Yoshi's Woolly World |
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Also known as: Yoshi Wool World (JP) This game has unused areas. |
Yoshi's Woolly World is the first Yoshi game to be on a home console since the Nintendo 64. This game has a yarn art style, similar to Kirby's Epic Yarn. The gameplay is very similar to the Yoshi's Island games, but without any whiny babies to carry and chase after. Thank goodness!
Oct 18, 2015 Welcome to the Walkthrough for World 2.This world is more challenging than the first, and includes many desert and cavern themed levels. This guide includes videos on how to complete every level. Welcome to the Walkthrough for Yoshi's Woolly World. In the game, Yoshi must set out across six different worlds to rescue and rebuild his fellow yarny brethren, and stop Magi-koopa and his schemes.
The game received a port for the Nintendo 3DS, aptly titled Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, which added even more amiibo and the ability to create custom Yarn Yoshi skins, among other extras.
To do:
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mapdata has 42 archives for test maps. This seems to be used to test out various things such as engine rendering.
In mapdataepic_yarn_kirby, there are 78 stages which quite obviously belong to Kirby's Epic Yarn. However, these might be the files that contain the coordinates of certain map objects à la Super Mario 3D World, or XML-styled formatting.
To do: More test levels can be accessed by editing worlddata.txt in /data/ |
A simple stage with a few objects placed around. The stage appears impossible to complete, due to missing objects being replaced with placeholders.
This stage appears to be a slightly different version of the stage that was shown in Nintendo Direct 23 January 2013. Objects are missing from the stage and are instead replaced with placeholders, most likely due to the object data being missing from the game. It's not possible to complete the stage, as you can't travel to the other side. The level may also lack a goal ring entirely.
One of the more detailed unused stages in the game. It appears that Yoshi would have been able to switch between the foreground and background at least once during this stage, but due to missing objects, it's impossible to do so, and as such not possible to complete the stage.
In the root of the game, there is a test folder full of objects, shaders, and some Miiverse stamps. Shaders and Miiverse stamps are split into two different folders called shader and body_memo_sample.
There are three test shaders within this directory.
This directory seems to have been used for testing out the Miiverse features, such as stamps. While the final game does have stamps, these are done in a very different style. The folder also has .tga and.gtx versions of the stamps, along with an SDK tool for converting .tga images to .gtx called tga2gtxTEstTool.bat (sic). There is also a very humorous drawing of a Swapnote envelope with a body saying 'Hi'.
memo.tga
stamp_73.tga and stamp_73.gtx
stamp_80.tga and stamp_80.gtx
In charatest, there is leftover data for a test character. It may have been used for animation testing of some sort according to the archive size of TESTANIM00.gfa being around 2.4mb in size.
Located at /test/tr_coin_yellow and /test/tr_coin_red are models for the coins and the red coins like the ones found in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Sequenced sounds exist for the objects in the bfsar.
120 - SD_REDCOIN01 to 129 - SD_REDCOIN10
194 - SD_COIN1
There are no other SD_COIN_x sounds.
There are two unused sequenced jingles.
108 - WSD_StageClrDemo
An early stage clear jingle.
109 - WSD_LODING
An early loading theme.
To do: Get this menu working (if it even can still be loaded) so both pause menus can be compared. |
Contained in env/in_game/pause_old.gfa is an older version of the in-level pause menu. This older variant contains a few early versions of existing graphics used in-game.
Old | Final |
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Old | Final |
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Old | Final |
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Interestingly, according to Merino.msbt (the game's text archive), Stamp Patches were once called Mii Beads.
Old | Final |
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Used for testing, it does not use a texture for filter.
Used for testing, it uses LutTest.gtx.
There is a hefty batch of 25 unused light parameter scripts for various test levels. Ranging from environment mapping, stages with UV scrolling, and other render methods such as photo realism.
To do: Check the earlier title versions of Japan and USA base titles and check the update data |
Present in debug/buildRevision.txt.
Japan (v32) | Europe | USA (v17) |
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Present in bootConfig.txt.sample.
Original |
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Translation |
Present in bootConfig.txt.viewer_sample.
Original |
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Translation |
data_gfa_convert.bat in the game root is a batch file probably used by Good-Feel to create a .gfa file, in this case, data.gfa.
Original |
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Translation |
Present in env/convert_in_game_gfp.bat.
Original |
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Translation |
Present in test/body_memo_sample/tga2gtxTEstTool.bat.
Original |
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Translation |
sound/SoundDisableCallFrame.bson has text in it. The single kanji in this file (found on line 6) simply means 'Wednesday'.
To do: Any more? |
Despite the fact that the American version was released four months after all other versions and unlike more recent Nintendo games which had two completely different English translations, the American and Australian/European versions have only minor textual differences.
North America | |
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FINE! Burt, hitch up your trousers and GO BUST UP THAT YOSHI! | FINE! Burt, hitch up your pants and GO BUST UP THAT YOSHI! |
This change was necessary because 'pants' refers to outerwear in American English and underwear in British English. Even though the American meaning is used in Australia, the British English version of the line is still used; however, 'trousers' is technically still not incorrect.
A handful of Yoshi Design names differ between the American and European versions:
To do: Check the Japanese version. |
Australia/Europe | North America |
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Candyfloss Yoshi | Cotton Candy Yoshi |
Duck Hunt Duo Yoshi | Duck Hunt Yoshi |
Night-Time Yoshi | Nighttime Yoshi |
Sonic the Hedgehog Yoshi | Sonic Yoshi |
Wii U Yoshi | Wii U Deluxe Yoshi |
The scrapbook option has different names across regions.
Australia/Europe | Japan | North America |
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Scrapbook Theatre | Memory Theater (おもいでシアター) | Scrapbook Theater |
In addition to all the enemies except Kamek having separate names for the Japanese localization, one entry was altered even in English.
Australia/Europe | Japan | North America |
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Giant Nep-Enut | Big Unbaba (blue) (ビッグウンババ(あお)) | Nep-Enut |
The red and blue variations of this enemy were previously translated as Gargantua Blargg and simply Nep-Enut respectively in English localizations of the Yoshi's Island series. The European localizers apparently didn't notice that no small version of a Nep-Enut exists in this game, or in any Yoshi game for that matter. This was caught by the North American release.
Yoshi's Woolly World's project name is Merino according to the game's text archive. Merino is a sheep breed that is commonly used for their wool.
The Yoshi series | |
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NES | Yoshi • Yoshi's Cookie |
SNES | Yoshi's Cookie (Prototype) • Yoshi no Cookie: Kuruppon Oven de Cookie Super Mario World • Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island • Tetris Attack • Yoshi's Safari |
Game Boy (Color) | Yoshi • Yoshi's Cookie • Tetris Attack |
Nintendo 64 | Yoshi's Story |
Game Boy Advance | Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 • Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 • Yoshi Topsy-Turvy • Yoshi Sample |
Nintendo DS | Yoshi's Island DS (Demo) • Yoshi Touch & Go |
Nintendo 3DS | Yoshi's New Island • Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World |
Wii U | Yoshi's Woolly World |
Another staple of each world are the boss courses, one for a mini boss and one for the big boss. Each boss is lovingly rendered in yarn, and they really pop visually. They also typically make use of 3D effects, leaping back and forth between the background and foreground. I can only imagine how incredible that would look on the 3DS, but it still looks pretty cool on the Wii U. While each of the main bosses is unique, the mini bosses are reused a bit. Granted, each time you fight them they’ll have a new gimmick, but I would have preferred having all the bosses be unique. Furthermore, most of them are pretty easy once you get their pattern down and recognize their weakness, but even then I died a few times against the later bosses. I would say that, overall, the boss fights in the original Yoshi’s Island were probably better. However, the fight against Miss Cluck the Insincere is a very memorable and fun one.
On the visual side of things, what can I say? The game looks utterly remarkable, full of lush, vibrant colors. You can almost feel how soft the levels look. It’s truly remarkable how well everything translates to Good-Feel’s signature look. What’s especially impressive is how effects such as fire and water are handled with yarn. You’d think they would look cheesy, but scarves of lava are still quite menacing, and the way threads of blue ripple in a body of water is breathtakingly beautiful, and quite a bit strange. On the audio side of things, the game is less impressive. While the sound effects are great, such as the way Yoshi grunts as he flutter jumps, the frenzied sound of platforms knitting themselves to life, or the pop of Bullet Bills firing, the music is less so. My problem is how mellow most of the songs are, completely lacking any sense of urgency. Granted, there is no time limit in courses, but I still prefer a more frenetic soundtrack. There are a few fast paced tunes, but they are overwhelmed by the torrential tide of slow, easy listening songs.
Though I mentioned earlier how clever the mixture of elements in the game is, it bears mention that some stages in the game, probably between 20-30%, are utterly brilliant, making intuitive and smart use of the gameplay mechanics. Granted, none of the courses in the game are boring or poorly made, but when held up against the mirror of these stages, they don’t hold up so well. To list a few of my favorites, there is one Pyramid level populated with Shy Guy Pharaohs who knit themselves back to life after being eaten; the Spooky Scraps stage, where parts of the stage can only be traversed while revealed by a eerie curtain, and regular enemies are transformed into hungry ghosts; and the Fluffin’ Puffin stage, where Yoshi collects and hurls little birds who leave a trail of clouds to walk across. These are only a handful of these exceptional levels, and if every course was like this, Woolly World would get my Wii U game of the year award, hands down.
Ye gods was this level hard…
As far as replay value, there is quite a bit in Woolly World. There are six main worlds to beat, each with 8 courses. As if that wasn’t enough, finding all the Flowers, Wonder Wool and Stamp Patches in each world is quite a feat, and doing so will unlock a hidden 9th course. Though I have only managed to unlock one of these so far, if it’s anything to go by, the hidden courses are all incredibly challenging. This one in particular consisted of a entire stage of rushing waves of water, and absolutely no ground or checkpoints. You have to hover constantly, timing it right to land on the crest of a wave. Throw in a few Piranha Plants and Shy Guys, and this level is more challenging than any stage in the original Yoshi’s Island. That’s particularly impressive to me, and I highly anticipate unlocking and besting all of these hidden stages. As if that wasn’t enough, by beating all 6 worlds you unlock something called the Boss Tent, where you can face off against more difficult forms of each boss in the game for even more prizes.
Naval Piranha returns to usher in this Little Shop of Horror moment…
Overall, I was very pleased with Yoshi’s Woolly World. My playthrough took around 13 hours, and that’s without finding all the hidden goodies. When you factor that in, you probably have 15-20 hours of fun, more if you decided to take things slow and play on Mellow Mode, or try out co-op with a buddy. It took 20 years, but I feel Woolly World is the successor that Yoshi’s Island has always deserved. I’m really happy with it, and it truly shows how talented Good-Feel is at treating a beloved franchise with care and respect. I highly recommend this to fans of Yoshi, young and old, and hope this isn’t the last adventure for Mario’s plucky dinosaur steed.
Review Copy Purchased by Author; Author bought the amiibo bundle for $59.99.