Yoshi’s Crafted World demo is a pure delight

Man, Nintendo sure knows how to make something purely delightful. This weekend, between bouts of Trials Rising addiction (full review coming soon), I managed to download and partake of the short but sweet Yoshi’s Crafted World demo on the Nintendo eShop. Like Yoshi’s Island before it, the non-rushed format of the levels leave room to explore, uncover secrets, and take in the scenery.

The thing about Yoshi’s Crafted World is that it’s not a game where you need to rush through each level to beat a timer. Your job is to collect everything you can in each world, and sometimes that means revisiting the levels. Yoshi’s Crafted World’s demo isn’t exactly filled with a ton of content. It’s basically one level, with a glimpse at the alternate tasks your given to go back and revisit the design in some other way.

Like Yoshi’s Woolly World, the entirety of Yoshi’s Crafted World is like a dreamscape where your very talented Aunt Milly has scrapbooked an entire universe with her barehands. The level in the demo is a simple one, but utterly beautiful in the way the paper-crafted train comes into play near the end. When you’re sent back in to do the level again after completing its first run, it’s to toss eggs at 5 easily spied cows littered through the landscape.

It’s a simple but an effective way to get some extra mileage out of each level. If you’re not into collect-a-thons like Yoshi games tend to be, you might be wondering if there’s anything here for you. If instead you like the frenetic pacing of the Meat Boy games, or even the recent re-release of New Super Mario Bros. U, then you might be a little confused at the more leisurely pace of Yoshi games.

But to me? that’s precisely why I like them. They’re a nice break from the breakneck speed of today’s platformers, a chance to explore, solve puzzles, and feel accomplished when you manage to find every hidden doodad. I’m definitely looking forward to playing the final game later this month.