Yoshi's Woolly World (Available now on the Wii U, 3DS and in my veins! My bloodstream is woolly soft!)

[Doctor MK]

As for the contents of the video...

 

It's not the worst incarnation of that battle, but that cliché is absolutely exhausted now.  Hell, we've had Giant Baby Bowser final bosses in a Yoshi game now

twice in the space of two years.  And they still haven't exceeded the original Yoshi's Island, and frankly never will.  Yoshi pretty desperately needs some new blood if it's going to continue to be a subfranchise.

[Salamander]

Yeah, it at least looks to be the most unique and different spin on the Giant Baby Bowser boss fight we've had since the original... but as you say, the very fact that it's 

still a Giant Baby Bowser boss fight makes it utterly predictable and it's stuff like this that's really holding Yoshi back from taking on much of an identity of its own. It's been over 20 years since Yoshi's Island and yet we're still constantly throwing back to it as if they're scared of ever moving on from it - I'm all for nostalgia and tradition, but when you've barely even attempted to do anything different in the first place... I mean, at least with Super Mario, you know it's going to be Bowser at the end but you never know quite how the fight will play it - will he shoot fire? Will he butt stomp you? Will he be in his clown copter? With Yoshi, you know it's always going to be throwing eggs at a magic-zapped Baby Bowser in some form or another.

 

The only saving grace is that there's no time-travelling Giant King Bowser on this occasion. Seriously, that was just dumb.

[Balding Spider]

For those interested... here's the game's final boss battle!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo2-7-R59i8

 

I BET YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHO IT IS

 

/sarcasm

 

Shocking absolutely no one if they spotted him in the box art. Oh and he still sounds like Bowser Jr. for some reason.

[Doctor MK]

Shocking absolutely no one if they spotted him in the box art. Oh and he still sounds like Bowser Jr. for some reason.

 

Oh I'm not surprised that it's Baby Bowser, that was a given right from when Kamek was revealed to be involved in the story, and then of course he's on the box art too as you say. I'm just underwhelmed that it's 

Giant Baby Bowser again. Why can't we have something a bit more inventive?

 

Just look at the final boss of Yoshi's Story, for instance:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIgYGukFFHE

 

Sure, it's not the most interesting final boss in the world, and yes it's Baby Bowser again, but it's at least different. At this point we know that a Giant Baby Bowser boss fight at the end of a Yoshi game is just part of the furniture, which is not what a final boss should be. That's why I enjoy the final bosses from Super Mario 3D Land and 3D World so much in comparison to most other Bowser fights - it's the same old enemy but it throws something brand new and unexpected into the mix to catch you by surprise and really get you into the zone. Here, you know precisely what's going to happen next, and even without playing the game I can completely agree with what reviewers are saying about relying too heavily on old ideas and not forging its own path.

 

Anyway... Yoshi's Woolly World is out today in Europe, huzzah! I'll be picking up my copy later. To all the Americans out there who wont be able to get their hands on it for another four months... I feel for you.

[sonicgirl313]

Shocking absolutely no one if they spotted him in the box art. Oh and he still sounds like Bowser Jr. for some reason.

Well it makes sense for Baby Bowser to sound like Bowser Jr since Bowser Jr is Bowser's son. Though I admit that I understand why Nintendo redesigned Baby Bowser to look like his son, it still causes some bad confusion. Heck when I was younger and me and my brother saw the cover for Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, we thought it was Bowser Jr since the only image we had of Baby Bowser at the time was Yoshi Island DS and I believe they used Baby Bowser's old design in that game.

[Tara]

Surely, someone other than Baby Bowser would want Yoshi dead.  I'd love if they made a new villain just for the series, as Baby Bowser himself is sort of a tiring concept, let alone him growing giant.  Still looks fun and exciting, but really, there's so much potential for cute and fun plots in the Yoshi universe.  There's no need to recycle the same elements several times over.

[JezMM]

About half way through World 3 so figured I’d type some thoughts.

 

So far I’m enjoying this game.  Very chilled out.  The visuals are super great, I think my fave thing so far is the way Yoshi’s nose squishes up against walls when you walk right next to them, and the lava scarves rolling off the top of the volcano mountains.  I also love that (with a few rare exceptions), everything has been carefully crafted to upkeep the illusion of real materials.  It’s very very rare that objects are allowed to pass through each other in any way, like, pipes emerging out of a rippling floor made of cloth have holes in that cloth to poke through rather than the models being allowed to just occupy the same space in a fashion that would look fine with typical visuals.  The gameplay is super fun, though it’s much more Yoshi’s Island than it is Yoshi’s Story despite the visual style.  Amazing just how much more fun Yoshi gameplay is without Baby Mario though, it’s been too long.  If I had to make one critique, it’s that the secrets are a little repetitive though.  After two worlds, finding hidden cloud bubbles, spotting cutaway secret rooms or pushing squishy scenery/tongue-ing string bows has almost become formulaic (though the ones that lead to little challenge rooms are fine, those remain creative throughout).  Sometimes it feels like a slight chore to experience every screen at a snail’s pace as you explore every little crevice.

 

The music is super good too.  I didn’t actually have all that high hopes since the track featured in Smash Bros was so cutesey typical “modern Yoshi” fair like Yoshi’s Island DS/New, but beyond that is a ton of super relaxing/pleasant country acoustic songs as well as electronic, jazz, rock, and more video gamey stuff.  Huge amount of variety, my only criticism is that every Fortress and Castle uses the same two themes respectively, which feels a bit dull when after the 15 non-fortress/castle stages I’ve played so far, only one has re-used a song from an earlier stage.

 

Only thing that perplexes me is how the heck you unlock normal Yoshi colours beyond light blue and red, if they even exist in the game.  Kind of funny if you need the non-Wooly Yoshi amiibo to unlock Green Yoshi, but it’s my fave, dark blue Yoshi, I’m wanting. =C

[Doctor MK]

Only thing that perplexes me is how the heck you unlock normal Yoshi colours beyond light blue and red, if they even exist in the game.  Kind of funny if you need the non-Wooly Yoshi amiibo to unlock Green Yoshi, but it’s my fave, dark blue Yoshi, I’m wanting. =C

[Sean]

*groans*

[Tara]

*groans*

[Sean]

I'm American

EDIT: Oh, right, if you were taking issue with it being a one-word post, then sorry

[Komodin]

I still don't understand why they're releasing this game in October for North America. Really, what other games do they have to worry about competing against now versus in Autumn?

[jords]

Now would be a perfect time to get this game. Im probably gonna loose interest in this game by the time it comes out because I'll probably be hooked on Mario maker and other games coming out in the fall.

I wasn't sure about buying but I would give it a shot right now because I'm insanely bored without a new game right now. Although I feel like this game won't help much. Idk. I'll have to see if I'll get it or not when its out.

[Stritix]

This game looks decent. I may pick it up. I'm undecided.

[JezMM]

So I finished the game today, as far as playing every level is concerned (haven't 100%'d it since only Flowers are required to see every stage).  I highly recommend collecting all the flowers to see the secret stages as they're super fun (and DAMN hard if you want a challenge in classic mode).

 

Overall I had a great time with it.  Though coming in here and reading the discussion, I'm surprised that pretty much all the post-launch discussion has just been

ranting about the final boss.  Such a tiny part of the game.  Like you guys I did find it disappointing but more because it was a little unsatisfying, just hitting all the floating wool spools and then... you're done.  I thought there'd be one more phase or a fancy final attack, and after an otherwise stellar soundtrack, the final boss theme was a little disappointing.

My only criticisms is the checkpoints do feel a little few and far between if you're collecting everything, since you lose everything you grabbed since each checkpoint and it can be a pain to recomplete the same puzzles and side areas over and over because you're stuck on a tricky part of the main path that comes after them etc.

 

But yeah generally speaking it was a fun adventure, kind of felt reminscent of Nintendo's N64 games for me for some reason but that was prolly just the aesthetic bringing back Yoshi's Story vibes.  Anyway, gonna listen to the soundtrack forever now.

[Your Vest Friend]

I have no idea how I managed to 100% 4-5 on my first run. I spent half the time internally screaming and hovering for dear life.

Just beat World 4 (not 100%. Aiming for all flowers and yarns, stamp coins are a lesser priority and fuck the health thing).

[Forte-Metallix]

So I finished the game today, as far as playing every level is concerned (haven't 100%'d it since only Flowers are required to see every stage).  I highly recommend collecting all the flowers to see the secret stages as they're super fun (and DAMN hard if you want a challenge in classic mode).

 

Overall I had a great time with it.  Though coming in here and reading the discussion, I'm surprised that pretty much all the post-launch discussion has just been

Hidden Content

My only criticisms is the checkpoints do feel a little few and far between if you're collecting everything, since you lose everything you grabbed since each checkpoint and it can be a pain to recomplete the same puzzles and side areas over and over because you're stuck on a tricky part of the main path that comes after them etc.

 

But yeah generally speaking it was a fun adventure, kind of felt reminscent of Nintendo's N64 games for me for some reason but that was prolly just the aesthetic bringing back Yoshi's Story vibes.  Anyway, gonna listen to the soundtrack forever now.

So would you say it's the best Yoshi game since the original YI?

 

It burns me up having to wait until October for this! But what's worse is that the light-blue Yarn Yoshi amiibo is gonna be super-hard to find!

[JezMM]

 

So would you say it's the best Yoshi game since the original YI?

 

It burns me up having to wait until October for this! But what's worse is that the light-blue Yarn Yoshi amiibo is gonna be super-hard to find!

I would say it's my favourite Yoshi game, beating even the nostalgia factor of Yoshi's Story for me.  (I'm not a diehard Yoshi's Island fan like many, I played it through a few times on GBA but in my adult life of rarely having time to replay old games, it's low LOOOOW down on my priorities to play again someday).  Everything is just really polished, the modern Mario standard of every level having a unique idea is in tact, the soundtrack and presentation is beyond stellar, and I found the collecting to be more rewarding since every collectable counts towards a specific reward (more levels, yoshis and stamps).  Also I just prefer the more traditional health system even if the Baby Mario stuff is nice and unique.  I also generally find Yoshis more pleasing to play as when they're standing up straight and solo rather than playing saddle to Baby Mario.

 

 

The only flaws I'd say is that the progression and game setup is completely standardised at this point so the occasional weaker level does cause you to lose steam in your interest in the game for prolonged periods.  The game can also be surprisingly punishing when you die due to the aforementioned checkpoint issue, however finally a main series Nintendo platformer has been bold enough to do away with the extra lives system with no loss of entertainment whatsoever, good on them.

Edited July 24, 2015 by JezMM

[Thrippa]

Got the game Friday and played a bit yesterday.  So far I'm having a grand time, but I think my favorite subtle note is that if you use the Sonic amiibo to unlock Sonic Yoshi, after a few steps his feet unravel and reravel into the spinning wheel.  Also, I love that Olimar Yoshi has pikmin faces peeking out of his neck scales.

[JezMM]

Got the game Friday and played a bit yesterday.  So far I'm having a grand time, but I think my favorite subtle note is that if you use the Sonic amiibo to unlock Sonic Yoshi, after a few steps his feet unravel and reravel into the spinning wheel.  Also, I love that Olimar Yoshi has pikmin faces peeking out of his neck scales.

I'm guessing you've only played as Sonic Yoshi, because that's just Yoshi's standard running animation in this game, just as his feet turn into propellor blades for fluttering, his feet turn into wheels for running.

[PC the Hedgehog]

I went to several stores, and the game is SOLD OUT in all of them. Crazy. Never thought I'd have trouble finding a flippin' YOSHI game in stores.

[JezMM]

Just a bump to say that the Nintendo 3DS version of this game is out now.  While I can't justify the price of double-dipping for the new features myself, I played the eShop demo today and it is really excellent.  Plays exactly like the Wii U version, I'm talking a 1:1 comparison, much like Smash Bros Wii U/3DS.  They also scaled the visuals down BEAUTIFULLY.  While I'm sure there's more than this, the only visual downgrade I NOTICED was that Yoshi's yarn balls are now 2D sprites, but it took me a while to do so.  All the little plush subtle movements of the world when you jump on things are still intact, and while the "fuzziness" around the woollen textures is gone, the screen resolution would be too small to see them anyway so it makes no difference.

If you didn't grab this game on Wii U due to... Wii U-ness, definitely take the opportunity to now.  I know we're all excited about the future and Switch, but this isn't a Nintendo game to skip over, honestly it's a kind of daring opinion but I think this is the best and most creative Yoshi game to date, better than the original Yoshi's Island even.