by Stephen Deck
Review written by Stephen Deck; originally published 04/12/2019 on Teacher by Day, Gamer by Night
Yoshi’s Crafted World was honestly probably the Switch game currently available for which I’ve been the most excited leading up to launch day. Yoshi’s Woolly World is my absolute favorite first party game on Wii U, so when a follow-up on Switch got announced, I was bursting at the seams (no pun intended) with excitement. Feel Good had already proven they knew how to make a fun, approachable, and cute platformer with Woolly World, and with them at the helm for Crafted World as well, I had full confidence that this would be an instant classic.
Yoshi’s Crafted World was honestly probably the Switch game currently available for which I’ve been the most excited leading up to launch day. Yoshi’s Woolly World is my absolute favorite first party game on Wii U, so when a follow-up on Switch got announced, I was bursting at the seams (no pun intended) with excitement. Feel Good had already proven they knew how to make a fun, approachable, and cute platformer with Woolly World, and with them at the helm for Crafted World as well, I had full confidence that this would be an instant classic.
So does Crafted World stand up to the high bar set by Woolly World? Well, mostly. I think Woolly World was still a much better game overall, but that’s not to detract from the exceptional experience that Good Feel crafted for Switch owners. You’ve got something like 50 levels and over 500 smiley flowers (basically this game’s power stars) to collect. Some of those flowers are found as collectibles throughout the levels, but every level has one that’s awarded for collecting 100 coins in that level, one that’s awarded for finishing the level with all 20 hit points, and one awarded for finding all 20 red coins in that level. Each level also has a “flip side” with three flower-bearing Poochy pups to find. If you find all of that level’s Poochy pups within a set time limit, you’re awarded an additional smiley flower.
The levels themselves provide a ton of variety to keep things interesting, as well. Most levels are the standard designs you’d expect from a platformer – get to the end of the level, yay, you’re the winner. Every now and then, however, they throw in a challenge level where half of the collectible smiley flowers are based on your performance. One, for example, has you pilot a giant Yoshi mech, and you have to rack up 9000 points – easier said than done – to get all three flowers. One is a race in solar-powered cars, so you have to carefully change lanes both to keep out of the shade and to keep ahead of your AI opponents. One has you flying a plane from a horizontally scrolling perspective where you control the pitch of the plane. On top of that, there are a few boss levels scattered throughout the game as you seek out the five scattered magic dream meth crystals or whatever plot device they decided to use to justify the purpose of the game.
As was the case with Woolly World’s yarn style, the use of a craft theme naturally lends itself to gorgeous visuals. I do, however, with Nintendo didn’t seem to have this stubborn refusal to use adequate anti-aliasing. Yoshi’s Crafted World looks great, but it would look downright stunning if the jagged edges were just smoothed. Despite the jagged lines, though, it’s still a beautiful game with a fantastic art direction. The music, as well, is the same high quality that most Yoshi games bring to the table. It’s not a perfect game, but it’s still an exceptionally good 2D platformer and a definite must-have for any Switch owner. It started to get a little bit tedious towards the end, but it does provide a perfect way to relax and unwind at the end of a long and frustrating workday.