Yoshi’s Crafted World
The Yoshi’s island sequel we’ve all been waiting for
We’re glad that games like Yoshi’s Crafted World exist, because they prove that you don’t need to have incredibly powerful hardware in order to create amazinglooking games. Building on the yarnbased aesthetics that featured in Yoshi’s Woolly World, Good-feel has doubled down for its follow-up, delivering a exquisite world filled with an assortment of hand-crafted environments that look like they’ve been assembled by Neil Buchanan on an Art Attack special.
The cleverly assembled household items aren’t just there to look nice however, as they’ve been created with loving purpose. Rolls of paper unwind to create new paths; magnets can be manipulated to either open doors or stick to nearby tin cans to create new access platforms; balloons act as launch pads to reach otherwise inaccessible areas, while cardboard can become deadly, crushing unwary enemies. This ingenuity extends throughout Yoshi’s Crafted World ensuring that there’s always something new to discover and always a reason to revisit a stage to ensure that you’ve found every last item.
This sense of discovery is driven home by Yoshi’s new ability to now shoot eggs into and out of the screen. Good-feel’s world is full of cardboard bushes, hanging ornaments and sneakily placed Shy Guys, and your enhanced egg throwing skills allow you to poke and prod the beautiful environments to your heart’s content. It feels like there’s always something to do in Crafted World, always something to see and like the original Yoshi’s Island it feels like a believable solidly crafted world that revels in its unique aesthetic and runs with it.
Of course, long-term fans of Yoshi will be well aware of his penchant for collecting and it’s no different in Crafted World. Each stage has several flowers to collect, with additional flowers being granted for collecting 100 gold coins, 20 red coins and finishing a stage with a full complement of health. It’s worth noting, however, that the clever level design means that this is a far harder task that it ever was in more recent Yoshi games.
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Some of the flowers and other items are well hidden and you’ll have to look hard at each area you visit as it’s not always obvious where secrets lie. There’s a constant sense of discovery with Crafted World that has been missing from the likes of Yoshi’s Story and his numerous handheld adventures and it’s a delight to see it well implemented here.
Collecting is important, too, as new areas are typically obstructed by a gatekeeper which needs a certain set of flowers before you can continue. Luckily, returning to levels is rarely a chore because a flipped version of each world exists where you must seek out three cute poochies that sneakily hide themselves away. You’ll get a flower for each one found, as well as an additional bonus flower if you collect all three within a set time limit. It’s a neat touch and ensures that previously completed levels still hold elements of surprise to them.
Another surprise about Crafted World is just how challenging it is. Sure, the first few stages are a deceptively easy breeze to walk through, but as Yoshi continues his quest for a bunch of special Dream Gems the difficulty ramps up sufficiently. If you thought Crafted World was a game for youngsters you may want to reconsider. That’s not to say Crafted World is Dark Souls tough, but you’ll need to have considerable skills if you plan to complete the later levels without losing any health along the way.
While we’re discussing difficulty it’s worth mentioning Crafted World’s bosses. Kamek’s crafted creations are slowly assembled piece-by-piece and then jump into action. They’re a mixed bunch, too with some of them being callbacks to earlier mayors from the series, while others will test your skills and once again highlight Crafted World‘s challenge compared to more recent games in the series. We love how the attack patterns of each boss are every bit as creative as how they are assembled.
The inventive bosses and clever level design highlight the sheer level of competence that Good-feel now has with the franchise, and it’s abundant in the sheer variety of stages that the team has created for the lovable dinosaur. While many of the levels are fairly conventional platformers (albeit in an unconventional setting) Good-feel has clearly been paying attention to the mainline Mario games as it’s peppered its numerous worlds with fun diversions that range from riding along the backs of aeroplanes, to commandeering a gigantic cardboard Yoshi, to taking part in a high-speed race that requires you to stay in direct sunlight to power your vehicle. Good-feel will rarely use the same idea more than once, meaning there’s always that aforementioned discovery of stumbling across something new.
It may have taking nearly a quarter of a century, but Nintendo finally has a Yoshi game that captures the essence of Yoshi’s Island and while it doesn’t eclipse it, it’s the best Yoshi game we’ve played since the original SNES classic. It might lack the creativity and inventiveness of Nintendo’s best 3D Mario games, but Crafted World never ceases to delight.
In a nutshell
In rebuilding Yoshi from the ground up, Good-feel has discovered the magical formula that best mimics the original SNES hit. The end result is a highly entertaining platformer. >> score 85%