With Yoshi's Woolly World finally being released in the US, we are rerunning this Ars Technica UK review from June.

Game Details Developer: Good-Feel

Publisher: Nintendo

Platform: Wii U

Rating: E for Everyone

Release Date: June 26, 2015 (UK), Oct 16, 2015 (US)

Price: £29.99, $49.99

Links: Amazon | Official website Good-Feel: Nintendo: Wii U: E for EveryoneJune 26, 2015 (UK), Oct 16, 2015 (US): £29.99, $49.99

Don't let the cutesy visuals deceive you: Yoshi's Woolly World is as challenging a platformer as anything to have come from Nintendo. This is a game that unashamedly plays on nostalgia, almost tricking you into thinking that maybe, just maybe, there's not a lot new to see or do within its delightfully bright and fluffy world. And sure, some occasionally obtuse level design and frustrating checkpoints mean that it doesn't quite reach the glorious heights of its genre-defining forebears. But even with its problems, Yoshi's Woolly World is so cute, and so mechanically refined—in that way only Nintendo platformers can be—that it's so very hard not to be taken in by its charms.

And hey, who wouldn't be charmed by a small green dinosaur that squeaks like a puppy and eats and poops balls of wool? Yes, Yoshi's Woolly World is what the kids call "totes adorbs," a striking mass of billowing fabrics and fluffy wool that's been stitched together to create a bright and colourful world. This aesthetic isn't new to Nintendo, debuting in the Wii platformer Kirby's Epic Yarn, but here it's been refined, the HD power of the Wii U rendering each intricate thread with startling clarity. It's an absolute joy to look at, and the Yoshis themselves (yes, there's more than one of them) are unbearably cute, leaping around the screen with a yelp and a flutter of their tiny woolly legs.

But there is more to the game than just gorgeous graphics, even if that's the initial draw. Woolly World is your typical Nintendo platformer fare, a mass of puzzles, platforming challenges, and hidden collectibles strewn across some neatly designed levels. There's even something of a story too, albeit—in that classic Nintendo way—a paper-thin one. Craft Island, home to the woolly Yoshis, finds itself under attack by the evil series villain Kamek, who turns the Yoshis into bundles of wool. Unfortunately for Kamek, two of them escape and quickly set about to unravel his evil plans.

Fortunately, Woolly World doesn't rely on the story to drive you through its 48 levels. Instead, you're gradually introduced to Woolly World's 2.5D platforming charms. Early levels are simple platforming affairs where you leap around gobbling up enemies with Yoshi's long tongue, using them to lay balls of wool that you can fire back at other enemies to clear a path. You can stomp on their heads in a satisfying Mario-like fashion too—which, in the case of flying enemies, you'll need to do to get over some particularly tricky jumps during later levels—but you don't get any woolly balls in return.





















There are baskets that you can bash to release more wool—should you run out—which are carefully placed in areas where you're most likely to need them. Unfinished platforms and pipes can be knit back together to gain access to secret areas, while some enemies like the ever-present Lakitu that floats above the ground and fires projectiles from a cloud, can only be dispatched with a well-timed shot of wool. A simple automated aiming mechanism—where a dotted line automatically moves back and forth to show the angle of your shot—makes nailing those shots a breeze, even when you're leaping around like a madman trying to land that next critical jump.

Before long the challenges fly in thick and fast, pushing you to complete ever more difficult jumps, tackle enemies that can shield themselves from Yoshi's sticky tongue, and ride on the disappearing smoke trails of a speeding Bullet Bill. Later you're asked to solve simple puzzles like freeing giant woolly balls to roll and break down tough barriers and navigate complex arrangements of springs and traps in order to find the right path. The difficulty level ramps up something fierce from world three onwards, but it never feels unfair or unbalanced—the mechanics are simply too refined, and the levels too well designed for that.

What does feel unfair, however, is the checkpoint system, which is overly harsh. Huge tricky sections of a level are often served by only a single checkpoint, with a badly timed jump sending you back to replay all those sections again. Worse is that there's rarely a checkpoint before a boss, and replaying half the level just to have another crack at a boss gets very old, very quickly.

Fortunately, the bosses themselves are wonderful things, a classic three-hits-to-win battle mixed in with some Yoshi-centric powers and gorgeous character designs. A bird boss is a particular highlight, with Yoshi having to avoid its egg-shaped bombs and tug at a loose thread on its pants before stomping on the tiny yellow chick held within.

There are other nice touches, too. A level featuring a little woolly dog named Poochy (no, not that Poochie) is wonderfully designed, with the pup being used to solve puzzles and reach areas that Yoshi's too plump to squeeze into. It's a shame that Poochy isn't used more often, though. The bonus levels are another high point, which see Yoshi transforming into a speeding bike that harks back to the Nintendo classic Exitebike, as well as one that transforms him into a spaceship that fires glowing woolly rockets for some classic side-scrolling shoot-em-up action. Sure, these are hardly new ideas, and Woolly World rarely carves out its own unique path, but it's no less entertaining for it.

The same is true of playing local co-op mode, which is a rather basic affair, but the fact that you can swallow up your co-op buddy and spit him or her out again opens the game up to all sorts of hilarious trolling. If you were friends before you started playing, chances are you won't be when you're done.

Fortunately, if your friend does storm out in a huff, you can use one of Nintendo's gorgeously fluffy (and rarer than hen's teeth) Yarn Yoshi Amiibo to bring a computer-controlled co-op buddy into the action. He might not be of much help in actually completing the level, but at the very least you can gobble him up and spit him out at an enemy in an emergency. A selection of other Amiibo will work too, but they only add a new, character-themed Yoshi costume, rather than an AI partner.

No, Yoshi's Woolly World doesn't reinvent the platforming wheel, but it offers up an entertaining slice of nostalgia wrapped up in some irresistibly cute visuals and the tightest of mechanics. There are plenty of secrets to be discovered on every level too, and a whole host of collectibles that—while often frustratingly placed to the point that it's more dumb luck than skill that you find them—unlock even cuter and more colourful Yoshis for you to play as. For some, that will be enough. But rest assured, even if you're not swayed by the adorable design, Yoshi's Woolly World is a fun, skilful platformer that's a triumph of the imagination.

The good

Bright, colourful, and throughly adorable visuals

Tight, refined platforming

Fun and challenging boss battles

Later levels up the difficulty without feeling cheap

The bad

You're more likely to find collectibles via dumb luck rather than skill

Flimsy Amiibo functionality

The ugly

Slim amount of checkpoints will drive you loopy on more difficult levels

Verdict: This isn't Nintendo at the height of its powers, but it's hard not to be smitten with Yoshi's Woolly World's wonderful visuals and throughly entertaining platforming.