I'm only at World 2, but this game really does prove that Yoshi is back. Finally. I was worried about how this game would feel/play, as I was bored beyond measure by Epic Yarn, but Woolly World is everything a Yoshi game should be and
maybe more.
The music is better than I expected, but still not as good as I'd hoped. I would have loved it if more of the songs were like that of the acoustic intro one. It's not that the music is bad, just that Good-Feel seems to have a hard time making the music feel like a Yoshi game, or a Kirby game. It worked, for the most part, with Wario, but not with the others. Someone please tell me how, for example, the music from the Blargg level in World 2 even remotely sounds like a Yoshi song. It just doesn't fit. Many of the songs work, but it seems many more just barely, or not at all. It's a shame, really, as the game is, overall, an amazing one.
The visuals, however, are certainly impressive. While not as crisp as I would have liked, everything pops, and the crafty look is most lovely to be sure. I'd just have preferred the backgrounds to be a little more detailed or less blurry looking (though, any sharper/more detailed and it'd clash, perhaps, with the foreground). But the use of color is quite something. I love how the color of the yarn ball fired dictates the color of the platform created, or whatever it hits really. Nice touch. And yarn koopas with button shells? The Cutest enemies ever? Yes, I think so.
What stood out the most at the start of the game was the lack of a health guage or timer or yarn ball count or anything of the sort. Just a clean screen in which to view and play the game. Is this a first for Nintendo? I like it. A lot.
I'd also like to say how much I appreciate the controller options. Since the GamePad screen isn't used, there's no sense holding that heavy thing. So I tried the Pro Controller, and then realized how much I hate that confused mess. Then I tried Hori's GameCube controller. Perfect! And next I tried Hori's SNES pad. Even better!! It's now like playing the SNES classic.
Thank goodness, after all these years, 2D gaming is still going strong.