Yoshi's Woolly World is a side-scrolling platformer video game developed by Good-Feel and published by Nintendo for the Wii U. The game is the seventh main entry in the Yoshi series of games, the first home console title in the series since 1997's Yoshi's Story, as well as the spiritual successor to 2010's Kirby's Epic Yarn. Dec 11, 2016 Once you've defeated all twelve bosses in the Boss Tent, cleared World ★-S and gathered all the collectibles from there, unlocked all the enemies and music for the Scrapbook Theater, and completely filled the Yoshi Hut, then you will have accomplished everything there is to do on Craft Island-congratulations!

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Yoshi's Woolly World Wonderful World Of Wool Blanket

Yoshi's Woolly World is a platform game in the Yoshi's Island series for the Wii U, developed by Good-Feel and starring Yoshi. Surprisingly, it's also the first home console Yoshi game since Yoshi's Story (for the Nintendo 64) in 1997. Its gameplay is highly reminiscent of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Story, but the game is also a spiritual successor to Kirby's Epic Yarn, a Good-Feel game for the Wii that shares the arts-and-crafts aesthetic.

Baby Bowser, up to his nasty tricks again, has ordered Kamek to transform the Yoshis into inanimate Wonder Wool and scatter them across the land. It's up to Yoshi (and Red Yoshi, if you’re playing co-op ^note ) to journey across gorgeous landscapes made of cloth and yarn and retrieve the Wonder Wool. Several classic elements from Yoshi's previous adventures return, such as Chomp Rocks, Shy Guys, Huffin' Puffins, and clouds that burst open and spill goodies if Yoshi shoots a projectile at them. Instead of turning enemies into eggs, Yoshi can swallow bits of yarn from the environment to turn them into yarn balls. Yarn balls have multiple purposes; they can be used to uncover secrets, 'knit' new platforms, and tangle up enemies to expose them for a good jump attack.

In your journey, you’re offered two modes for play: Classic Mode and Mellow Mode. In Classic Mode, you play through yarn-filled worlds as you would a typical platformer, collecting Wonder Wool, beads, and other goodies along the way. Mellow Mode is similar, but allows you to play as Winged Yoshi. Winged Yoshi can indefinitely flutter, allowing casual players to breeze their way through tougher stages. Either mode can be accessed at any time while the game is paused.

The game hit store shelves (and the Wii U eShop) in the second half of 2015, with a Japanese release on July 16th, a North American release on October 16th, a European release on June 26th, and an Australian release on June 25th. Watch the trailer here. amiibo functionality is also included; the game is compatible with Yoshi's figurines as well as a set of unique plush doll amiibo. Scanning these figures will allow you to create another Yoshi, which acts similarly to a second player. In addition, all other amiibo (except the Pokémon ones) can be scanned in to unlock themed patterns for Yoshi based on that character.

A 3DS version of the game named Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World was announced on September 1, 2016 for release on February 2, 2017. This version includes new exclusive levels with Poochy along with the ability to summon Poochy-Pups to help out in a stage and find hidden secrets. This version also features creating custom designs for Yoshi, and Yoshi Theater which features 30 stop-motion shorts starring Yoshi and his buddy Poochy. The game is also bundled with a new yarn Poochy amiibo. A sequel for Nintendo Switch featuring a more general arts-and-crafts aesthetic, Yoshi's Crafted World, was later announced at E3 2017.

Yoshi's Woolly World Online Game

Tropes:

• 2½D: The game uses 3D graphics, but stays on a 2D plane outside of the hub-world.
• Adorable Evil Minions: Everything you can kill in this game is adorable to some extent, thanks to the yarn aesthetic. Even the bosses.
• Advancing Boss of Doom: World 4-S consists of you being chased the entire way by Naval Piranha. Touching its thorns or being eaten results in instant death, so have fun with that.
• All Cloth Unravels: Yoshi can use his tongue to tug on loose threads and radically alter his environment. Inversely, he can use his yarn balls to 'knit' additional platforms onto the stage, to climb sheer cliffs for example. Also, tugging on loose threads is how you unravel Burt the Bashful's pants this time.
• And Your Reward Is Clothes:
  • Collecting all of the Wonder Wool in a stage will unlock a uniquely-patterned Yoshi to play as.
  • Using an amiibo will give you a pattern based on the figure that was scanned in, as well, although some amiibo^note only give you a generic pattern, Yarn Yoshi wearing an amiibo t-shirt.
  • Defeating groups of four bosses in the Boss Tent unlocks a Bronze, Silver and then Gold Yoshi.
  • Getting all the Wonder Wool in the Secret Level unlocks a Shiny Platinum Yoshi.
• Anti-Frustration Features: Flowers, Wonder Wool, heart count, and Miiverse Stamps only need to be collected once and stay unlocked for good once you finish a course with them in your possession, making 100% Completion less frustrating. In previous games, all items had to be collected in one run to count for completion. Also, Poochy can even fetch some of the Flowers for you! Good boy!
• Art Shift:
  • Design for the game varied wildly in production. The first idea was a sequin Yoshi, followed by a yarn outline form. Then this was changed so Yoshi switches between two forms, a yarn outline form and a full 3D model when he eats an enemy that glows green. The final version of the game has everything perpetually in fully knitted 3D models.
  • A Dummied Outtest level involves a small Yoshi made of yarn running across a non-yarn Japanese girl's room.
• Ascended Extra: Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World gives Yoshi's faithful friend top billing.
• Award-Bait Song: The song that plays in the final part of the Wonderful World of Wool is a lyricless example. It starts off soothing, it has 'sparkle synth,' it shows up at the very end of the game, is feel-goody, and it gets more triumphant near the end.
• Badass Adorable: Yoshi's even more of one than usual, being a crochet doll and all.
• Berserk Button: Don't steal Poochy's strawberry!
• Big Bad: Unsurprisingly, Baby Bowser is the villain again, with Kamek being the antagonist for most of the story.
• Big Boo's Haunt: 4-6 and 6-5 take place in a haunted house.
• Black Bead Eyes: Most apparently on Poochy, whose eyes are actually beads.
• Black Eyes of Crazy: The Spooky Yoshi skin, with white irises and black sclera.
• Book-Ends: The final area of the final level is an orange field of flowers that looks very similar to the first area from the first level.
• Boss Rush: The Boss Tent, where all bosses are sped up. The bosses can be fought at will, however.
• Bottomless Pit Rescue Service: The 'Fall into a pit? No problem!' Power Badge. it makes every pit in the game bounce Yoshi back upwards if he falls into one.
• Brutal Bonus Level: It wouldn't be a Yoshi game without them. In this case, they're the S levels, unlocked by obtaining every flower in each level. None of them have checkpoints.
  • 3-S: Woollet Bill's Last Ride. It is an Auto-Scrolling Level in the clouds, where a single Woollet Bill leaves a trail of clouds you must run alongside to reach the end, which moves very fast. In addition you have to watch out for endless hazards and keep a good supply of Yarn Balls to collect the 10 main collectables (5 flowers and 5 wonder wools) of the stage. Fall, get crushed, or accidentally kill the Woollet Bill? You're forced to die and start the entire level over, losing everything you grabbed in your previous run. And like the other secret levels, it has no checkpoints. Good Luck.
  • 4-S: Naval Piranha 2: Now It's Personal!: While it may not be as tedious as Woollet Bill's Last Ride since the player doesn't have to worry about killing the only thing allowing them to progress, it's yet another Auto-Scrolling Level, this time with an Advancing Boss of Doom continuously advancing and forcing the player ahead, while there are plenty of Piranha Plants serving as obstacles, with spiky red vines everywhere.
  • The crowning achievement of this trope goes to Star-S: Wonderful World of Wool: An All the Worlds Are a StageMarathon Level with once again not a checkpoint in sight. While the secrets aren't too hard to find (and considering how gargantuan this stage is, you'll very likely want to scoop them all up in your first run), the massive number of Piranha Plants and other instant-kill hazards that infest the stage will make short work of you, even if you equip Double Yoshi or use a power-up patch to make yourself immune to bottomless pits or fire/lava. What's that, Piranha Plants killed you in the World 5 section? Back to the World 1 section!
• The Bus Came Back: Poochy for one, as well as Burt the Bashful and Naval Piranha serving as boss fights (albeit with new attacks).
• Butt-Monkey: Yoshi in the 3DS shorts often gets on the receiving end of several mishaps, such as getting stuck inside a doughnut after trying to go through it.
• Celebrity Paradox: In the 3DS version, the last short involves Yoshi and Poochy opening up a 3DS that runs Poochy and Yoshi's Woolly World on it.
• Checkpoint Starvation: None of the Secret levels have any checkpoints. If you die in one after grabbing some goodies without finishing the level, you have to do it all over again.
• Console Cameo:
  • The Wonder Wool in the six secret stages unlock Yoshi themed after Nintendo's consoles in descending order, starting with a pattern themed after the Wii U and ending with a pattern themed after the Nintendo Entertainment System.
  • The 3DS version has the same console (Along with New 3DS and 2DS models) appear in some of the stop-motion shorts.
• Continuity Nod:
  • World 6-6 is called 'Feel Fuzzy, Get Clingy', a pretty obvious reference to the infamous Yoshi's Island level, 'Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy'.
  • Naval Piranha returns as the boss of World 4-8, and its castle stage bears many similarities to 3-8 from the original game. You can even throw a yarn ball at it before the fight begins like in the original game, though this won't kill it prematurely.
  • While references to Yoshi's Island DS are incredibly scarce, one of the possible bonus levels includes Bouncies from that game.
• Co-Op Multiplayer: Supported with up to two players; both players can eat and turn one another into balls of yarn. You can actually toss your partner in any direction to help them reach hidden areas, but it also lends itself to griefing. The functionality is replicated with Yoshi amiibo, which lets you control two Yoshi's simultaneously.
• Cruelty Is the Only Option: 3-5: Fluffin' Puffin Babysitting has this in spades. The central mechanic of the level and the only way to traverse it revolves around picking up and throwing small baby puffins that leave behind cloud trails that you can walk across. You get the baby puffins by stealing them from a nest or even worse, killing a mother puffin who's leading her children across the level.
• Cumulonemesis: The Fluffy Phantoms are enemy clouds that blow gusts of wind at Yoshi. While they can make Yoshi's carpets fly, they often try to blow him towards Bottomless Pits...
• A Day in the Limelight: Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World is this for Poochy.
• Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: Like Rayman Origins, you just respawn at the last checkpoint after dying. Though if you do die, any collectables you acquired since hitting a checkpoint is taken from your inventory and placed back on the stage for you to collect all over again. And in the Secret levels, there are no checkpoints.
• Death Mountain: World 6, as per tradition.
• Early-Bird Cameo: A stage based off this game is featured in the earlier release Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
• Easter Egg: Naval Piranha returns, and you can pull off the same 'quick-kill' trick from the original Yoshi's Island. However, since Piranha Plants cannot be defeated by yarn balls, all it does is slightly alter the preceding cutscene.
• Excuse Plot: No grand setup here. Kamek just says 'Hey, li'l Yoshis, I need to turn you all into yarn!' and then you're off to the races.
• Extreme Omnivore: Yoshi, naturally.
• Feed It a Bomb: How you deal with Naval Piranha this time around.
• Goomba Stomp: This ability returns from the main Yoshi series. Interestingly enough, Piranha Plants are now susceptible to this, as long as Yoshi tangles them up in yarn first.
• Gimmick Level:
  • 2-S involves solving puzzles, sometimes by manipulating enemy behavior, instead of a straightforward romp through the level.
  • 4-5 and 5-S have Yoshi cling on curtains that zoom along tracks zip-line style.
  • 4-6 features curtains that reveal otherwise intangible blocks when the curtains pass over them. They also turn enemies into invincible horrors while in their field.
  • 6-6 features Velcro-covered conveyor belts that Yoshi sticks to.
• Green Hill Zone: World 1.
• Guide Dang It!: Each level has thirty key collectables: 5 Smiley Flowers, 5 Wonder Wools, and 20 Miiverse Stamps. Some are placed inside well-hidden Winged Clouds that require the player to touch its location with either themselves or a ball of yarn (either spat or thrown) to reveal its location, while others require solving puzzles, pushing walls, or phasing through fake walls New Super Mario Bros. Wii style. The Miiverse Stamps aren't helped by looking almost identical to regular gems.
• Human Resources: The entire reason the Yoshis were turned to yarn was so Baby Bowser could use them as building materials for a new castle. Yoshi can do the same to create new platforms, warp pipes, and presents.
• Idle Animation: As with other Yoshi games, Yoshi has various animations if you let him stand still for a bit. This time, Poochy gets in on it, too: He'll sit down and spin in place occasionally. Yoshi's idle stance will change to a sad, worn-down expression if he's on his last hit point, and he'll be quivering and looking around nervously if he's in one of the game's Big Boo's Haunt levels.
• Jungle Japes: World 4
• Last Chance Hit Point: Yoshi has one, shown by a cracked, flashing heart that remains after the life meter vanishes.
• Level Ate: World 3.
• Life Meter: Unlike Kirby's Epic Yarn, the Yoshis can take damage and die here, though Death Is a Slap on the Wrist.
• Literally Shattered Lives: A unique version of this pops up in the game: Kamek uses his magic to break the majority of the Yoshi population into Wonder Wool, with each Yoshi being broken into 5 pieces. They can be restored after gathering the 5 respective pieces of Wonder Wool in each level. Many enemies also fall apart into loose string when defeated.
• Mercy Mode: In Mellow Mode, you play as a Yoshi equipped with New Island's Flutter Wings. Yoshi also starts out with a full 20 hearts, and heart-giving clouds release ten hearts instead of five. Additionally, dying enough times with these wings will prompt a rainbow egg to fly in the instant Yoshi respawns; touching it gives permanent invincibility to enemy damage. However, you can still die due to the effects of spikes, bottomless pits, being crushed in any manner, and you can still be knocked-back. Lest we forget the Power Badges, such as immunity to lava and fire or damage, which can snap the difficulty of stages regarding those hazards in half.
  • As if the game wasn't easy enough for a player already, in the 3DS's version of Mellow Mode, you are given 3 Poochy-Pups that tell you where secrets are located, and can be used as ammunition in place of yarn balls and come back to you like a homing pigeon after being thrown. They can also take out enemies.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Scanning in a regular Yoshi amiibo unlocks a plastic, glossy Yoshi costume◊. It really sticks out compared to the yarn-knitted style of the rest of the game.
• Oddly Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: Parodied with World 4-S, titled 'Naval Piranha 2: Now It's Personal!'
• Palette Swap: All of the unlockable patterns are functionally identical, and vary solely in color and texture.
• Precious Puppy: Besides Poochy, who even appears on the cover, there’s also Bunson the Hot Dog, who's at least ten times larger than Yoshi himself but still a puppy.
• Projectile Pocketing: Yarn balls can be used to collect gems and flowers.
• Recurring Boss: Both Big Montgomery and Knot-Wing the Koopa appear as bosses three times each, with the former being found in every odd-numbered world, and the latter in every even-numbered world.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter:
  • Yoshi himself becomes this due to his woolly redesign. Just check out his yarn amiibo!◊ The alternate patterns have the potential to make Yoshi even cuter, as well.
  • Poochy is also at his cutest in this game, complete with beady little eyes.
  • The mini versions of Bunson the Hot Dog are deadly but also possibly the most adorable enemy in the game.
  • There's a type of enemy that is literally a round baby chick, who groups with others to disguise themselves as a (still cute) large chicken head. A enlarged one is the 3rd boss, Miss Cluck the Insincere, and it's still adorable.
• Running Gag: Once again, Burt the Bashful is a boss, and he's once again beaten by removing his pants.
• Scenery Porn: Definitely one of the most visually gorgeous Nintendo games to date, as it expands on the Kirby's Epic Yarn art style by adding a dynamic camera and fully rendered 3D environments. Even the Useful Notes/3DS version looks gorgeous, especially with it's clever use of 3D foreground objects in certain stages. The improved hardware power of the Wii U definitely helps.
• Shifting Sand Land: World 2.
• Slippy-Slidey Ice World: World 5
• Shout-Out:
  • Yoshi's biplane transformation is named the Sky Pop.
  • The sound effect used when Yoshi ground-pounds a boss is the same exact one used when Wario damaged a boss in Wario Land: Shake It!. Fitting, as both games were developed by Good-Feel.
  • One level is named 'Rollin' Down The River'
  • One of the shorts in the 3DS version has Yoshi and Poochy play the original Super Mario Bros. on a New 3DS, according to the sound effects. They somehow manage to get a Game Over on the first stage after already collecting a 1-Up.
• Snowy Sleigh Bells: Both A Little Light Snowfall and the frozen World 5's map theme both are rythmed by jingle bells.
• Spiritual Successor: To both Kirby's Epic Yarn and Yoshi's Story. Also plays very much like the original Yoshi's Island despite not having 'island' in the name.
• The Unfought: Kamek, as usual. At least not directly, but he will assist some of Baby Bowser's attacks in the final battle. He also swoops in for aerial attacks in World 6-7, and this time you can smack him off his broom if you so desire.
• Timed Mission: The transformation sequences. Let the timer run out and you're booted back to the entrance to try again, with any Wools/Flowers/Miiverse Stamps you may have collected being placed back.
• Unexpected Shmup Level: The Sky Pop Yoshi segments in 3-7 and 6-7.
• Variable Mix: Snifberg the Unfeeling's battle music is comprised of small snippets that play depending on his current actions or state of vulnerability.
• Video Game Cruelty Potential: You can make life miserable for your partner during co-op, such as swallowing your teammate and then spitting them into a Bottomless Pit.
• Wheel o' Feet: Yoshi’s feet literally turn into little wheels when he runs (and into a propeller when he hovers, like an upside-down Snoopy). This is also reminiscent of Kirby's Epic Yarn, as Kirby transforms into a car if he runs.
• Windmill Scenery: You can hazard a wild guess on what profusely appear in the level entitled 'Knitty-Knotty Windmill Hill'.

Yoshi's Woolly World Guide

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

Yoshi's Woolly World Shorts

• 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.