Tag Archives: yoshi’s woolly world

The Top 10 Games I played in 2020

The tradition continues. Another year in the books, and another list of the favorite games I played in said year, in alphabetical order. This list omits Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Go, both of which I’ve poured a ludicrous amount of time into this year.

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Army of Two [Xbox 360] – Review

When Jeff and I started Kirby’s Epic Yarn a few months ago, we were just looking for something to play cooperatively. Little did we know then, that would set us on a path of playing the game’s spiritual successors: Yoshi’s Woolly World and Yoshi’s Crafted World. Since we enjoyed that first game so thoroughly, it just made sense to hop into the follow-ups. They offered us hours of inventive platforming and charming visuals, in addition to a sense of relief of knowing what we’d play next. Like figuring out what’s for dinner, deciding what to play next can be tough, especially when the deliberations include multiple individuals. With the completion of Yoshi’s Crafted World, the most recent of Good-Feel’s oeuvre, we were once again hemming and hawing about what to play next. We’d been on a kick of playing games with full-on cooperative campaigns and decided that was the only criteria a candidate needed to fulfill. Scanning the shelves of games before us, we vetoed proposals and backlogged others, agreeing that “yeah, this one is good, but maybe later,” before striking on one that was tailor-made for our situation: Army of Two.

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Yoshi’s Crafted World [Switch] – Review

Yoshi's Crafted World - Switch - North American Box Art

Released for the Switch on March 29, 2019, Yoshi’s Crafted World is the most recent collaboration between Nintendo and Good-Feel, whose partnership goes back to the latter’s 2005 founding. While the studio doesn’t work exclusively with Nintendo, they’ve collaborated on a number of titles between then and now, such as this game’s predecessors: Kirby’s Epic Yarn and Yoshi’s Woolly World. Of the common threads that bind these games together, none is more pronounced than the remarkable art design that adapts real-world materials with side-scrolling platforming gameplay. Taking inspiration from crafting in general, this entry features the broadest and most inventive environments of the trio. But the stage design itself, speaking from a gameplay perspective, is the least inspired of the bunch. In writing this review, I had a hard time thinking of stages or sequences that left an impression on me; a far cry from the excellence of the previous games. I still had fun playing Yoshi’s Crafted World cooperatively with a friend, but it didn’t rise to the level of its precursors. Continue reading Yoshi’s Crafted World [Switch] – Review

Yoshi’s Woolly World [Wii U] – Review

Yoshi's Woolly World - Wii U - North American Box Art

When a friend and I beat Kirby’s Epic Yarn about a month ago, the decision on what we’d play next was pretty easy. Kirby’s Epic Yarn was a relatively simple side-scrolling platformer with enjoyable co-operative gameplay, some inventive stages, and an incredible design aesthetic. It was a game that just emanated happiness. Yeah, we wanted more of that. And so, we tracked down a copy of Yoshi’s Woolly World, the spiritual successor to Kirby’s Epic Yarn. Structurally, the two games weren’t awfully different, and mechanically, the stars in both functioned similarly. But the abilities unique to Yoshi, namely tossing eggs, allowed for a broader range of platforming challenges and additional ways to interact within stages; it was slightly tougher, and more engaging. These considerations, in partnership with the remarkable art design, resonated with me; Yoshi’s Woolly World was an outstanding video game! Continue reading Yoshi’s Woolly World [Wii U] – Review