Yoshi's Woolly World is a 2015 platform game created by Good-Feel and published by Nintendo for the Wii U. It follows Yoshi's New Island (2014) and is the seventh main game in the Yoshi series. It is the third Yoshi game released for a home console, making it the first home console game in the series in over 17 years since 1997's Yoshi's Story. The game is inspired by 2010's Kirby's Epic Yarn. In the game, two Yoshis work together to save their friends, who have been turned into bundles of yarn by Kamek to help Baby Bowser build a new castle.

Like Kirby's Epic Yarn, Yoshi's Woolly World uses a yarn-like art style. The gameplay focuses on how yarn behaves, with Yoshi creating yarn balls instead of eggs. Yoshi can also change into different forms, similar to Kirby in Kirby's Epic Yarn.

A version of the game for the Nintendo 3DS, called Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, was released worldwide in early 2017. Both the Wii U and 3DS versions received mostly positive reviews, with praise for the art style, gameplay, and creativity. However, some reviewers noted the game was too easy. The next game in the series, Yoshi's Crafted World, was released in 2019 for the Nintendo Switch.

Gameplay

Yoshi's Woolly World is a platform game where players control Yoshi. Like games such as Kirby's Epic Yarn, the game takes place in a world made of yarn and cloth. Yoshi keeps many abilities from the Yoshi's Island series, such as using his tongue to swallow enemies and jumping with flapping wings to reach high places. Items like flowers and mystery clouds also appear again. However, instead of producing eggs when swallowing enemies, Yoshi creates balls of yarn. These yarn balls can be thrown to tie up enemies or fill in missing parts of platforms and objects. Players can also collect white chicks in certain levels, which create temporary cloud platforms when thrown. The game allows up to two players to work together. Both players can swallow and throw their partner, helping them reach areas that are otherwise hard to reach. Some sections give Yoshi special changes, such as a motorbike or an umbrella.

Throughout each level, Yoshi can collect beads, which are used to buy Power Badges. These badges help players during a level, such as giving stronger attacks or the ability to recover if they fall into bottomless pits. Each level has five Flowers, five Wonder Wools, and twenty Stamp Patches hidden behind beads. Collecting all five Flowers in a world unlocks a secret level. Finding all Yarn Bundles in a level changes Yoshi's appearance, which players can switch to on the overworld map. Collecting enough Stamp Patches unlocks special stamps for use in Miiverse posts; the 3DS version instead uses Pencil Patches for a unique Yoshi customization mode. At any time, players can switch between Classic Mode and Mellow Mode. Mellow Mode gives Yoshi wings, letting less experienced players fly forever through a stage. Poochy and Yoshi's Woolly World includes a special mode where players control Poochy, who can only crouch, jump, and run to collect Poochy Pups and beads.

The game works with Amiibo figures, including a knitted Yarn Yoshi Amiibo. Using any Yoshi Amiibo lets players create a second Yoshi during solo play, allowing solo players to perform actions normally only available in co-op play. The Yarn Yoshi Amiibo can also save designs based on other characters. Other Amiibo, like Mario and Donkey Kong, unlock new patterns inspired by those characters. The game can be played with the Wii U GamePad, Wii Remote, Wii Classic Controller, or Wii U Pro Controller.

Plot

On a knitted island home to many Yarn Yoshis with different patterns, the evil Magikoopa Kamek transforms most of the Yoshis into bundles of yarn for his master, Baby Bowser, scattering them across various worlds. Two Yoshis avoid being transformed and set out to find Kamek and rescue their friends. After traveling through six worlds, Yoshi attacks Baby Bowser's castle. During the confrontation, it is revealed that Kamek stole the yarn to build a new castle for Baby Bowser. After Yoshi defeats Baby Bowser, Kamek uses the yarn to enlarge Baby Bowser into a giant. When Yoshi defeats Baby Bowser again, Baby Bowser returns to his normal size, and the Yoshis rescue their friends from Kamek and Baby Bowser. Kamek and Baby Bowser attempt to fly away but crash-land on the moon, where they are abandoned by the Yoshis. At the end of the game, Poochy is seen at the back of the moon, sticking his tongue out happily.

Development

Yoshi's Woolly World was first announced by Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata on January 23, 2013, with the temporary title Yarn Yoshi. The game showed different ways to play and had an art style that looked similar to Kirby's Epic Yarn. Good-Feel was developing the game, with game designer Takashi Tezuka overseeing the project. The game was not shown at E3 2013 but was playable at E3 2014, where it was expected to release in the first half of 2015. The music was created by Good-Feel composers Tomoya Tomita (now working independently) and Misaki Asada. The main theme was written by Nintendo's Kazumi Totaka.

Release

Special editions of the Wii U version's retail package included the game with a knitted Yarn Yoshi Amiibo, which came in one of three colors: green, blue, or pink. These bundles either included one Yarn Yoshi Amiibo or all three. Players who bought the game on the European Nintendo eShop before July 23, 2015, received a free download code for a Virtual Console version of the Nintendo DS game Yoshi Touch & Go.

A version for the Nintendo 3DS, called Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, was released worldwide in early 2017. This version features a special mode where players control Poochy through a level, using only the ability to crouch and jump to collect Poochy Pups and beads. Instead of Stamp Patches, this version includes Pencil Patches, which provide specific designs for its exclusive Yoshi customization mode. A Poochy Amiibo was released with the retail version of the game.

Reception

Yoshi's Woolly World received mostly good reviews, with an average score of 78 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 83 reviews. Reviewers liked the game's art style and creative ideas but said the difficulty was too simple.

GameSpot's Rob Crossley gave the game a score of 6 out of 10. He wrote, "Players do not need to collect any hidden items to complete the game. Some might see this as making the game easy to play, but others might feel it lacks challenges. Whether players enjoy the game depends on how curious they are and how much they want to explore."

IGN's Daniel Krupa wrote a somewhat positive review, saying, "The game feels familiar, but its colorful and imaginative art makes it feel new and fun. However, most of the game is forgettable and feels disconnected. The game has interesting ideas, but they are not fully used in levels that focus more on finding hard-to-find items."

Nintendo Life's Thomas Whitehead said the game had "some of Nintendo's best cooperative gameplay" and "clever, fun level design" with "beautiful" visuals. However, he noted that the boss battles were "repetitive and disappointing."

The 3DS version of the game also received mostly positive reviews, with an average score of 77 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 56 reviews. Reviewers said the game worked well on a handheld device, but some criticized the lower quality of graphics and the lack of local multiplayer. Whitehead called the lack of local multiplayer "a pity, though not entirely unexpected."

Yoshi's Woolly World sold about 31,000 physical copies in Japan at launch. After two weeks, sales reached 43,000 copies. In the UK, the game ranked fourth in the charts. As of March 31, 2016, the game had sold 1.37 million copies worldwide. The 3DS version sold 80% of its first batch in Japan but only reached twentieth place in the UK charts.