Yoshi’s Crafted World (Switch)
By: Nintendo
WHEN a game has levels called Sunshine Station and Pastel Pathway, chances are you won't be up to your knees in Nazi guts. And so it is with Nintendo’s latest Switch exclusive: having spent his formative years being mounted by an Italian plumber, here Mario's green steed goes bareback in a defiantly traditional platformer that’s more digital hug than game.
Tapping into sights and sounds from happier times, Yoshi’s trippy, handmade visuals look for all the world like Tony Hart’s been on the cough syrup. While Woolly World styled itself on knitting, Yoshi’s latest turns to the stationery cupboard for inspiration with levels assembled from cardboard, pipe cleaners and assorted tat, all given a deliberately shonky faux-stop-motion look that apes Oliver Postgate's finest. Parents who grew up with Bagpuss or The Clangers will feel right at home.
Of course, Sony has tread here before with LittleBigPlanet and the underrated Tearaway, but Yoshi’s handmade hoopla takes it to new levels of hipster, right down to a deliberately off-key soundtrack that suggests an eager primary school recital. Plot-wise, it’s boilerplate Nintendo. When Kamek and Baby Bowser attempt to pilfer the Sundream Stone, scattering its gems throughout Yoshi’s Island, it’s up to our Gene Simmons-tongued hero to scour the land through countless levels of platform-hopping.
As well as stomping on their noggins, Yoshi can gobble enemies up, turning them into eggs which, in turn, can be weaponised. Players can now aim eggs at objects in both the fore and background, giving cardboard cut-outs or nosy enemies a snootful of shell from afar.
With its focus on exploration as much as egg-based violence, much of your time will be spent rinsing Yoshi’s origami landscapes for their hidden loot in a languidly paced adventure. Fluttering softly through its bottle tops 'n' bog roll levels is hardly taxing, but OCD-types will want to swell their coffers with its myriad collectibles, including cardboard costumes that protect Yoshi from knocks and scrapes.
A kaleidoscope of worlds and one-off gameplay mechanics sing with Nintendo’s patented reliability while many levels can be tackled in reverse as you search for hidden Poochies. Doing so flips the game's perspective and you’ll witness behind-the-scenes action, with tape plastered on the back of scenery, props supporting buildings and enemies toiling as stage hands, yanking string and blowing straws to create the in-game magic.
A four-courser for the eyeballs and military grade cockle-warmer, the only complaint you can make against Yoshi's latest is that it’s almost too sedate. Easy-peasey, and Japanese-y, Crafted World is a psychedelic hug in grey times.
