Review: Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World

You will absolutely find Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World ridiculously adorable — even if you’ve already gone through the motions in the Wii U’s Yoshi’s Woolly World. Yes, we’re once again presented with another Wii U to 3DS port from Nintendo. Still, it’s hard to remain sour-faced when your playing with a dinosaur — and now, a cute little doggy — made of yarn, gobbling up enemies and pooping them out as more yarn.

I repeat: pooping them out as more yarn.

Yet, despite the adorable pooping – and I’d never thought I’d say that – this is a relatively simple platformer, made even easier on 3DS with the titular Poochy. The character — all three of him — basically exists to give you that super-easy Nintendo experience, almost to the point where you can put your handheld down and let your side-kick do all the work.

The game’s story reeks of Nintendo: the evil Magikoopa heads to Craft Island to kidnap all the woolly Yoshis – minus the green and red ones of course – leaving you to rescue those lost. You’re taked to head through six differently-themed areas, eliminating bosses and mini-games along the way. For the 3DS, things are zoomed in a bit, but things play out pretty 1:1 as compared to the Wii U version. Sadly, co-op play is wholly out.

For those who can pick up a controller without problem, the game’s Normal mode plays like a traditional Mario game. For those who can’t, the Mellow mode gives Yoshi wings and the ability to avoid anything remotely difficult. Avoid Mellow mode at all costs. Mellow mode with the addition of Poochy is downright ridiculous, with your sidekick even finding collectibles so you don’t have to.

Despite my cries of ease, Poochy & Yoshi still suffers from a horrible checkpoint system coupled with a few super-tough areas. In the same fashion, for every ultra-hard section that you’ll die upon — instantly removing all the secrets you’ve collected — Woolly World will hand you 1-ups like they’re candy.

New to the 3DS version are a handful — six, to be exact — new levels that you can play as Poochy, unlocked as you progress through the main campaign. Time Trials are also unlocked, but that requires a Poochy amiibo. Poochy & Yoshi also supports a range of amiibos, offering up yarnified versions of the likes of Wolf Link, Isabelle, Waluigi and Ryu. You’ll need to spend big on the collectable figures to take advantage of the additions, of course. Finally, you can design your own yarn creations and transfer them to friends via the 3DS’ StreetPass function.

Though there are some neat little sections, including haunted houses and neat magic carpets, most of Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World feels sameish. Uninspired. You won’t be able to recollect anything like you could World 1-1 in Mario Bros, though you will remember how damn cute woolly heroes are.

Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World is cute, but not worth revisiting if you’ve played it on Wii U. With a cutesy aesthetic and new, even easier ways to SuperGuide proceedings, this one’s best for children.

The good Adorable. Great for kids.	The bad Uninspired and unoriginal. Strangely placed checkpoints. A cash-grabbing port with little extra value (especially since you need a bunch of amiibo too).

Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World was reviewed using a promotional code on 3DS, as provided by the publisher. This review was modified from our original Yoshi’s Woolly World review. Click here to learn more about Stevivor’s scoring scale.