Yoshi’s Woolly World  is Yoshi’s first HD adventure and the opportunity was taken to make things very visually appealing. Obviously the characters in Yoshi games are not hugely realistic, so instead of aiming for realism with the HD graphics, they decided to try and make everything look like it’s made of wool. It looks wonderful.

As with almost every other Yoshi game, Yoshi’s Woolly World is a 2D platformer, In some regards a lot of this is retreading old ground, but the old ground is good fun, so I wouldn’t like to complain. I wouldn’t like to say that this game does nothing new either; the bosses all make good use of being in a 3D plane and so do a few of the levels. It’s a pleasant mixture of new ideas along with the familiar.

But let’s talk about the story (since that’s always important to me.) The fact that everything is made of wool is not just an art style, but also a plot device. Kamek travels to Craft Island turns several Yoshis into balls of wool and then steals them for Baby Bowser; two Yoshis remain and must reform their friends and defeat Baby Bowser. It’s a little hard to place this in regards to other Yoshi and Mario games and I would have liked a slightly more comprehensive story, but I didn’t mind too much. Essentially, this is entirely standalone.

If I were to sum up how it feels to play Yoshi’s Woolly World I’d use one word: pleasant.  The levels are fun and never too easy or too hard. Visually, everything looks nice and relaxing. The music is enjoyable and has a kind of “good time” feel to it. Actually, speaking of the music, there were one or two times where it was absolutely sublime. The soundtrack is good, but if it had all been on the level of the best tracks… wow.

Beyond the main game, there are a few lovely little extras. Firstly, the game is compatible with Amiibo and every one that you scan unlocks you a Yoshi with colours that looks like the character whose Amiibo you scanned. I really loved playing as Donkey Kong Yoshi, Lucina Yoshi and Ness Yoshi in particular. Another thing I liked a lot was that there’s a bestiary which fills up with all the enemy creatures you’ve seen, giving you their names and so forth – I always appreciate features like this. There’s also a cooperative mode, which is good to have if you prefer to play things with a friend.

On the whole, I wouldn’t say that Yoshi’s Woolly World was an especially groundbreaking game, but there also aren’t many bad things I can say about it either (it is sometimes hard to find health though). I used to play a level each day after work (when I had a chance) and it was really nice to unwind to. I guess I just maybe wish it could have done something a little more. Rating: 8.3/10

Buy it here.

(Don’t miss today’s Finger Puppet Show!)

Super Smash Bros. for 3DS was the much anticipated fourth instalment in the Smash Bros. series and the first to be released for a handheld. The game was (and is) very, very popular and a huge success.

I have to be honest though – for me, this game was a little bit of a disappointment. Until this game, I felt as if the Super Smash Bros. games had gotten a little better each time, with Super Smash Bros. Brawl being absolutely fantastic. I didn’t feel like anything new was done with Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, which is the main reason for my disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good game that I can dip into a bit whenever I want and have a good time, but it felt like it could have been so much more.

So what new things does this game actually have to offer? Well, I suppose the first thing I should talk about is the new characters, since that’s what people generally get most excited about with Smash Bros. although, be warned, I am going to talk openly about the unlockable characters in the game, which some may consider spoilers. The reason I don’t class these as spoilers is that Nintendo was so open about every character in their marketing, that I doubt there are any secrets left. This, in itself, is actually something which was a bit of a shame for me; I like surprises.

Anyway, onto who’s in this game! One new character I was very pleased with, and who I enjoyed playing as a lot, was Villager, an Animal Crossing main character. Villager was very fun to play as and I felt that he really deserved his position. Another one was the Wii Fit Trainer, ‘star’ of Wii Fit; she was such an odd choice, but I appreciated how strange she was and had a lot of fun using her. Mega Man was a very big name that was added; as an iconic part of the NES era, it seemed fair that he was added and I thought it was quite nice (though I had not had much of a chance to get to know the series beforehand.) Pac-Man, one of the most recogniseable video game characters around, was also included, which was also nice, especially as he is one of the most fun characters in the game. Probably my favourite new addition was Robin, star of Fire Emblem: Awakening because I love that game and I love her. There are several others too (Palutena, Dark Pit, Lucina, Rosalina, Bowser Jr etc) but those were probably the biggest ones. I don’t dislike any one of these new characters and all of them have good move sets… I hadn’t really hoped for any of these characters though. Where were the new Donkey Kong characters? I’d been waiting for King K. Rool for a good seven years at this point! Where were the new Zelda characters? I don’t mean to be negative, because I do like all of them, but none of them really got my heart racing.

After the characters, I guess the stages are the next most important thing. While I think all of the characters were good, I think this game has quite a poor selection of stages. The only Star Fox stage is something from Super Smash Bros. Melee remade. The same goes for Donkey Kong. There’s a new Kirby stage, but it’s a weird thing inside an original Game Boy. The new F-Zero stage looks like a SNES game for some reason.  I know it’s about nostalgia, but this weird metatextuality takes me right out of the game and makes it harder for me to appreciate the exciting crossover that it should be. Having said that, there’s a EarthBound/Mother stage which is really fantastic; it makes a superb tribute to the series. There don’t really seem to be that many stages either, especially considering how many of them are returning old stages. I often feel like there’s quite a lack of variety when I play a few battles in a row.

The best unique thing in this game is a thing called Smash Run. Smash Run has you put into a world where you have to fight enemies from various different games, collecting stat increases as you do, so that you can prepare for a final battle. Very fun and a nice new addition… It’s just a shame it feels a bit underutilised. I felt it could have been given more significance. Beyond this you can also use Amiibo figures to train your own custom fighters and transport them between games. Speaking of customisation, you can also use your Miis as playable characters and you can make as many Mii Fighters, with unique moves, as you like. The was Nintendo’s way of letting you have anyone in it. I wasn’t that excited about this, but I’m sure others will be. Beyond this there are just the usual ‘Classic’ and ‘All-Star’ single player mode, which has you fighting characters in various orders, just like the other games. The real appeal, I think, is the multiplayer mode, and you have lots of options that allow you to ensure it is as fun for you as possible.

One last thing I’d like to talk about is downloadable content. For over a year after the game first came out, there was a long, drawn-out period in which downloadable content was added. In the end we got six new characters: Mewtwo, Lucas, Roy, Ryu, Cloud, Corrin and Bayonetta. So, three returning characters and four new ones. I wasn’t that excited about any of them. There were also a huge number of Mii costumes released, including King K. Rool, but to me these weren’t that exciting… I still bought some though! At least quite a few people were very pleased with characters like Cloud and Bayonetta – I am not hugely familiar with them and it made me feel like the choices were a little arbitrary. I feel they lost focus a bit, when choosing characters. The choices seemed to be random.

But, oh my goodness, this has become my longest video game review. In a way, I don’t really like how important Smash Bros. has become to Nintendo as a whole, because it has become more important just as, in my eyes, it has slightly declined in quality. I don’t want this to be a negative review on the whole, because I do have fun with it every time I play, I just don’t feel like it deserves the unending praise it seems to receive. It’s a very good game, just not very original or groundbreaking. Rating: 8.9/10

Buy it here.

(Don’t miss today’s Finger Puppet Show!)

The Gamecube was a console on which Nintendo carried out a lot of experimentation. Super Mario Sunshine was the main Super Mario game for the Gamecube and is, indeed, very experimental. Some dislike this game for being too different from other titles in the series, but I appreciate that it is very unique and actually find it very refreshing.

Many of the staples you expect from the Mario series are gone; almost all the enemies are new, the game is not set in the Mushroom Kingdom and there are lots of new elements which have been incorporated too. Toadsworth (who I love) and Bowser Jr. are both introduced for the first time and much of the gameplay is based around using FLUDD (a sentient water pump) to achieve different tasks, such as putting out fires and cleaning up gloop.

The story has also had a lot more thought put into it than the average Mario game; Mario, Toadsworth and Princess Peach all go on holiday to Isle Delfino, Sadly, Mario is arrested upon arrival for scattering the island’s ‘shine sprites’ and putting gloop and graffiti everywhere. Mario then has to use FLUDD (who he wears on his back) to clean up the gloop, find the shine sprites and clear his name. There are loads of tasks to do across several levels and each one will get you a shine sprite; the more shine sprites you have, the more the story progresses.

There are two things I like a lot about this game: it’s setting and it’s weirdness. Isle Delfino is a tropical paradise and playing the game really does convey the feeling of visiting a sunny seaside resort. The sun is always shining brightly, Mario sometimes has to wipe the sweat from his brow, the water sparkles in the sun and the whole place looks like a fairly realistic holiday destination… But at the same time, Isle Delfino is populated by Piantas who are weird hilarious looking blob people. Every existing creature that returns in this game has a new design as well and have all been made hideous. I love it.

The only real downside to the game is that it is occasionally frustrating; some tasks feel a bit unfair or are based on things that don’t seem to work properly, but overall I think this is a very good experience. I hope one day there’ll be another Mario game that experiments as much as this one. Although, let’s not give Bowser that voice actor again.

Rating: 9/10
Buy it here.

(Don’t miss today’s Finger Puppet Show!)