Preview - Yoshi's Woolly World

Kirby’s Epic Yarn is one of my favorite Kirby games of all time. While I loved many things about it, arguably my favorite part of the game was the Yarn aesthetic of the game, and the effect it had on the gameplay. And so I waited for a sequel or just another game that used the same style. Then in January of 2013, my hopes finally came to life. Yoshi’s Woolly World, then called Yarn Yoshi was revealed, though it wasn't until E3 earlier this year that we finally got some stuff we could analyze.

From what we've seen, there are not only similarities with Kirby's Epic Yarn, but also with Yoshi's Island, thankfully without Baby Mario. The collectable sunflowers return, one of which can be seen on the far left. This does make me wonder if something similar to the red coins will appear in the game, and if there will be a purpose for collecting everything.

 Returning Epic Yarn mechanics we've seen include unraveling parts of the environment to gain access to areas for collectables and hitting certain spots in the level to create platforms and the like. There also seems to be some new additions to the Epic Yarn formula, as we've also seen Yoshi's Yarn Eggs creating platforms and pipes.

 Woolly World also seems to have addressed one of the main complaints people had with Epic Yarn, namely that you couldn't die, by adding a health bar. Not much to say about that really, there's a health bar.

Multiplayer also returns, looking more or less the same as it was in Epic Yarn. Yes, you can turn your friend into a yarn ball to throw at enemies. While there are plenty of opportunities to work together, I think most people will end up screwing over their friends more often than not.

All in all, Yoshi's Woolly World is shaping up to be a pretty good game, and with the improvements that seem to be made to Epic Yarn's gameplay, may be an even better game than Epic Yarn, and possibly my personal favorite Wii U game. Yoshi's Woolly World is expected to release in Spring of 2015. For more information on Yoshi's Woolly World, be sure to keep up-to-date with Nintendo Alliance!