We had to wait a little longer than anticipated but this week, it’s finally happening; Yoshi makes his debut in a new game on Nintendo Switch! Yoshi’s Crafted World offers a classic Yoshi game in an extremely creative package. Wondering if this game could become your favorite platformer? Find out in the review!
The classic formula
When playing this game for the first time, nostalgia will immediately hit you right in the face. The introduction and initial levels offer the same traditional Yoshi formula we all came to love. This means you’ll move from the start of the level to the finish while collecting everything and while throwing eggs at everything that’s in your way, including enemies. All of Yoshi’s iconic moves are immediately playable. You can transform enemies into eggs, hover to land your jumps precisely, and perform a powerful drop right from the start. It’s great to see that Yoshi still handles like a charm and within minutes, you’ll be jumping around while egging everything. Never played a Yoshi game before? No need to worry, special blocks will explain everything if you hit them.
Staying true to the formula isn’t a bad thing in this game. The Yoshi games already proved that the formula works and it offers a challenge for a wide variety of gamers. Don’t be mistaken, Yoshi’s Crafted World isn’t a hard game to clear, but if you want to collect everything, you’ll need to work hard. Just like the previous games, Crafted World finds the perfect balance to offer a challenge for everybody. Thanks to this, it offers an amazing experience in co-op where a more veteran player can guide a newcomer to the wonderful world of Yoshi, and in this entry, the world is extra wonderful.
Beautifully crafted
Although the game follows a rather classic gameplay formula, the graphics are far from classic. In this game, everything is created using cardboard, resulting in an adorable scenery. Everything you see in the environment looks like something kids would create in elementary school when they are allowed to go all out with cardboard, paint, and markers. It’s an adorable style that finds the sweet spot between childish and creative. I can only imagine how the developers created the objects in the world, but in the end, it results in a rather unforgettable atmosphere. If you’re running through the levels for the first time, you’ll notice the creativity of the levels but this only gets better when you play the same level in reverse.
At certain points, you are forced to replay the same level in reverse order, for example, to rescue some adorable Poochie pups. While playing a reversed level, you’ll truly start to notice how original the levels are. You’ll discover that some of the more impressive looking environments were created using cereal boxes or other mundane objects. This really sparks the creativity of the game and it’s unlike anything I’ve played before. Of course, graphics aren’t everything but there’s enough to discover besides those gorgeous environments too.
Unlock everything
As said before, Yoshi games aren’t known for their high level of difficulty, Crafted World isn’t the exception. Instead of offering high difficulty, the game challenges you in different ways. You can easily clear the levels and defeat the ingenious bosses if you get your egg throwing under control, but if you want to collect everything in each level, you’ll have to work hard. Just like in most Yoshi games, you can collect hearts, flowers, and coins in every level. The flowers are needed to unlock new levels while the coins can unlock funny cardboard costumes.
On the world map, you’ll often find gashapon machines offering a random new custome for a small fee. Although you don’t need those costumes to win the game, the creators made sure you want to unlock as many as possible. All costumes are as crazy as the other, offering a wide variety of creative and funny cardboard costumes. I especially liked to dress up my Yoshi during multiplayer co-op sessions since there’s simply nothing funnier then hiding as a juice box while riding a cardboard cow. No, the game doesn’t take itself too seriously but that’s the charm of it all. If you want to unlock all the costumes, however, you’ll need a lot of coins. At first, collecting coins and the other collectibles isn’t hard, but the more you advance, the harder it gets. At the end of the game, you’ll need some real skills to spot and reach everything the level has to offer.
Variation to keep you happy
In order to keep you motivated until the very end, Yoshi’s Crafted World offers enough variation between the levels. After a couple of normal levels, you unlock one where you control a giant cardboard Yoshi for example. Although some of those levels are hit or miss, it’s nice to have them included in the game. I won’t go into full details here since it would spoil the experience for you, but I can assure you that this game includes some very creative level design later on. Combine this with the clever use of the background of some levels and you’ll understand why it’s hard not to love this game. Cleary, it’s not aimed at everybody but the variation does offer enough variety to attract a wide range of gamers. I’m sure this is a game the entire family can easily enjoy, the best part is that you never truly know what to expect next.
Conclusion:
Yoshi’s Crafted World offers another great entry in the franchise. It offers a creative and colorful new world to discover, filled with hidden secrets. It’s not the hardest game out there and I’m sure a lot of hardcore gamers might think it’s a bit too childish, but in all honesty, the game simply offers pure fun. You never know what to expect next and you’ll fall from one surprise straight into the other. Thanks to the multiplayer option, you can also enjoy this fun title together with a friend in co-op mode. If you’re looking for a fun new platformer on Switch, this should be high on your list.
