'Yoshi's Crafted World' Review: Fun, Charming and Hard to Put Down. 9/10 (Switch) By On 4/5/19 at 1:34 PM EDT. Newsgeek Video Game Review Nintendo Nintendo switch Video game. Nintendo almost always does a great job designing games that many may consider childish with. Yoshi's Crafted World Share: 14. Which isn't entirely bad, but it's certainly unnecessarily rough around the edges. But otherwise I’m loving Crafted so far. Though you guys missed one.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/YoshisIsland

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The character page for Yoshi's Island and its related games.

Of all the MarioSpin-Off franchises there is, Yoshi's Island is perhaps the one that resembles its mother series the most gameplay and story-wise, with many of the characters featured here having prominent roles in the main Mario games as well. In any case, the Yoshi games still have quite a few characters that are heavily (if not, exclusively) tied to them.

Yoshi's Crafted World Bad Guys 2

Good Guys

A tribe of cartoony, colorful dinosaurs who stumble into Baby Mario after the latter falls from the sky (due to a mid-flight kidnapping attempt from Kamek while the stork was flying over by Yoshi's Island) and onto the back of an unsuspecting member of the group. Noticing that Baby Mario seems to know where his kidnapped twin brother is being held, the Yoshis decide to journey towards the Koopa Kingdom with the intention of reuniting the two baby brothers so they can be safely delivered to their parents. Even in games where Baby Mario isn't involved though, the Yoshis still have to deal with Baby Bowser's evil, childish whims that usually target them.

You can check their full profile here.

Debut: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

The infant form of our hero, Mario. Separated from Baby Luigi while being delivered by the stork, Baby Mario appears to be mysteriously able to pinpoint where his younger twin brother is being held. He's too young to do anything by himself though, leaving it to the Yoshis to protect and watch over him while following his guidance.

• Big Brother Instinct: Despite being just an infant, Baby Mario is instinctually driven to reunite with his younger brother.
• Goo Goo Godlike: As Superstar Mario, Baby Mario is invincible to enemies and hazards (except Bottomless Pits), can run up walls and even glide around with his cape.
• My Future Self and Me: Often appears in the extended Mario universe spinoffs alongside his adult self.
• Super Speed: In Yoshi's Island DS, he allows Yoshi ro run faster.
• Twin Telepathy: Baby Mario seems to know the exact location of where Baby Luigi is being held, something that the Yoshis attribute to this.

Debut: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

The infant form of our other hero, Luigi. He was kidnapped by Kamek mid-flight and taken to Bowser's Castle in the Koopa Kingdom.

• Demoted to Extra: Luigi was playable just fine in Super Mario World, but he's unfortunately out of luck in this game, or even the series as a whole. He doesn't even get to be 'playable' in Yoshi's Island DS, which features Baby Peach, Baby Wario and even Baby DK as partners for the Yoshis.
• Distressed Dude: Baby Luigi has to play the role of rescue victim since Baby Peach isn't around (notably, this is true even when Baby Peach is around).
• My Future Self and Me: Often appears in the extended Mario universe spinoffs alongside his adult self.

Species: Dog
Debut: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

Yoshi's dog, a creature that has a head similar to a Piranha Plant and a ball for a tail. He's completely invulnerable and is able to walk across lava and spikes, serving as a mount for Yoshi or reveal special items. Since Yoshi is already used as a mount by humanoids, Poochy is proportionately gigantic.

• Assist Character: From his first appearance onward. Most prevalent in Yoshi's Woolly World, where not only does he fulfill his traditional role of assistance, Poochy is able to sense hidden secrets and bark to let you know where to look, and can even fetch flowers for you and speeds up the 100% Completion of the game.
• Author Appeal: Shigeru Miyamoto is a huge fan of dogs, and had Poochy's design on the backburner for years before he included him in the first Yoshi's Island.
• Big Friendly Dog: He's bigger than Yoshi (big enough for Yoshi himself to ride on) and extremely friendly.
• Canis Major: As noted, larger than Yoshi, who's already the size of an average adult man.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Was absent from Yoshi's Island DS. In early images, was apparently going to play a role in the first Paper Mario before being cut. He returned in Woolly World, Crafted World, and even having a minor role in Super Mario Odyssey.
• Dumb Muscle: So powerful that not only is he indestructible, he'll destroy most mooks just by running over them... but isn't one for subtle commands, and will rush headlong in the direction Yoshi's facing, even if it will send you all off of a cliff. All in all, they don't say Poochy ain't stupid for nothing.
• Informed Species: Looks more like a Cartoon Creature than a dog, but he at least has the personality and friendliness of one.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: His head looks like a Piranha Plant, but with eyes. The rest of him is canine enough.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: He's completely indestructible and can just plow through most enemies. In Super Mario Odyssey, you can even fish him out of molten lava.
• The Noseless: He's drawn without a nose, yet he can still sniff out fruit in Yoshi's Story.
• Overly Long Tongue: Like master, like pet; Poochy's tongue is pretty long. Although unlike Yoshi's, Poochy's tongue usually droops from his mouth and doesn't serve any gameplay purposes.
• Planimal: His head makes him look similar to Mushroom Kingdom flora.
• Power-Up Mount: For someone who already serves as one.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: Was featured on the cover of Yoshi's Woolly World and can appear in every stage of that game. Even more so in the remake, where he actually gets top billing in Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: Particularly in the first Yoshi's Island, where he would play with Yoshi's eggs, and in Woolly World.
• Satellite Character: As a sidekick to a sidekick. He does appear briefly in Super Mario Odyssey, in a few murals, can be fished out of Bowser's Kingdom, and is the one implied to be burying the Power Moons everywhere.

Species: Stork
Debut: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

The stork responsible for delivering Baby Mario and Baby Luigi to their parents. While it's captured alongside Luigi in the original Yoshi's Island, the stork returns as a supporting character in subsequent games.

• Ascended Extra: While completely irrelevant in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island gameplay-wise, the Stork becomes more important in Yoshi's Island DS, where it's responsible for switching the babies (and thus abilities) for Yoshi.
• Delivery Stork: Natch.
• No Name Given: It doesn't really have a personal name, so it's always referred by the name of its species. The Japanese version credit it as 'Mr. Stork', which is not much better.

World Badminton Federation

Species: Human
Debut: Yoshi's New Island

A mysterious living Warp Pipe who helps out the Yoshis by providing them with useful items should they struggle too much in specific levels.

• Animate Inanimate Object: Subverted. It's actually Mario in disguise.
• Canon Character All Along: It's-a him, Mario!
• Identity Concealment Disposal: You only learn of Mr. Pipe's identity after the credits roll.
• Mercy Mode: Mr. Pipe effectively functions as a character version of this, considered he outright gives you broken items like the Golden Flutter Wings.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Implied to be the reason it helps Yoshi and Baby Mario beat tough levels since it's actually adult Mario.

Species: Robot(?)
Debut: Yoshi's Crafted World

Friendly cardboard characters that are responsible for opening new levels in Yoshi's Crafted World, should Yoshi refuel them with enough collected Smiley Flowers.

• Cash Gate: Every world diorama requires a Blockafeller to open it, and they're usually out of energy to do so. Smiley Flowers act as their fuel source, giving you an incentive to explore levels in order to collect them.

Bad Guys

Baby Bowser (also known as Baby Koopa) is just that: Bowser Koopa as an ill-tempered young tot. Even as a youngster, Baby Bowser was often up to no good, causing lots of trouble for the inhabitants of Yoshi's Island. He’s the main antagonist of the Yoshi’s Island series, and has appeared as a major antagonist in other Mario games like Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. Not to be confused with his future son, Bowser Jr., whom he greatly resembles.

Tropes associated with Baby Bowser:

• Alliterative Name: Baby Bowser.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: He grows to gigantic proportions in his iconic boss fight in the original Yoshi's Island. He also does this in the other games you fight him in, but not nearly as big as his first go around.
• Baby Talk: He seems to have an inconsistent age throughout the games he appears in, as in some games his speech pattern sounds normal, like in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, and other games it's more babyish, like in Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's New Island.
• Black Bead Eyes: Like most baby characters, Bowser had these, his true eye color (red) not becoming apparent until adulthood.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Spoiled to the core, Baby Bowser is just as egocentric as his adult form, constantly demanding things and throwing tantrums the moment he doesn’t get his way. He even insults his older self at several points, calling him a fat old geezer who should have taken over the world by now.
• Breath Weapon: In contrast to his future son, Baby Bowser is skilled at breathing fire in every depiction he’s in, and in Yoshi's Island DS it’s even his special ability when selected.
• Card-Carrying Villain: He's so obsessed with being evil that at one point he only drinks a glass of milk when he's told it was taken from an 'evil cow'.
• Divergent Character Evolution: Inverted. Though they've always looked more similar than different, Baby Bowser used to have a few noticeable differences from Bowser Jr. Starting with Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, he's redesigned to look almost exactly like Bowser Jr., except for his blank white bandanna, and his voice clips are even recycled from Bowser Jr. This was reverted in Yoshi's Island DS, but in Yoshi's New Island again uses Bowser Jr.'s exact in-game model except he lacks the bandanna. They diverge a bit in Yoshi's Woolly World, however, with Baby Bowser reverting to his older body proportions and posture, only for Yoshi's Crafted World to go back to him looking exactly like Junior.
• Drop the Hammer: He keeps a mallet on hand to fight with in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time.
• Dub Name Change: Along with the usual 'Koopa/Bowser', he is also an indirect case: In Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Woolly World, the final stages are named 'King Bowser's Castle'. However, this is only the case in the english versions with the Japanese level names simply calling him 'Baby Bowser' or just 'Bowser'.
• Enemy Mine: He briefly teams up with Yoshi in Yoshi's Island DS to fight against his future self.
• Enfante Terrible: Even when he was a baby, Bowser was just as nasty as he would be as an adult.
• Establishing Character Moment: Foreshadowing their future relationship, Baby Bowser is first introduced in Partners in Time when he’s trying to kidnap Baby Princess Peach.
• Evil Prince: Since he's just a kid, he's usually addressed as Prince Bowser (particularly in Partners in Time). It's unknown who the current King of the Koopas is, or if there even is one.
• Fiery Red Head: Bowser had an even worse temper as a child than he does as an adult.
• Generation Xerox: Though he prefers brute force over his future son's more tricky approach, they look identical and share many personality traits.
• Gold Fever: Baby Bowser loves treasure, and whenever he finds some he declares that it’s all ‘his’ and thinks anyone else getting near him wants to steal it.
• Greater-Scope Villain: While he's the overall Big Bad of the Yoshi's Island series and generally leaves most of the work to Kamek, Baby Bowser is in this role for much of the original Yoshi's Island; There's no clear indication that he sent Kamek to mess with the stork, even though it's clear Kamek did it to ensure that Bowser would have no one to oppose him later in life.
• Ground Pound: One of his primary attacks in the original Yoshi's Island and in Yoshi's New Island.
• Hypocritical Humor: He scolds the baby Mario Bros. for stealing food after he literally just ate a bunch of cookies that he stole.
• My Future Self and Me: He's met his older self in two separate series. The two successfully team up together in Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time, with neither of them realizing they’re the same person. In the Yoshi's Island series, his older self actually kidnaps him, causing Baby Bowser to become adult Bowser's enemy. And in Yoshi's New Island, the adult Bowser shows up out of nowhere to fight Yoshi after Baby Bowser’s defeat- though why he does so remains completely unknown.
• Parental Substitute: He has no known parents to speak of, and is largely raised and cared for by Kamek.
• Royal Brat: Unlike his adult self, who is generally kind to his minions, Baby Bowser isn’t beyond stomping on them out of annoyance, insulting them, and having them slave over his every need.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: A recurring theme is that he really wants to ride a Yoshi, which he calls a ‘Gween Donkey’, a wish that does eventually come true for him in Yoshi's Island DS.
• Vocal Evolution: Most of the games when his voice would be heard have him similar to Bowser Jr.'s voice. However, in Yoshi's New Island, Baby Bowser's voice clips are pitched higher to make him sound more baby-like.

Baby Bowser's caretaker and the Yoshis' most recurring opposition. Kamek has knowledge of the future, where his master frequently has his evil schemes foiled by a certain pair of brothers. As a result, Kamek desperately attempts to change fate by kidnapping the Mario brothers while they're still infants, although he usually only manages to capture one of them.

You can check his full profile here.

Species: Magikoopa
Debut: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

Kamek's personal henchmen. Weird-looking Magikoopas(?) that usually act in groups of four, always being ready to snatch Baby Mario away when the opportunity presents itself.

• Airborne Mooks: Toadies are always found in mid-flight.
• Bandit Mook: There's a pink variant of Toady that will go after Baby Mario the moment Yoshi gets hit. There's also a green variant that outright attempts to steal Baby Mario directly from Yoshi's back. Note that they can't take Baby Mario away like Kamek's red-clad ones, so the player is still able to rescue Baby Mario before the countdown reaches 0.
• Demoted to Extra: In Yoshi's Story, they only show up to carry a fallen Yoshi to Bowser's Castle (and later, carry Baby Bowser away after his defeat). They can't be found as actual enemies and their direct superior Kamek is nowhere to be seen.
• Evil Minions: They're Kamek's direct minions, and in fact rarely partake in combat themselves.
• Heli-Critter: They have propellers above their heads, akin to Fly Guys.
• Opaque Nerd Glasses: They wear big, round specs with spirals in them.

• Blush Sticker: When his pants come off, he blushes.
• Caught with Your Pants Down: How you essentially defeat him, by throwing eggs at him and knocking his pants down.
• Defeat by Modesty: He deflates, and leaves when his pants are pulled down.

• Asteroids Monster: Shooting eggs causes pieces of slimes to fall off him, which only give you more eggs to hit him with.
• Degraded Boss: Played with. He shows up in Bowser's Castle with no new tricks, but he's fought in a room where there's no way to refill your eggs, forcing the player to find a new strategy to beat him^note or use up items.

• Balloon Belly: It starts off the battle inflating, and with each hit it gets bigger.
• King Mook: This applies to most of the bosses but especially noted here because he's BIGGER Boo. And he only gets bigger with each hit until he explodes.
• 'Pop!' Goes the Human: He pops when defeated.

• Advancing Boss of Doom: Thanks to the pair of Shy Guys who push him forward.
• Ring-Out Boss: You have to push him out, which gets easier with every Shy Guy defeated.

• Extreme Omnivore: He eats Yoshi, and Baby Mario.
• Kill It Through Its Stomach: Yoshi has to defeat it from inside its stomach, and attacking his Uvula.
• Womb Level: The entire boss battle takes place inside his stomach.

• Combat Tentacles: Two of her vines end in small Nipper buds; she uses these to try to hit Yoshi from below and to block his movement.
• Man-Eating Plant: She's a large, mobile, killer Piranha Plant.
• Mook Maker: She can spit three seeds that drift down and become Nipper plants that chase Yoshi around.
• Ramming Always Works: Her main attack is a fast charge that ends when she slams into the opposite wall. She can fake you out by ending it early, though, which can lead to either jumping on her head, her thorny neck, or one of her two attack vines while trying to jump over her to dodge the charge.
• Skippable Boss: If you swim into her lair but not far enough to close the way behind you, you can shoot an egg at her ungrown normal form, skipping the fight completely.

• Asteroids Monster: The second boss in the game to be such, except they all have to be ground-pounded until small enough.

• Flipping Helpless: Yoshi has to flip Hookbill over and then Ground Pound his stomach in order to defeat him.

• Advancing Boss of Doom: If you don't attack him, he'll push you into the abyss. However, he moves verrrrry slooooowly.
• Attack Its Weak Point: Despite Kamek claiming he has no weak spot, it's very obvious where it is.

Yoshi's Crafted World Bad Guys Lyrics

• A Twinkle in the Sky: His exit after being defeated in Yoshi's Island.
• Heel–Face Turn: In Paper Mario, Raphael is an ally to Mario.
• Puzzle Boss: Out of all the bosses in the game yes, considering you have to wait until he's exactly on the OTHER side of the battlefield in order to slam him from underneath.
• Turns Red: Each time Raphael is damaged, he turns redder and angrier.

• Advancing Boss of Doom: When he reappears in Bowser's Castle in Golden form, he cannot be killed and will pursue Yoshi throughout the stage, even jumping out of pits when he falls into one. All the player can do is knock him back and run to the exit.
• Degraded Boss: Downplayed, as described above he appears in Bowser's castle as an enemy, but cannot be defeated, and continues to chase Yoshi until the stage is over.
• Implacable Man: He's completely invulnerable to everything in Yoshi's arsenal, and is only defeated by destroying the blocks covering the lava pit and knocking him into it. And then once he pops up in Bowser's Castle, even knocking him into pitfalls doesn't stop him.

The boss of Cloud Cruising. A sentient cloudy mass of candy.

The boss of The Tall Tower. A ghost that's mostly invisible.

The boss of Poochy & Nippy. A fire-breathing genie.The boss of Frustration. A fat, big-lipped dinosaur thing.

Yoshi's Crafted World
Developed by: Good-Feel
Published by: Nintendo
Platform: Switch
Rated: G

RAD
Yoshi's Crafted World is the 8th main installment in the Yoshi franchise, and the second time the green dinosaur has undergone a craft-time paint job, having already starred in Yoshi's Wooly World.

WILL
Yes, but this time he's less wooly, more felty. Our story begins on the peaceful Yoshi Island, upon which sits the Sundream Stone, an artefact holding the power to make 'anyone's wildest dreams come true.' But when Baby Bowser and Kamek try to steal the stone, its gems are scattered across the world, driving Yoshi to embark on a Gem Quest.

Yoshi's Crafted World Bad Guys Youtube

RAD
And quest Yoshi does! Crafted World uses of all the usual platform game ideas to help you get to those sweet, sweet gems. Such as Yoshi's trademark ability to eat objects and enemies and turn them into eggs, then throw said eggs to progress through the levels. And Nintendo's trademark charming platforming where success hinges on carefully timed jumps. I must say, some levels in Crafted World that are really tricky!

WILL
Absolutely, there's quite a few parts that require real precision and a steady grip of the thumbsticks. Most of the time you'll be able to relax and bounce on top of shy guys, collect coins and generally finish with a cheerful Yoshi pose. But then there are levels that rival Crash Bandicoot's Slippery Climb, they had me failing over and over and over... and over [DARREN Chuckling]... wait, was that DARREN?

RAD
You better watch out, he's probably on NOOB Watch again. But I do totally agree, there's some real challenge this time around, which I'm all for! There's still red coins to collect and sunflowers to find, but this now you'll be able to aim your eggs in the 3rd dimension at objects in the background, often giving you that hidden collectable you desire. I thought it added a bit of depth to the gameplay.

WILL
Well, it's about time I say! Speaking of, Crafted World makes use of its new dimension through timed challenges. Knocking on clouds with clocks on them flip the world around to reveal challenges. Hitting coins, picking sunflowers or finding shyguys - these mini games are quite the challenge, in a way that helps to add some real longevity to the game that sets it apart from a simple side scrolling platformer.

RAD
You know what else makes it unique? Dino Heads. Scattered throughout the map are wacky levels with even weirder mechanics. There's one where you have the head of a dino and are able to smash through the world. Another puts you in the body of a massive Yoshi and sets you on Godzilla rampage across the screen. It was such a treat to be given such a silly alternative to the sometimes repetitive simple platforming.

WILL
Yeah, I liked it, but I kind of wanted more. It's like giving me sponge cake but only cutting half a slice. But hey, you know where I can find more sponge cake? Inside Crafted World's quirky art style. Crafted World is just that, a crafted world. With platforms and planes built from card and foam and the lil bad guys even adorably crafted from felt and yarn. Ahh, I love that everything's so soft and warm, and it's not all just a pretty fleece, is it?

RAD
No, it all subtly woven into the level design too. A bit of yarn dangling to pull down a platform, softer materials to be slammed through. It's really clever how the the environment uses materials that behave as expected. It all makes for a seamless journey through the crafted chaos.

WILL
But, even with such fun design, those pesky boss battles just ended up feeling pretty average. Usually just relying on dodging some slow moving attacks and landing a couple of egg shots. They do their job, but I would've preferred a bit more interesting design in that department.

RAD
But how else are we going to get those lovely Gems!?

RAD
But! We should wrap this up Will, what did you think overall?

WILL
Despite not really bringing anything new to the series, I think Yoshi's Crafted World does deliver another lovingly-made platformer with just enough charm to win you over. I'm giving it 4 out of 5 rubber chickens.

Yoshi's Crafted World Bad Guys Movie

RAD
I agree. While I would've liked to see some bigger changes to the Yoshi-Verse. Yoshi's Crafted World is enjoyably more challenging than Wooly World and a whole heap of fun. I'm also giving it 4 out of 5 Rubber Chickens.