enemies, even the Yoshis so you'll definitely get your moneys worth here. There's even some gameplay elements that have you knit things in wool or even tear wool off another thing. There's some new collectibles as well as the series staple that is the flowers and those collectibles, well I'll let you see those yourself, but trust me, they are tough to find. A series first (well from the games I've played anyway) is the chance to equip Yoshis with badges before going into levels, giving the game a bit of an RPG element to it which I like. There are two difficulties with one being aimed at more experienced gamers and the other for less experienced gamers (what makes both different is that in easy mode, you get a set of wings whereas in hard mode, you get the well known flutter jump). Yarn Yoshi amiibos let you play the game with a computerised Yoshi in what would otherwise be a solo experience (but co-op play is available to those with friends and the like), whereas other amiibos can give Yoshis a design based on the character that is put onto the Wii U Gamepad.

So was it worth the wait? Well I'd say it was. The game, while very similar to the other Yoshi games, is able to give us our moneys worth with the presentation of the graphics being spot on to what we all expect the game to be like. The amiibo side of things is a bit of a lazy thing to have added as I found that the game is better being played with others and is a lot more fun that way, but the designs look nice. A fun game, but seriously Nintendo, you don't need to make more amiibos just to sell games like these. You're doing fine as it is, aside from the supply issue that is, but they do add a nice touch I have to say. 8/10