While last year’s Yoshi’s New Island was just decent to outright bland depending on who you talked to, There’s few that would be arguing against its art style being terrible. Good Feel, not content to leave their yarny takes on Nintendo’s IP’s with just Kirby, has moved onto the Yoshi’s Island series. Not only do they manage to make a game that’s infinitely more visually appealing than New Island, but they also make a game that’s more fun to play. Just don’t expect too much, as the game is just good, not amazing.

The game starts off the typical story we’ve come to expect from the Mario series and its spin-offs. The Yoshis are enjoying their day and Kamek has come to ruin it because he’s a jerk. He proceeded to unravel the other Yoshis and spin them into bundles. He then takes off and the remaining Yoshis of course chase after him. The map selection is set up like an island hub that you go to the other islands from. Of course during Kamek’s escape attempt, he drops some of the yarn bundles. These will become collectibles in the levels which unlock new Yoshi skins to play as. But outside of that, the basic gameplay of Yoshi’s Island is pretty much the same, all recreated in a yarn aesthetic. Of course the level design is based around some of these concepts, like unraveling strings to reveal hidden areas or pushing fabric out of the way, seeing it fold up. The art design is adorable and detailed. The only downside is that the detail in the levels is always able to be appreciated as much as it could due to the game often zooming out the camera far back.

Levels can also be made easier by a number of means. There’s mellow mode, which makes the already pretty easy game even easier, but there are some other options as well. You can purchase badges to make special effects happen, like making every eggs a large egg, which makes getting hearts easier. You can always co-op with a friend locally, but that might be a hindrance if the other player is not good. Although, some of the best moments come from the goofing off that comes from co-op play. If anything, the game’s challenge level could have benefited from a more difficult mode, as the base game is about the level of challenge seen in New Island, which was difficult either. In fact, the concept of lives has been scrapped entirely. The real challenge comes from 100% completion of all the levels. Thankfully you can tackle each goal in the checklist separately from each other. The game does have some extra skins to play as, but you have to mess with some obnoxious Amiibo stuff to play as them. The music is pretty mellow, easygoing remixes of past Yoshi tunes. Much like the game, it’s relaxing stuff that makes the game feel like a comfortable time. If you wanted a game that challenges the player or pushes the genre forward, go look elsewhere. But for everyone else, there’s a decent and adorable platformer here.

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