Everything's soft and fuzzy so it won't hurt you.... right?? (Yoshi's Woolly World Review)

Well, as anyone who's played a Yoshi game might know: despite how charming the scenery is, and how cute Yoshi---and even some of the enemies!---are, well, that doesn't mean your safe. For a poor little Yoshi, there are a lot of things out to hurt you.

I got Yoshi's Woolly World for Christmas, and hoo boy, what a wonderful game. It's developed by a company called Good-Feel, which, is fitting, because it's an incredibly feel good game.

Yoshi - throwing a yarnball

I played both Yoshi's Story and Yoshi's Island (the GBA version) a lot as a kid, so Yoshi's Woolly World is kind of like going back to my roots? Well, not exactly, but, it's great to return to the world of Yoshi, regardless. Yoshi's Woolly World is a sort of blend between Yoshi's Story and Yoshi's Island, and in a lot of ways, much better than both. It feels, to me, like the Peak of Yoshi games.

The yarn style is extremely adorable and played in a lot of fun ways (unraveling walls to progress, having yarn balls instead of eggs, Shy Guys who wield crochet needles), not to mention it looks great.

The gameplay is fantastic, too! Like I said, it's something of a mix between Yoshi's Story and Yoshi's Island, though with a closer tie to Yoshi's Island than Yoshi's Story. Flowers return as collectibles, there's the same level end system and a similar---though not exactly the same---world select. The plus side? There's no Baby Mario cries grating on your ears each time you get hit.

Kamek - here to steal your yarn!!!

The plot of this one is simple: Kamek (pictured to the left) shows up and starts kidnapping Yoshi's. Worse, he turns them into their base components---spools of wool!---and takes those, intending to deliver the wool to Bowser. Your goal? Catch him before he gets there.

It's simple, but a lot of fun, and a great sit-back-and-relax kind of game! It can be pretty challenging at times (especially when trying to hunt down all the Flowers or Wonder Wools), but there are a lot of ways to make it less frustrating, and a lot of ways to have fun with it.


For example, there's mellow mode: a mode of gameplay you can swap to at any time, which gives Yoshi wings!

"That makes it too easy!!" you may cry.

Actually? No. Sure, the wings let you float indefinitely, but they don't make you go any higher. Sure, you can now fly over large gaps or spikes or lava instead of jumping from platform to platform, but, that's about all mellow mode does in the "easier" department.

Yoshi - sporting their wings!

Mellow Mode doesn't make it much easier, it just makes it less frustrating. It does exactly what it says it will do: make the game more mellow. Great for gamers who just want to boot up the game for a relaxing level of Yoshi, great for 10-year-old little sisters who've never played a Yoshi game before in their lives, great for parents who have no idea what they're doing and aren't that good with video games to begin with. (No offense, Mom and Dad!)

Plus: you know that annoying "HHHRRNRNNNGGGGG" sound Yoshi makes when they flutter jump? Mellow Mode removes it, replace with a more cheerful "bum, ba dum" humming sounds to go along with the mellowness of flight.  What a relief!


The badges are what might make the game seem "too easy" to some. But, here's the thing: if you're having a lot of trouble in a world where there's literally no ground, and you have to jump from platform to platform, there's a badge called "Fall into a Pit? No problem!" - it lets you immediately bounce back out of a pit once you fall into it.

When Yoshi wants to go fast, they
turn their feet into wheels to
pick up speed!

There's a badge that makes you completely resistant against fire and lava. Sure, that makes a lava level "too easy", but when you're there just to have fun, what's it matter? Laughing 'til your sides hurt because you bounce right off a giant fire enemy without taking damage is a lot more valuable than just beating the level through "traditional" means. The whole point of video games is to just have fun, isn't it?

There are a lot of other badges, too. There's one that makes your yarn balls bigger (helpful, kinda), one that makes you ground pounds stronger (I don't even know what the point is??), the option to give yourself unlimited watermelon seeds, fire breath, or ice breath. COOL. But, annoying, when you need to unravel a wall and first need to empty your mouth of watermelon seeds. And then, accidentally eat the watermelon again while trying to get Yoshi's tongue to latch onto the wall. Sigh.


There's also a cool multi-player mode!

Sit down with a friend (or, aforementioned little sister) and work through the level side by side! Sometimes finding hidden items becomes easier! And, sometimes, the camera only follows your little sister as she hangs back in safety and won't follow you as you actually continue the level. It's still a lot of fun, though!!

Red Yoshi eating their Green friend.

You can even eat your friend's Yoshi, and turn them into a yarnball, just like you would an enemy!

What's the point? Well, you can throw them at enemies, use them when you're out of regular yarnballs, or carry them along through a dangerous part of the level. Or, y'know, just mess with them.


The game's also got some really great music!! Every song---or most every---is as chill and relaxed as the rest of the game, some even sporting acoustic guitar for extra feel-good vibes. None of the music was, admittedly, super noticeable, but then there's the snow level music!

It's perfect! It's cute!! It's the exact sort of sound I'd expect to accompany a snow level, and starting up World 5 to be greeted by this music is probably one of the top highlights of my play through this game! Every song that goes with a snow level is really good and an absolute joy to listen to.

Finally, we have multiple Yoshi colors!

Fans of Yoshi's Island will remember you got a different colored Yoshi for each level. Fans of Yoshi's Story will remember choosing a Yoshi color to play through the level with---and if you were younger, crying when they got captured because that was your favorite Yoshi and now you have to use one of a much lamer color.

Anyway! Yoshi's Woolly World has different colored Yoshis much like Yoshi's Story does. You can select a different one to play at any time! While working through the levels, you collect Wonder Wool, and when you collect all five from each level, it gives you a new Yoshi!

There's a lot of cool colors and different designs, and even if some look a little funny (like, uh, the Shy Guy Yoshi...??) most of them are super cool or super adorable.

Here's a few of my favorites!

And, that's all I have to say about Yoshi's Woolly World!

In sum: It's a great, chill, feel good game that's perfect for when you kind of want to kick back and relax and take a breather with a video game. It's super fun, and I really love it.