Yarn Yoshi is finally back in the form of Yoshi's Woolly World!
And not only did Nintendo show it off during their E3 Digital Event, but we even it to
play it too.
In fact, between our playtime at E3 and Nintendo's Treehouse Live event, all 3 levels and the
boss fight shown during the game's unveiling have been fully revealed.
So don't expect anything too mind-blowing from our analysis this time, but that doesn't
mean we didn't find some interesting things to point out.
Okay, so Yoshi's Woolly World is basically what you would get if you threw Kirby's Epic
yarn and Yoshi's Island into a blender, and sprinkled a little bit of Yoshi's Story on
top.
Of course, you have the yarn-based visuals from Kirby's Epic Yarn, as well as being able
to unravel parts of the environment to reveal passages, the lack of a time limit, emphases
on collecting beads, and supporting 2-player co-op.
Whereas just about everything else appears to be from Yoshi's Island, from the similar
looking environments, to nearly identical controls, and even trademark elements like
the Flower-powered goal-ring.
It's all extremely similar.
But there is one key thing missing from that series: Baby Mario.
Instead, Yoshi actually has a health meter this time , ala Yoshi's Story, which means
he'll die if he ends up taking too much damage.
Poor little fella.
And the lack of Baby Mario also might explain why it seems you may not be switching Yoshis
this time around, as the same Green and Red ones, for 1st and 2nd player respectively,
can be seen in every gameplay sequence shown so far.
So it seems, despite whatever the game's story may end up being, that these two Yoshis may
be going about the adventure alone
Now you probably don't need us to tell you that yarn--and other knitting-based things--can
be found everywhere in this game.
But it's actually pretty impressive how far they ran with the idea.
Let's take a look at the course 1 for example.
Of course, the ground itself is always made of some kind of fabric, such as the wool carpeting
here that gives the impression of a field full of plants.
Even the main path that Yoshi sticks too is clearly some kind of ribbons.
And the white buttons punctuating the landscape are meant to represent flowers.
And do you see the orange flowers too?
They're actually a cutout piece of fabric held together by a yellow pin
Now if any of this looks familiar, it might be because this looks almost identical to
the first level of Yoshi's Island.
I mean, the ground is the same color, you've got the white flowers, and then the orange
ones growing from green bushes in the foreground And you can even see the same colored mountains,
as well as rock formations dotting the landscape.
Hell, even the first enemy you encounter is a shy guy.
So we don't think it's a stretch to say this is probably the first level of this game too.
But let's get back to the whole yarn thing for a second--because we're still not done.
Such as how, even the sky background is clearly some kind of fabric, complete with creases--and
it even rustles from a breeze.
And the clouds hanging in front of it are supported by wires too.
In fact, practically everything is tethered to the environment in some way, such as these
platforms supported by knitting needles, or these ones held in place by pins.
And if we move onto course 2, we can see even more examples, such as bushes and trees made
of stacked balls of yarn, held together by more needles.
And in Course 3, we can see rainbows supported by needles.
Oh, and did you catch the peaks of more yarn-ball mountains below peeking up through the clouds?
Yep, they really went all out--heck, you can even see the wool-platforms bend under Yoshi's
weight, which is a really cool touch.
But wool plays a much bigger wool--err, role, than just looking cool, as it plays an essential
role in the gameplay as well.
And much of that revolves around Yoshi's tongue, he can use to unravel yarn-enemies and turn
them into eggs--err, I mean, balls of yarn, of of which you can hold up to 6 in total.
And these balls of yarn can then be aimed and fired, just like eggs in Yoshi's Island.
Only this time, the yarn balls can do more than just taking out enemies, such as by using
them to fill in yarn outlines, turning them into something you can interact with, like
platforms or warp pipes.
But enemies aren't the only way in which you can obtain yarn balls, as you can also find
them in these yarn ball crates or by using Yoshi's tongue to unravel wool knots in the
environment, which not only reveal secret areas or opens passages, but also nets him
a larger-than-normal yarn ball, making it even easier to target things with.
In addition, you can even eat your co-op partner for an instant yarn-ball at any time!
Now as you might have noticed, these yarn balls also match the color of whatever Yoshi
just consumed.
Now although we didn't see any use of this in the demo, we'd be very surprised if this
doesn't factor into the gameplay in some way in the full game, with color-based puzzles
that depend on which yarn ball you use--particularly as different colored eggs in past Yoshi games
also had slightly different attributes.
And beyond Yarn Balls, Yoshi will also occasionally be able to collect small creatures called
Huffin' Puffins that create temporary platforms when you throw them.
Now there is another use for yarn balls too, but before we get to that, let's first take
a look at the enemies we know about.
And first up is the hallmark of the Yoshi series: Shy Guy.
And they even come in multiple colors too, including Red, Green, Yellow, and Blue--and
eating any of them will result in a Yarn Ball of that color.
Now one really neat detail is when you actually unravel a Shy Guy--his mask actually flies
off!
And it even has a little button-strap on the backside.
Next up we have Koopa Troopas and Paratroopas--and like usual, you can spit their shell out to
use as weapon--only if you look close the "shell" is actually a button this time around.
THen we have Nipper Spores, which turn into Nipper Plants.
And finally, a pair of Piranha Plants, including Wild Ptooie Piranhas that spit these spiked-plants.
Now interestingly, the Piranha Plants actually appear to be asleep until you either get too
close or perhaps make too much noise--so maybe you can actually sneak up on them?
Now there's one thing almost all of these enemies we've just mentioned have in common...they're
made of yarn!
With one key exception: The piranha plants don't seem to be.
Which seems a bit weird.
But they're also the only main enemy we've seen si far that Yoshi can't directly consume--instead,
he has to tie them up with a yarn ball, at which point he can THEN either jump on them,
or pull them down to destroy them--and in case there were any doubt, they just vanish,
as opposed to being unraveled like every other enemy.
So what's going on here?
Well, it might just be an easy way to denote which enemies can and cannot be consumed and
turned into yarn balls.
So anything made of yarn is free for the eating, but ones not will take some extra effort--so
will there be even more non-yarn enemies?
We also can't help but wonder if this might factor into the game's story at all.
After all, in a world where just about everything is made of yarn, anything that isn't is going
to stand-out.
Could there be a story-based reason for this?
Alright, that's enough about the enemies--let's talk about some more of the gameplay mechanics.
So we've already mentioned that, unlike the Yoshi Island games, Yoshi actually can take
damage this time around, as indicated by the heart-meter that appears around him, which
has 20-health points.
But interestingly, you only start with half of that, whether you're just starting the
level or coming back from dying.
Now at first, this seems kind of unusual--but it's actually pretty typical for Yoshi games.
In the Yoshi Islands, you started with only 10-seconds on the Baby Mario clock, which
you could increase to 30, and in Yoshi's Story, which also had a health-meter, you only started
with a single health-point--yikes!
Now if you want to fill up your health meter, there are two ways in which you can do it
so far.
One is by collecting hearts which can appear when popping ? Clouds.
Or two, finding a checkpoint, which gives both players 5-additional hearts.
Now speaking of things you can collect, there are quite in Wooly World beyond just hearts.
And one of them is ripped right fro m Yoshi's Island, being the 5 Smiley Flowers hidden
in each level--and just like before, they get added to the goal ring at the end.
Now in the Yoshi's Island games, the goal ring also doubled as a roulette wheel, and
if it landed on a flower, something good would happen.
Now unfortunately, in the demo--nothing happened, but we're confident something will in the
full game, whether it's activating a bonus mini game like before, or something new.
But we can see that the Smiley Flowers are now separated by gems, so it looks like you
might be getting some kind of reward either way.
Oh, and if you bring anything with you past the checkpoint, such as a Chomp Rock or balls
of yarn, they'll turn into gems too--but more on those in a bit,
Another, even more well-hidden collectible, are the 3 Wonder Wools hidden in each level.
But unlike the Smiley Flowers in each level, all 3 in each level are actually different
colors from each other.
In Course 1, for example, they're Blue, Purple, and Pink.
And even the colors vary level-to-level, such as Course 2 which has a Yellow one, and Course
3, has at least Orange & Purple.
And those color sets don't appear to be random, as they were the same each time we replayed
the same levels, which also likely means you'll only be able to collect them once for each
level--unlike the Smiley Flowers.
So it's pretty clear those will play an important role in the game--in fact, even the game's
director said so during an interview.
But what exactly will they do?
Our best guess is they'll be used to fill in some large or important object--much like
how Yoshi's Yarn Balls can fill in pipes.
And obviously those colors will play a part too--maybe you'll need to find a certain amount
of a specific color or color set to unlock something?
Extra levels maybe?
Who knows?
But there's still one more collectible worth talking about: Gems, or Beads as they were
called in . And like in Kirby's Epic Yarn, they can be found everywhere and come in all
kinds of colors and sizes.
But the color doesn't actually matter--instead, the size dictates how much they're worth.
Small ones are 1, Medium-sized ones are 5, and the large ones are worth 10.
Now in Kirby's Epic Yarn, the amount you collected was added up between levels--and we're guessing
the same will happen here too, as we can see both Yoshi's totals being added together at
the end of the level when playing co-op mode, suggesting some kind of use outside the levels
themselves.
But what could they be for?
In Kirby's Epic Yarn, they could be used to either play minigames or outfit Kirby's house
with new items, so maybe something similar will happen here.
Alright, we're almost done here but there are still a few final things to point out...like
even more similarities to Yoshi's Island, such as warp pipes that spit out enemies,
bouncy balls you can bounce off of, and even the return of Chomp Rocks--only now with buttons
for eyes.
And like in the original game, they actually come in at least 2-different colors, being
red and blue.
As far as we can tell, they both function the same, although the blue ones were always
hidden behind a wool gate.
If it's anything like the original game, the color it could indicate that one of them will
respawn if they go off-screen, but we weren't able to check in the demo
As for Yoshi himself--well he handles just like he did in Yoshi's island, we've including
running, flutter-jumping, and ground-pounding.
But this time, his woolly appearance allows him to take on different forms for each of
them.
While running, his legs turn into wheels, whereas they turn into helicopter blades while
flutter-jumping.
And finally, he transforms into a mallet when ground-pounding, which is a neat touch.
But while these transformations are neat, they aren't transformations in the typical
"Yoshi's Island" sense where he would turn into all kinds of vehicles.
There was no sign of them in the demo, so it's possible they won't be returning--although
it would also be at odds with Kirby's Epic Yarn, which also featured transformations.
Finally, there's still one more level we haven't talked about at all, and that's the Boss Battle
that takes place in a lava-filled cavern.
Or should we say, yarn filled cavern, as even the lava, of course, is simply colored yarn
that slowly moves by.
Now the boss fight itself seems to be fairly standard for the most part, in that you'll
dodge his attacks and counter-attack, which in this case, yuo do by throwing his fire-balls
back at him to tie him up and stun him, exposing his tongue which you can then attack--do this
3 times and he's done for.
Now interestingly, at one point, the boss does hop into the background to attack from
there, which shows that some 3D-like of gameplay will appear at points in the game--again just
like in Yoshi's Island
But perhaps the most interesting thing is the fact that both Yoshis clearly enter the
battle via a door, instead of being woven together as in the other levels.
We think this means that the bosses will actually come at the end of a larger level, rather
than standing alone as their own levels.
And this, of course, is again consistent with the Yoshi's Island games.
Alright, and that wraps it up for everything we could string-together on Yoshi's Woolly
World.
Like usual, let us know if we missed anything by posting in the comments below.
Thanks for watching and make sure to stay-tuned to GameXplain.com for more on Yoshi Woolly
World and other things gaming too.