I've enjoy Nintendo's side-scrollers ever since playing Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo. Yoshi and Kirby have both featured their own unique spins on the genre. Kirby's Epic Yarn was one of my favorite side-scrollers I've ever played and I couldn't have been more excited when I saw Yoshi was going to get s similar treatment. Not only is the crafted art style a treat but the gameplay and level design is exactly what you'd expect from a first-party Nintendo title. This is quite a long game game with several factors that add to it's value.
The first thing that anyone will notice is the gorgeous art style. Having everything made of colorful yarn really brings the world to life. The environment and all it's inhabitants really pop. The layers help give a sense of depth to what is otherwise two-dimensional gameplay. The game is really quite adorable but don't let that fool you; Woolly World offers some fiendish challenges in it's bonus stages. The music doesn't quite jump out in the same way as the visuals. That said it is quite soothing and I may even claim enchanting. Overall, the music fits the relatively relaxing gameplay and helps maintain this title's chill atmosphere.
If you've ever played the classic Yoshi's Island you should have a pretty good idea what you're getting into. Yoshi's most important tool is his giant tongue. He can use his tongue to grab most enemies into his mouth. From their he can either spit them out or swallow them into yarn balls to use as projectiles. Once you get ready to throw an ball a cruiser appears to move up and down. You can throw at anytime or pause the cruiser in a particular position. You'll need to throw balls at enemies as well as clouds featuring question marks. Hitting the clouds will either offer a reward or open up new paths.
There is much to do within and in between each stage. Before you even select a stage you can buy a power-up that will provide a unique advantage for the entire level. In each level there are rewards for finding five flowers, five yarns bundles, and twenty highlighted gems. The yarn bundles unlock a different Yoshi to play as, the flowers help unlock bonus stages, and the gems unlock a gold Poochy Dash. Poochy is Yoshi's adorable doggy friend and he features his own auto-scrolling stages. There is only a handful of levels for Poochy but they mix things up and offer there own challenges to complete.
Although Yoshi's Woolly World didn't suck me in like other recent side-scrollers it was still enjoyable. Its impressive how long the game is and the content all feels quite polished. There is definitely a bit of repetition but generally each stage offers a fresh challenge. The main levels do get a bit difficult towards the end but most of the challenge in each stage comes simply from trying to get all the collectibles. The visuals were clearly a highlight of the experience but the gameplay was satisfying enough for me to finish the game. If you really miss those Nintendo classics you'll probably enjoy this but otherwise it will likely only appeal to a niche audience.