The oppening act of the game, shows various Yoshis enjoying their time at the Yoshi islands. At the topmost peak of the island, there is an artifact known as the Sundream Stone. A sacred artifact that posseses the power to make anyones
dreams and imaginations to come true. All that it needs its the Five colorful Dream Gems. One day some Yoshis were spenting their time near the Sundream Stone but their fun time was cut short after Kamek and Baby Bowser made an attempt to
steal it. The Yoshis tried to prevent them from doing so which resulted in a catastrophic even where the gems where sent flying around(scattered) in the near by worlds.
The sunstone entursts the Yoshis to go and find the Dream Gems before Kamek and Baby Bowser gets their hands on them. Some Yoshis are left to guard the stone whilst others proceed to find the gems.
Will the Yoshis succeed on their mission or will Kamek and baby Bowser get them before them?
What is the wish dream of the foes? and what is Yoshi's dream wish
Usually platformers do not have deep story telling and the Yoshi games, in fact most of Nintendo's platformers are an embodiment of this statement. For example, on of the earliest Yoshi game, Yoshi island(gba) the players play as Yoshi who came across baby Mario & Luigi
after a stork drop them on their island as a result of Kamek's spell. The player then goes through an x ammount of levels in order to get Mario and Luigi at their place. Here is some sort of a similar thing. Kamek and Bowser come to the Yoshi islands, they attempt to steal the
Dream orbs and then as an aftermath, the Yoshi's must come to pick up the scattered orbs. I personally was not invest on the story but i was interested on the concept of Dream orbs. Even though the narrative aint strong and there is no deep character development, the plot is
simple effective and fun. Additionally its nice to see new areas and new more of the Yoshis. The interaction between Yoshi and the enemies(baby Bowser and Kamek) made me gigle sometimes as they were entertainning and had the right ammount of jokes and humor.
Once the initial cutscene ends the player has to choose the difficulty settings. These being Classic Mode and Mellow Mode. Classic mode is the iconic formula of the series where Yoshi has to jump, hover abit on air before
landing on the ground. The Mellow mode on the other hand is the Easy/Baby mode. It is depictioned by the fact that Yoshi has wings on his back. During Mellow mode, Yoshi can jump and flap his wings in order to stay
on the air for longer period of time. Moreover, unlike Classic the Mellow mode keeps Yoshi on the air permanently without the need of him to land of the ground. Additionally there are clear visual indications as to
where the collectables are. For example, when a smiley flower is near, a bar will appear on the top center bar with the hidden flower glowing indicating that it is within this territory. If the player moves away without finding it, the bar will
dissappear meanning Yoshi has to backtrack back to that area.
When the player selects the difficulty and all of that, the players have to select which Colored Yoshi they want to be playing as. Once a Yoshi is selected the player is then thrown into the Hub world. The Hub world of Yoshi's Crafted World
is similar to the old Super Mario World or the original Crash Bandicoot. Yoshi has to move into pre-determined paths that lead to the levels. The areas of the levels are usually small worlds who always greet Yoshi with an
NPC who usually requires Smiley flowers to unlock the paths. The player can then access the levels and the Gacha machine. Each world has a gacha machine. Upon placing Yoshi on a level the ammount of flowers to be found will be visible. Even after completing
the level, the player will be able to see the flower bar and see if they missed any and where approximately was.
Upon entering the level, the logic is simple. The player has to manuver from one side of the level to the other through a 2D Platformer. Yoshi as a character has limited mobility options. He can move and jump. Holding down the jumping button will allow Yoshi to hover
abit on air before landing on the ground. This effectively allows Yoshi to cover longer distances. Additionally Yoshi can use ground pound in order to break areas underneath him and proceed through the level on a lower platform. This ground pound technique can also be used to
take down enemies. Despite that, Yoshi's iconic Tongue attack is his main way of attacking enemies. First he uses his tongue to catch enemies and turn them into an egg. Following that, Yoshi can then use the Egg as a projectile attack that can take down enemies or even
stun bigger unkillable foes. When Yoshi gets hit by an enemy, he doesnt die but he does loses heart points. If the last heart is lost, the player can restart on the previous checkpoint or exit the level.
Throughout the levels theres a few things that Yoshi can collect. First of all, heart points, by shooting arrows into the winged clouds with the exclanation(?) mark, can spawn small heart shaped fairies which restore Yoshis damage, or stack to what he had until the
max ammount is reached. Another thing that can be found is the Smiley flowers. Anyone familiar with the Yoshi games know that these flowers are the main form of collectable. Usually the levels have a certain ammount of flowers to be found and 3 bonus ones are given
at the end of each level if the player collected 100 coins, passed the end line with all 20 heart points and if they found all 20 red coins. The smiley flowers are needed in order to "pay the Fee" on the NPCs who will open the next world. In order to find them, the player needs
to have a closer look when collecting a flower. A board appears that shows how many flowers are left. Each flower represents a location of the flowers within the levels. E.g If Yoshi collects a flower and its placed on the second slot, it means the player already missed one that was
meant to be found prior to the location of the current one. This is an effective way to tell the player where more or less a flower is placed. More things to be found are the red coins that are hidden within the levels. Collecting all 20 will reward the player with an extra flower.
Last but not least the player can collect gold coins(1s and 10s). These coins are scattered around the levels in obvious places and act as the game's currency. The player can collect them and spent them on the gacha machine to get costumes for Yoshi.
Bonus and Poochy pups levels
What keeps players invest in the levels are unique levels with game mechanicks specifically made for it. For example, there are levels where Yoshi has to run and Jump through Red rings whilst trying to catch timers in order to keep the clock up. In other levels Yoshi is using a
mechanical Yoshi that has to punch the obstacles and collect certain points. Other levels are based on mechanicks such as wearing a dino skull on the head that will break everything on his way. Poochy pup levels usually reverse the normal levels and Yoshi has to go from
right to left having a different look of the level. Additionally Yoshi has to find the 3 poochy pups that are scattered around the level. Each pup found will reward a smiley flower at the end. An extra flower will be given to the players if Yoshi successfully completes the level
within a certain time limit.
Yoshis Crafted world offer local Multiplayer. You can share the game with one more friend. The player can open the pause menu and swap from one player to two. During which two Yoshi will appear and will playe the exact same. The camera shows both dinosaurs but if they do get far from each
then player one will get the main focus. In multiplayer theres a Team up mechanic where one of the Yoshis rides the other. During which all attacks are more effective. Yoshi will have infinite ammount of eggs to throw when riding on another and ground smash creates a massive AoE taking down
any enemy visibly on screen.
As someone who played lots of Yoshi's island on the Game boy advance i was very excited to play this one. The crafted artstyle made for some unique platforming ideas scattered through out the levels. The gameplay felt the same as the fundamental mechanics are there. It DIDN'T do anything to change or improve the formula in any way, but the gameplay is polished and the levels well made that its easily a thing to miss. The Poochy pups was a nice addition that not only added more things to do, it also gave us a different look and prespective of the levels. The time limit challenges were nice and had a decent variety of them such as, collecting blue coins, eating apples, spotting the real flower and many more. I would argue that the game is relatively easier than the past titles, perhaps because baby Mario doesnt flee away everytime Yoshi receives a hit but still fell more kid friendly than what it could ve been. The platforming is easy, the mobs can be dealt with ease and the boss battles werent putting that much of a fight.
Upon completing the game the players main objective will be to collect the Dream gem as this is the main plots goal. However, the players needs to collect the Smiley Daisy. All the collectables mention prior can challenge the player to go and get them. Collecting all of them is not necessary but it can be something that then players can do. Completing a level at 100% it is represented by a red flower on it. Collecting all of the costumes can be another activity to keep putting hours on the game. To get costumes you need alot of coin, however if you re playig for completion, coins will come straight out of Yoshi. Additionally, the player can do side quests. The NPCs of the world will eventually ask for Yoshi to do. Usually they ask for items such as throw an egg on eagles, animals crafts etc. Succeeding their missions will reward Yoshi with Smiley Flowers.Last but not least, upon completing the game new islands can be reached with the help of a newly formed bridge and a boss battlemode is unlocked. These modes want to test the players skills in order to be completed. Completing the game to 100% awards the player with a skin.
The music of the game is something i quite enjoyed. Dont get me wrong, this kind of music is not usually my style but i really liked. In terms of the audio and visual department the one thing i would say is that it 100% reminded me of Tearaway.
The harmonica and chill music is really good and works for the game. As you know these games do not have any actual spoken dialogue as these Mario characters usually do certain character noices. The in game sound effects are done very well and everything has certain
audio when done.
On the other hand the graphics are some of the best and creative. Everything around the world is made out of things you can find in a house. Plates representing animals, paper crafts representing the world such as cut outs painted as cows
as clouds and many many more. This art design, not only acts as an identity to Yoshi's Crafted world but also allows the players to gothrough some unique platforming. For example there are flowers that come out from a jack in a box which go in and
out from the box, there are paper crops that yoshi can throw an egg to create platforms and many others. .
The players can scan their amiibo to reveive in game bonus. Scanning any type of Amiibo(regarding the series) will reward them with a special amiibo costume. Scanning a super Mario related one, the player will unlock a special costume that resembles the costume of the hero scanned. E.g Scanning the super Mario amiibo will give Yoshi a super Mario designed appearance.
Overall Yoshi's Crafted world is a simple fun 2D platformer. The plot of the game is simple and easy to follow. Kamek and baby Bowser come to the Yoshi island in order to steal the dream stone and have their dreams granted. The yoshis interfeer and as a result the gems are scattered around the nearby world and both sides try to recover them. The gameplay on the other hand is once again very simple and straight forward making it easy for everyone to grap the game and enjoy. I would argue that the game is abit too easy but the experience differs with each player. The core formula of the Yoshi games is here and even though nothing change is still fun years later. I would argue that the level design allows for some creative platforming and some special levels also change the core gameplay. Driving cars, avoiding the light source and many other creative choises. On the visual department the game does looks very good and creative. As the name suggests everything in the world is crafted with defferent materials. It feels like oppening a kids book and a paper castle pops out. I was really amazed by the art direction. Sound wise, the game does not dissapointed. Different melodies exist in the background making every level unique. The harmonica, accordion and others gave it a unique sound. Additionally, upon completing the game, theres alot of things to do which can keep the players invested in the game. Last but not least the game does include Coop which makes the game a bit easier but its always fun to play with a friend.
