Just before we set off on our trip to Menorca, a surprise parcel landed on our doorstep in the form of Yoshi’s Woolly World. Obviously we didn’t have time to play before we went away and we’ve been busy catching up on jobs since we returned but at the end of last week I finally was able to get Yoshi’s Woolly World set up on the Wii U. Curly was the first to play and said that he had heard good things about Yoshi’s Woolly World from friends so he was looking forward to playing it. He gave me a brief overview of the game but it’s just not the same when someone is explaining it so I had to have a go for myself.
On Friday night my laptop decided it had loads of updates to do so I took this as my moment to have a bit of ‘me’ time and try my hand at Yoshi’s Woolly World . . .
The Story – The Yoshis are living peacefully on Craft Island, until that naughty knitwit Kamek shows up at the scene! Kamek uses his magic to turn most of the Yoshis into yarn but a couple of them pull the wool over his eyes and chase him off before he does any more damage. The remaining Yoshis knit together and set off to rescue their friends!
Yoshi’s Powers – Yoshi has the ability to gobble up his enemies and turn them into yarn balls which he can then use to fire at enemies, break down barriers or knit new platforms. He can flutter jump over obstacles, change form and unravel threads to open new paths with his tongue.
Gameplay – As you would expect there are plenty of items to collect along your way; beads, yarn, flowers, health hearts and stamp patches. The more beads you collect the more power ups are available to you. Collect all the Smiley Flowers in a world and you will open up a secret course. The key to saving Yoshi’s yarn pals is the Wonder Wool you can collect throughout each world, collect all five Wonder Wool in a world and they will magically knit together into a new Yoshi pattern allowing you to switch between Yoshi’s when on the World Map or Craft Island.
Multiplayer – Two people can play Yoshi’s Woolly World together or (sob sob) if you haven’t got any pals to play with you can use compatible amiibo’s to play with Double Yoshi in single player mode.
Transformation – At certain points throughout the game you will encounter a zipped doorway. Pass through the doorway and you will enter a new world where Yoshi takes on a new form. Yoshi will only keep this form for the duration of the course and will return to normal once you exit the course. I particularly liked Umbrella Yoshi and thought this course was lots of fun.
Mellow Mode – given that we have a range of ages in our family from 2 to 40 we obviously have a range of gaming capabilities. The nice thing about Yoshi’s Woolly World is the Mellow Mode. In Classic Mode you get the traditional Yoshi experience but in Mellow Mode it’s a milder adventure which is perfect for younger players or beginners. In Mellow Mode Yoshi has a pair of wings and can fly in mid-air. There are more health hearts and if you fail a course five times you can get an invincibility egg which protects you from enemy attacks.
The tale of a good game for me is how long it pulls you in for. When I decided to have a play I told Hubby I would just play one world to get a feel for it and then have an early night. Four worlds later and a tired Hubby saying “are you going to stop now” and me sounding exactly like the Beans saying, “let me just finish this level” lead me to deduce that Yoshi’s Woolly World is a really fun and engaging game. Curly has been playing it again this morning and was disappointed that he had to return home early to his Mums as it meant he had to stop.
DISCLAIMER: We received a free download code for Yoshi’s Woolly World as part of our role on the Nintendo Blogger Network. All words and opinions are my own and may not be copied without my permission.