Up until now, Yoshi has been a supporting character on Nintendo Switch, making appearances in Super Mario Odyssey, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe. That will change with Yoshi’s Crafted World, the next adorable platformer from Nintendo starring the lovable Nintendo mascot. Originally unveiled at E3 2017, Yoshi’s Crafted World was delayed past its 2018 launch window, but we now know it will land on Switch on March 29. Here’s everything you need to know about Yoshi’s Crafted World.
Save the world, Yoshi
Yoshi’s Crafted World starts off like most platformers in Nintendo’s library. A bunch of Yoshis are hanging out on their idyllic island, minding their own business. Unfortunately, the island’s peak holds the Sundream Stone, a magical boulder with five gems and a smiley face in the center. The Sundream Stone gives its owner the power to grant any wish they desire. That’s, of course, a problem with evil afoot. On the back of the cackling Kamek, Baby Bowser flies onto the island to steal the stone. The Yoshis fight back and the force sends all of them, plus the baddies and the stone, hurtling toward a large adjoining land mass across the sea. In the tussle, the gems from the Sundream Stone break free and scatter throughout the world.
From this setup, it’s clear that you’ll have to make your way through a series of worlds — five seems likely given the number of gems — to secure each gem and keep the power of the Sundream Stone out of Baby Bowser’s and Kamek’s hands.
A two-sided world made of cardboard
In the initial gameplay trailer, we saw the popular phrase: “There are two sides to every story.” In Yoshi’s Crafted World, that mantra applies to each stage as well. Although it’s a Yoshi game, the set pieces look more so out of the Paper Mario series. Everything looks to be made of cardboard and construction paper. The design isn’t just an aesthetic choice, however, as Yoshi can use his ground-pound move to turn stages around, and complete them from the other side of cardboard. Essentially, each stage has two settings and it seems as if you can switch the orientation as much or as little as you want. While it’s not quite a choose-your-own-adventure game, the switching mechanic gives each stage a level of complexity not seen in other Yoshi platformers.
The cutesy aesthetic also extends to Yoshi. Beyond looking like he’s made of yarn, you can dress Yoshi up in costumes that you find throughout your adventure. The costumes are more than just for show, though, as they can help keep Yoshi safe from baddies.
A sidescroller … for the most part
Like most Yoshi titles, Yoshi’s first Switch game is largely a 2D sidescroller, but with a bit of a twist. While stages are set up from start to finish horizontally, Yoshi moves vertically up and down throughout to enter structures and nab coins, flowers, and collectible Poochy Pups. Additionally, Yoshi’s egg throw can be aimed anywhere, as shown when he hits enemies with diagonal tosses.
Couch co-op and mellow mode
As demonstrated in the gameplay trailer, Yoshi’s Crafted World can be played solo or with a friend via local co-op. Crafted World can be played with a single Joy-Con, so you won’t need an additional set or Pro controller to take advantage of co-op.
Crafted World will have an optional “mellow” mode as well, which will make the experience more accessible for younger audiences.
Familiar and unfamiliar foes
Throughout the gameplay trailer, we see a great number of Shy Guys and a few Piranha Plants. In terms of run-of-the-mill enemies, that is all we get for now, but in the final sequence of the trailer, Yoshi enters a game board-like map. Steamrolling and jumping on and off the drawn railroad tracks is a dragon train, presumably one of the game’s bosses.
A ‘Yoshi’s Woolly World’ sequel?
In Yoshi’s most recent adventure, Yoshi’s Woolly World for Wii U (Poochy and Yoshi’s Woolly World on 3DS), Baby Bowser enlisted Kamek to turn Yoshi and all of his friends into yarn. While Yoshi ends up saving the day, Kamek and Baby Bowser escape, and end up crashing on the moon. Yoshi’s character model looks very similar to his design in Woolly World and Kamek and Baby Bowser are once again the main foes. Sure, the game world looks mightily different, but there is a chance that Yoshi happened to stumble into the cardboard world after the events of his last adventure.
Release date and pre-order
Yoshi’s Crafted World arrives on Nintendo Switch on March 29 for $60. Nintendo games rarely have pre-order bonuses and Crafted World is no different. However, if you pre-order from Amazon right now, the price is discounted to $53 (thanks to a combo discount/coupon). It will also be sold on the Nintendo Switch eShop as a digital download.
