Streets of Rage 4 PS4 Review

Streets of Rage is a 2D beat em ups game for PS4, XBONE, Switch, and PC which was developed by Lizardcube and Guard Crush Games, and published by Dotemu. It is a continuation sequel of SEGA's Streets of Rage series since 1994.

It's been for 26 years since I've played these classic beat em ups trilogy on SEGA Genesis/MD as I been waiting for the fourth installiment of the series for very long time because I grew up playing Streets of Rage 1 and 2 as a child which is the reason why it is one of my favourite beat em up titles on the system thanks to cast of brawling characters, wicked fighting mechanics, and has the most recognisable upbeat soundtrack that I will never forget how amazing the game plays on the SEGA's 16-bit machine and I got to say the third installiment is not my favourite title in the series, but it's still a decent game on the SEGA's library.

And now I finally get to see a return of the SEGA's bare knuckles title Streets of Rage 4 which I been wanting this game to be happen for modern day gaming featuring a well drawn animation on levels and characters, retaining a similar style as the previous entry, up to 4-players co-op both locally and online, couple of game modes been added to the game, and includes your favourite returning characters as well as two new playable casting that gives the game a solid returning sequel that plays absolutely just like what you are expecting from your favourite beat em up classics that been originated in early 90's.

So without go further do, lets start the review.



Presentation

The game takes place 10 years after the event of Streets of Rage 3, the whole city falls under the control of the new crime syndicates led by Mr.X's children known as the Y Twins, who seeks avenging their father's death, plans to brainwash its citizens with hypnotic music.
So you take control of three ex-police officers as well as newer two joins the mission to take down the Twins and the syndicate gangs.

The game doesn't require a much in-depth story to make it sound better because it started out a simple opening intro with the texts scrolling through which is kinda like what you seen in first Street of Rage as well as you get to see a small short sequence after beating each stage in the game which adds up the plot nicely.
Aside with easy to follow story, you will have an awesome cast of brawlers like the returning such as Axel and Blaze are major two in the series as well as Adam makes his comeback since the first original game, while introducing his daughter Cherry making the first appearance in this game and then you have Floyd who is the cybernetically enhanced apprentice of Dr. Zan, a character from the third game.

I got to say I really liked the opening sequences at the beginning where Axel and his friends start beating shit out of the thugs in animated form which is really cool to watch because it feels very stylistic and intense that's like coming from the animated TV shows.
I also liked the locations in each stage such as the city streets where bunch of thugs lived in hiding places, there are prison and office room in police station, fighting in the cargo ship, underground filled with poisonous waste, fighting inside the temple of chinatown, non-stop train ride, art gallery museums, the music concert and some more featured in the game.


Overall, it has awesome opening sequences, simple story, memorable characters, and great locations.



Gameplay

The game has story mode for both single-player and co-op which gives you an option to play locally or online, while arcade mode focused on one credit only and does not save your progress after beating stage giving a full ultimate experience.

You get to select any of playable characters on the selection screen which each of them has different fighting style, specials, and overall stats.
Axel is balanced fighter, Blaze has better technique, Adam is all-rounder, Cherry is weak but faster, and Floyd is slow but powerful.
During the gameplay, your goal is to beat the stage by taking down all the thugs while heading straight to the boss battle to fight and defeat the bosses to get through the next stage.
You have basic attack by tapping the attack button which hits the enemy, but you can use strong attack by holding the attack button to charge up your attack.
You can hit the enemy from behind by pressing the back attack button and you can attack them in mid-air by pressing the jump button then attack button.
You can perform blitz move that combined with dash forward as well as special moves allowing characters to perform stronger attacks such as Axel's bare knuckle, Adam's spin kick, Blaze's somersault kick, Cherry's guitar attack, and Floyd's launch grab which deals with heavy damage on enemies, but these special moves can also drain your health points in which you may need to keep an eye carefully on your health bar when frequently using the special moves.
A star move may requires a star item which appeared on the stage's objects, so what it do is that it will allow you to perform even more powerful attacks on all-enemies on-screen dealing with even more heavy damages, but it also may affect on your overall scoring system too if wasting all the star points you used during the battle.
The various of weapons and items can be found on stage by destroying the objects, so you will need a food item that replenished your health bar such as apple gives you small amount your health and chicken helps refills your health fully, the money item that boost up your scoring points giving a nice extra bonus, and these weapons that you can use them to stab, hit or throw at enemies that may come in handy, but it breaks off after 5 or 6 hits.

Each of the enemies had different fighting styles such as mob agent that shoots you with pistol, big fat dude can burst the flames out of his mouth, street lady just bitch-slaps you, big karate guy launches you with hard-fist strike when deflecting your attack, shirtless dude performs spin kicks, police stuns you with taser as well as swat team welds their shields. fat biker lady can headbutt you far distance, punk lady threws bunch of chemicals or grenades, and these macho guys just throwing pack of punches.
Like most of the enemies, it had several of mid-bosses and main bosses in each stage such as Koobo that uses telekinesis ability that sends all the weapons, Diva armed with electrified snake, Commissioner is the tough old f***er can throw you off like beast, Nora lashes you with whip, Estel is a Ronda Rousy like officer can knock you out as well as shooting out fire rockets, Barbon looks like Freddie Mercury likes to spin his kicks around, Shiva is a familiar guy who previously appeared in Street of Rage 2 and 3 likes to challenge you once again, Max is one of the ally from first two game has been hypnotised by syndicate's cult music, and couple more of the bosses being featured in the game.

So far, I wasn't being disappointing with the game because it feels like it is another great beat em ups sequel that does not need to change everything to make it look better instead it keeps the whole personality of the game being close and faithful to the classic series.
You got great cast of brawlers that has different fighting ability and strengths that benefits the whole game such as Axel and Blaze are two of my main favourites that I would play as them because it had better fighting style and techniques, while I say Cherry is good fighter but I think her dashing attack is kinda overdone that adds up the combo scoring system too quickly which is not really bad thing.
Adam did share with amazing moves he pulls off, while I say Floyd is rather slow which takes sometime to get used with him but his powerful punches and throwing is pretty done a job right.
You can also play as the retro characters based off from previous entries which requires unlocking by gaining enough lifetime score which is kinda cool to have these guys being included in the game.
The stage segments are pretty fun that involves stuff like evading obstacles in train stages, avoiding radiation in sewers, trying not to be thrown off the elevator, swinging the wrecking ball forwards and backwards, and fighting with the Y twin's machinery that really adds up the fun factor of the whole game.
The boss battles are the best part in the game because it involves tactics and strategy where you need to memorise their attacking patterns as well as evading their projectiles that made the whole battle quite entertaining to play giving a extra challenge.
I liked the story modes for its original single play and 4-player co-op, while arcade mode does give a full arcade action and then you have the battle mode which is a versus duel match where the player fighting against their opponents which I got to say it is a great addition for beat em ups title that needed to add up a tons of extra fun. 

There are some dumbest parts that I wanted to point out is that couple of the enemies such as police are quite a dumbasses because they not aimed to just attacking you but also attacking a thugs who are also aimed to attack you just the same way as the police does which feels more of the triple threat.
It's like three stooges that likes to slap one and another which is the same way did with the police, thugs and players which I thought the enemies are supposed to attack players not their ally.
Thank god it didn't happened in the 4-player co-op where you have the option to turn off the friendly fire which really helps the game a lot without attacking your teammates.

There are one thing that kinda cuts me off is that most of the enemies can able to break your combo scoring system when trying to reach over tons of combo hits that adds up to your score, but when the combo breaks then you will lose your combo points which I finding it quite aggravating because I just wanted to add up my scoring points to get a better overall ranking.

Aside with two disadvantages, I am happy that the game turns out being playable for most part thanks to fighting controls with tons of brawling moves, an entertaining boss battle between the player and the boss, and it does share with fun game modes that really adds up a positive parts in the game.

I also want to mention the controls in the game did give you option to re-config such as modern that is designed for the newcomer of the series, while legacy are based on the SEGA Genesis/MD layouts which is really good for beat em up veterans can able to choose their preference to fit their style of the game. 

    

Overall, it has solid controls, excellent boss fights, and has great game modes.



Graphics

The graphics is amazing with fully hand-drawn animation looks absolutely stunning on characters sprites with many frames that executes pretty well in 2D form.
I also liked the stage design in every locations featuring astonishing background layouts and environmental objects on foreground as well as the colourful details and the use of special effects on whole levels looks fluid and well drawn that really delivers perfectly to this quality game.
I am so glad that the visuals is looked so much different from the previous entries of the series that brings the new environment to this series that needed a modern-day treatment to keep the game more up to date.
You have the options to customise your visuals through option menu lets you change your personal preferences such as filters, shaky screen, details, and ambience.


Overall, it has stunning characters sprites, astonishing background layouts, and colourful visuals.



Music and Sounds
   
I got to say the whole soundtrack is just as epic as the classic beat em up titles with upbeating style of electronics and dance that delivers a similar vibes as first two Streets of Rage.
It was composed by Yuzo Koshiro, a veteran Japanese composer behind the whole series, did such amazing job while collaborating with other two such as Motohiro Kawashima and Olivier Deriviere are also joins in to create a unique 80's/90's styled music that feels just like any of Streets of Rage games.
You can also set retro soundtrack on the option menu to play a music based on classic Streets of Rage games.
The sound effects in the game is nicely made featuring a enemy's grunt voice, cracking barefist sounds, and environmental noise on every locations, but I also liked the use of the classic sound effects from previous game when playing as retro characters.


Overall, it has upbeating soundtrack and great sound design.   



Special Features

The game includes unlockable retro characters based on classic series and gallery art of characters and stages, but for those who owns the physical copy of the game includes the keychains, artbook and reversable cover being packaged as the original edition, while the signature edition adds five characters pins, numbered art card, original soundtrack, and Axel's blue headband which I call it a fantastic bundles for video game collectors.


Overall, an excellent goodies.



Advantages

Recognisable characters

Excellent presentation

Solid gameplay

Entertaining boss fights

Great game modes

Astonishing visuals

Upbeating soundtrack

Cool features

Disadvantages

Stupid enemy attacking their ally (like most of the police officers)

Enemy's cheap combo breaking 

Final Verdict

Presentation 9/10 - awesome opening sequences, simple story, memorable characters, and great locations.

Gameplay 8.5/10 - solid controls, excellent boss fights, and has great game modes.

Graphics 8.5/10 - stunning characters sprites, astonishing background layouts, and colourful visuals.

Music and Sounds 9/10 - upbeating soundtrack and great sound design.

Special Features 8.5/10 - unlockable retro characters,  gallery art, and amazing physical edition goodies.

Overall 8.5/10 - I was so glad that the developers are able to bring back our childhood favourites to the modern-day gaming featuring an appealing visuals design, recognisable characters, memorable soundtrack, and strong fighting gameplay is what made Street of Rage 4 so faithful to the series since 26 years.   

The fans will be pleased to see a triumph return of the SEGA's classic series that we all love back then, so I say this is must play because it is the quality beat em ups title that are totally stepped in the right direction.  

       

       

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Super Smash Bros 3DS Review

Super Smash Bros (For Nintendo Wii U and 3DS) is a Crossover Fighting Games only for 3DS and Wii U. It was developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Published by Nintendo, and it is a 4th installiment title in the series.

I am a huge fan of the series back in my childhood days when I had an hours of fun playing Super Smash Bros Melee for Gamecube is a classic fighting games that really defines my gaming nostalgia as well as Super Smash Bros Brawl for Wii which is my top favourite fighting games of all-time.
Super Smash Bros had growing stronger over the years thanks to countless of playable fighters including third-party roster, total non-stop stages, over-the-top brawling matches, addictive local multiplayer versus, and epic adventure mode which is the reason why I loved Super Smash Bros as a whole series.

I decided to pick up a copy of Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 3DS which I currently didn't own Wii U and Switch at the moment, so I've picked up a 3DS copy to see how this version compares with Wii U counterpart which I will explain it further more on my review.

So without go further do, let's start the review.



Presentation

As you can see that the 3DS version had missing the awesome opening intro of the game which was included on the Wii U version, instead you will see a tutorial video that teaches you how to learn a basics and specials moves in the game, so you can also watch the actual opening intro on YouTube is the only best way to see the game's introduction which I really liked how amazing the intro cutscene involves several of rosters battling each other like Ness wacks Toon Link with baseball bat, Link firing with arrow, Villager capturing Mario with net, Wii Fit Trainer knocks 3 fighters out of screen, DK slamming the bongos, and one of the Starfox's tank barrel rolls at King Dedede that you won't able to see it on the 3DS counterpart.

What I liked about the game is that it has several of the fighting rosters featured in the game such as your favourite returning roster such as Mario, Link, Samus, Kirby, Yoshi, DK, Pikachu, and Fox (While characters like Roy, Lucas and Mewtwo are being featured as DLCs rosters), as well as some new roster being introduced in the game like Shulk, Wii Fit Trainer, Villager, Bowser Jr, Rosalina, Little Mac, Lucina, and Duck Hunt Dog.
While the third-party roster still retain SEGA's Sonic The Hedgehog, it also introduced some characters like Capcom's Mega-Man and Namco's Pac-Man as well as DLCs guests like Platinum Games's Bayonetta, Ryu (Capcom's Street Fighter), and Cloud (Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII).
I got to say I was really impressed with the selection of fighting characters especially with third-party guests is what I've always been dreaming of these guys being included in the another Smash Bros installiment. That makes 51 being included in the game and 7 downloadables roster is just about 19 more rosters than the previous entries of the series.

It also has 34 playable stages including 7 DLC stages in the game such as Mute City (F-Zero), Prism Tower (Pokemon X and Y), Spirit Train (Zelda: Spirit Tracks), Balloon Fight (Same Name), Boxing Ring (Punch Out), Brinstar (Metroid), Corneria (Starfox), Gaur Plain (Xenoblade Chronicles), Green Hill Zone (Sonic), Pac-Maze (Pac-Man), and Wily Castle (Mega Man), while sharing with DLCs stage such as Suzaku Castle (Street Fighter), Midgar (FFVII), and Umbra Clock (Bayonetta) which makes all 41 together in the game.
The game does full shares of unlockable trophies which containing a full bios and description of characters, stages, weapons, assets, and etc to provide the knowledge based on the different franchises.
I really liked the design of user interfaces with bigger fonts, recognisable icons, and images are much easier to navigate the menus such as smash, smash runs, all-star, local versus, training, stadiums, options, and street pass which can be navigated by d-pad and button or touchscreen stylus.

Overall, it has many amazing rosters, wacky stages, great interface design, and trophy's bios.



Gameplay

You will have selection of characters and stages to choose from to begin the match in 2D perspective view where your goal is to beat your opponent by gaining your scoring points as possible within time limits or stock remaining.

Your player can walk by pushing the circle-pad forward, while double-tapping it makes it run fast and pushing up or any of face button to jump, while double pressing it performs double jumping.
You have a three types of attacking system such as basic attack, smash attack, and special attack. The basic attack are just simply attacks the opponent however you can also make various of attack by holding circle-pad up/down or left/right and pressing the attack button as well as tapping attack button 3 times makes amount of combo attack.
Pushing or holding the circle pad and attack button together while charging up to perform smash attack deals with heavy damage at the opponent.
There are 4 special moves that you can able to perform moves by pressing the special attack button as well as same with the pushing the circle pad up/down or left/right and special button together.
For example: each of the roster has different special moves such as Mario and Luigi can throw fireballs, Link and Pit shoots with arrow, Yoshi can ground pound in mid-air, Pikachu zaps with lighting, Kirby inhales opponent to copy ability attack, and Captain Falcon thrusting his firey Falcon Punch.
You can defend your self by holding the right shoulder button to use shield that protects you from opponent's projectiles as well as able to evade their attacks by pushing circle pad left/right while holding the shield button, but your shield likely to warn off causing you to feel dizziness for 5 second.
You can grab your opponent by pressing the shield and attack button together then throw them with circle pad and there are several of attacking items appeared in the match such as home-run bat, wand, poke-ball, hives, blades, crates, assist trophy, bombs, ice and etc. that you can use them during the match, but you can also throw or discard items by pressing the grab button.
When your opponent builds up their damage percentages causing the player to launch them with a smash attack or special attack sent opponent fly off the screen, but if you get launched off the stage then you are likely to save yourself by able to reach and grab near the stage. 
The smash ball will appear in the match where you have to shatter it and then unleash your final smash to perform a powerful special attack on the opponent dealing even more damages.

The game has several of modes to play such as smash modes which is a basically versus mode where you get to set your own match rules such as time mode where you had to knock your opponent off the screen to get more score points as possible within time limit, so the higher the points declared winner, while the stock mode acts as last man standing game where a player wins once all the other players have lost all of their stocks.
You can also customise your own rule set at the rule options such as changing stock lives, time limits, handicap, damage ratio, customisation, stage choice, and item switch, as well as additional rules like team's friendly fire, score display, SD penalty, and pause function.
The 3DS version introduces a new two game modes such as smash run involves blend of platforming and exploration as well as standard fighting or other challenges in the second half of the mode, so your task is to collect all your attributes to strengthen your stats within 5-mins before entering the final battle with opponents.
The Street Smash is a mini-game utilising the 3DS's streetpass functionally involves controlling a token and attempting to knock opponent's token off the top-down perspective stage.
The single-player has classic mode that encompasses a series of battles against various characters as well as given a choice of a set series of paths to choose from, while the all-star mode pits the player against every playable character in the game with a limited number of recovery items available between rounds. 
The stadium has three modes to play such as multi-man smash where you had to knock off all multi-man as possible in pacific objectives like survive for 15-mins, knock out all 100 of mans, and defeat as many opponents as possible before being KO'd themselves, but it also introduces the rival where it challenges one player to defeat more opponents than their rival before they are themselves defeated.    The home-run contest focuses on player must sends the sandbag over metre by knocking it as far as possible with the home-run bat within 10 second and then you have target blast where your task is to destroy as many targets as possible in two rounds by launching a bomb into a structure composed of various blocks filed with targets. 

I got to say it plays absolutely perfect thanks to fluid controls does not require a need of combination moveset like any of 2D traditional fighting game series which is the reason why Super Smash Bros is so much easier to get into with the basic controls that is easy to memorise the moves such as your all 3 attacking system, shields for defence, and grabbing and throwing the items or opponents is what makes this fighting game quite friendly to use.
This game definitely has the best fighting stages in any fighting games filled with many cool stuff in the stages such as completing micro-games in WarioWare stage, epic platforming in Super Mario 3D land stage, fighting on the chu-chu train in Zelda: Spirit Track stage, collecting Pac's pallets and being surrounded by ghosts in Pac-Man stage, flying on starship in Starfox, falling into lava pit in Metroid stage, and many more playable stages with many variation and hazards.
What I liked about the game is that you can able to create your own Miis as fighting roster with customisable fighting moves and attributes as well as you can also customise your character's default moves with the other two variations of each move having to be acquired from finding custom parts such as Mario's fast fireball to fire orb, Luigi's fireball to iceball, and DK's lighting punch to storm punch which brings a newer fighting techniques in the game.
I got to say I really liked the offline VS mode because I liked spending time battling out against CPU or local players in any matches such as 4-players free for all and 2 vs 2 team battle which is the reason I picked this game just for my fun factor, but I heard many of the users of the 3DS version had an issue with the online matches suffered with noticeable lags during the match as well as missing out some of the modes such as offline 8-player matches, special orders, and event mode due to size limitation of 3DS as opposed to Wii U version did not had a same problem with the online play and has way more game modes to play.   
I really enjoyed hours tons of fun packed game modes such as the classic, all-stars, smash runs, and stadium modes that really keeps you very busy with the fighting game like this with tons of replay values thanks to game's difficulty, scoring boards, list of millstones challenges, and tons of unlockable contents which is the reason why Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 3DS is actually the best fighting game on the system.

Overall, it has fantastic fighting controls, epic stages, amazing game modes, and customisable fighting sets.


                 
Graphics

I had to admit the graphics are actually look stunning on the 3DS hardware. It may be not as good as you could say the Wii U version, but it doesn't mean it's anything inferior which is the reason I had to tell you this in whole review.
I liked the overall layout in the stage with great draw-distance of landscape and the environmental fighting stage design is just looked perfectly on the portable screen especially with using the 3D effects is making the both background and foreground feels like a true 3DS quality game.
I also liked the visual effects entirely featuring the use of lighting, shadows, and colours that adds up the overall details of the graphics design and then I got to say the character's animation is remarkably fantastic especially with having the options of changing the outline of character's models such as thick or thin outlines which really helps the looks of the playable roster during the in-game battles.
It does have a solid overall frame-rate with no notable of slow-downs during the gameplay which is pretty good for the Nintendo handheld doesn't cause any of problem in the game.

Overall, it has quality stage design, great visual effects, and fantastic character's animation.



Music and Sound

Super Smash Bros always has the numerous of the legendary soundtrack from different franchises including the originals and arrangements from every stages, so it has songs from Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Metroid, F-Zero, Fire Emblem, Earthbound, and of course the third-party stuff like Sonic, Mega-Man, Pac-Man, Bayonetta, Final Fantasy 7, and Street Fighter.
You can able to listen these song on the sound settings under the my music options to select and play your favourite theme songs for any stages which is kinda cool, but due to 3DS size limitations which this version had less music altogether than the Wii U version leaving with two songs per stage which is kinda bummer doesn't mean you can't enjoy the game without having a numerous of the best songs in the game.
The sound effects in the game stills retains the same sounds as the previous entries of the series except the game has different announcer which is also sounds pretty cool.

Overall, it has numerous of legendary songs and sound effects.



Special Features

This game has photo snapshot where you can able to capture the shot of the match during the pause menu which can be saved into photo albums via SD card.
The trophies shop lets you unlock several of trophies via smash coins, and then it has street pass function, option to transfer to Wii U, and the ability to scan the amiibo figurines. 

Overall, an outstanding features.




Advantages

Excellent presentation

Awesome cast of rosters

Fantastic fighting gameplay

Amazing game modes

Customisable fighting set and creating Mii fighters

Incredible visuals

Legendary soundtrack

Two exclusive modes such as Smash Runs and Street Smash.



Disadvantages

Missing out some game modes compared with Wii U version.

Bad online play compared with Wii U version.



Final Verdict


Presentation 9/10 - amazing rosters, wacky stages, great interface design, and trophy's bios.

Gameplay 9/10 - fantastic fighting controls, epic stages, amazing game modes, and customisable fighting sets.

Graphics 9/10 - quality stage design, great visual effects, and fantastic character's animation.

Music and Sounds 10/10 - legendary songs and sound effects.

Special Features 10/10 - Photo album, trophies, street pass functionally, Wii U transfer, and amiibo functionally.


Overall 9/10 - Despite the Wii U version is slightly better for its exclusive game mode content and online play, the 3DS version of the Super Smash Bros is still a legendary fighting game that I am happy to have it for my gaming collection.
You have the number of your favourite rosters, cool wacky stages, action packed game modes, addicting local matches, and unlockable content that the game is the best way for 3DS owners should able to play this epic crossover fighting games.
If any of you wanted to look for a proper definitive version of this game then you should go for a Super Smash Bros Ultimate for Switch which is 10 times better.

That being said, Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 3DS is definitely not just my favourite fighting game on the system, but it is definitely the best overall quality fighting game that defines the 3DS's legacy.


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Poochy and Yoshi's Woolly World 3DS Review

Poochy and Yoshi's Woolly World is a 2D Platform Game for 3DS, which was developed by Good-Feel and published by Nintendo. It is a 2017's 3DS port of 2015's original title for Wii U being the first home console title since 1997's Yoshi's Story for N64.

I grew up playing a platformer games based on Super Mario series which is a worldwide popular franchise in the retro-gaming days had bought us the games like Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Kart, Super Mario Land, and of course Super Mario World which is a biggest killer apps for Nintendo consoles such as NES, GB, and SNES.
Nintendo went to make a different sub-series based off the character such as Yoshi was first appeared in Super Mario World gets a first title called Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island for SNES
which is heavily regarded as being not just the greatest, but a unique and colourful 2D platformer game ever being released in 1995 thanks to Super FX chip enhancement designed for Nintendo's 16-bit hardware.
After gaining masterpiece reception and sold over 4 million units, the success of Yoshi's Island had established the Yoshi series of spin-offs and sequels such as Yoshi's Story for N64 which is criminally underrated title that didn't get a same love as the predecessor due to focusing more on puzzle-oriented direction over the traditional 2D platformer style which drags away the fans of the first Yoshi game.
Even the Yoshi's Universal Gravitation for GBA and Yoshi Touch and Go for DS is nowhere near as good which is a huge departure of traditional 2D platformer genre does not fit the series personality.
Finally the true sequel made a triumph returns for Yoshi's Island DS bringing a original habit back from the first Yoshi game turns out a solid overall DS title that we all wanted till they butches up with follow-up title for 3DS such as Yoshi's New Island which is a weakest entries of all Yoshi series.

It seems that the Yoshi series are quite has a ups and downs which deems to not had a same success as any Nintendo series such as Super Mario, Donkey Kong, and Kirby had shares with many great entries than the beloved cute-dinosaur hero which is the reason the Nintendo went for a new creative idea for later Yoshi title such as Yoshi's Woolly World is one of the game that got everything right to redeem the quality to its whole series.
It was praised for imaginative art style, creative gameplay, clever stage design, and colourful visuals that Good-Feel, who was behind their work on Kirby's Epic Yarn, did a amazing job of creating the game with fresh ideas and new experience that is so different from any Yoshi's games.
I am focusing on 3DS version of this game to emphasise the important details that is being compared to Wii U version such as visuals, performance, and contents which I will explain further on the review.

So without go further do, let's start the review.   



Presentation

The game sets in a knitted island filled with many Yarn Yoshis of varying patterns are happily peace together until they were being encountered by trouble-maker Kamek the Witch Koopa up to no good by kidnapping all Yoshi's friends for his master Baby Bowser, scattering them across to different worlds.
However, two Yoshis are being lucky for avoid being transformed themselves and they set off their quest to stop Kamek and rescue their Yoshi's friends.

The story is just what you're expecting from the game with basic opening plot is remarkably different from first two Yoshi games. Instead of having all Yoshis to set their adventure of protecting babies or restoring all fruits like from previous Yoshi games, you're just a Yoshi set off to rescue your friends which I think I liked the idea of making the plot just like how Mario set off his adventure to rescue Princess Peach and all Toads from King Bowser from first Super Mario Bros which fits nicely for Yoshi title that is doing something different.
I got to say Yoshi is always been my favourite Nintendo's character for 25 years since I played several of the games that I get to play as him a lot like Mario Kart series, Mario Sports titles, and Super Smash Bros series.
Yoshi is a lovable creature with full of cute and light hearted personality which is the reason why everyone loved him as a character and I also liked his little companion Poochy is a woolly dog that I find him quite adorable.
The villain such as Kamek is hella funny-ass witch because I like how he loses his tempers in every scene before the boss battles as well as Bowser Jr is also acting like a spoiled brat who wanted to conquer Yoshi's homeland to become a future king of the island which I finding these characters quite hilarious in the game.
The whole presentation in the game is full of woolly world made of yarns in every stage locations. I think it made the game lot appealing over the previous title like Yoshi's New Island had suffered with poorly made oil painting style visuals as opposed to woolly made environments that really adds up perfectly for overall in-game design, so it has colourful canyon, spongey cave, kitty hill, firey fortress, tropical beaches, mysterious pyramid, candy land cookies, fluffy snow, and haunting castle that really made the level more eye catching that stands out pretty well for Yoshi games like this.
What I liked about this game is that you can customise and design your Yoshis throughout the Yoshi's hut if you have collected 5 collectable wools items each levels. This will allow you to create your personal appearances of the characters such as Camouflage Yoshis, Mario Yoshis, Moo Moo Yoshis, Shy Guy Yoshis, Jungle Yoshis, Panda Yoshis, SNES Yoshis, Captain Falcon Yoshis, Duck Hunt Yoshis, Samus Yoshis and so many choices that you can create your own favourite Yoshi's skins which is quite awesome, but you also head to amiibo hut to scan your compatible amiibo item such as Yoshi amiibo that transforms Yoshi into non-woolly version of himself.
     
Overall, it has remarkable opening plot, lovable characters, and woolly presentation design.



Gameplay

Like Yoshi's Island on SNES, you'll have 6 worlds with 8 stages including 2 boss battles each as well as unlockable bonus stage.
The game has two difficulty modes such as classic modes that is heavily focused on same style as the earlier Yoshi's Island are highly recommended for those who has previously played the original game, while mellow mode are more like a friendly option which introduced pair of wings ability for Yoshi, taking less damage, Poochy Pup that helps you find secrets in the game.
You get to play as Yoshi in 2D side-scrolling perspective as your goal is to beat the stage by heading to finishing line.

Yoshi stills retains the moveset from earlier Yoshi's Island game such as his fluttery jump that allow him to reach higher area, break objects by using ground pound in mid-air, and his tongue to spit out or swallow enemies that turns into yarn balls instead of eggs which he can only carry up to 8 yarns.
His yarn balls are mainly used for aiming and attacking the enemies gets tied up together as well as creating the hidden path in certain platforms and objects.
Then you will have to collect beads through out levels which can be spent on stuff like Power Badges that allow to enhance ability in limited time such as recover when falling into bottomless pits, granting more powerful attacks, reducing health damage, and watermelon items such as spiting out seeds, fire to melt ice objects, and ice to freeze enemies or fire objects.
Each levels has multiple paths can be accessed through pipes that leads you to bonus area or secrets as well as some hidden walls.
There are some cool segments in some levels that involves Yoshi being transformed into 7 forms like planes that allow him to fly and shoot missiles, umbrella to float in air, mega size to break enemies and objects, motorbike to drive on walls, mole to bore through rocks, and of course mermaid to dive underwater granting his extra powers within a time limit.
Each of the levels had platforming layouts in the game like paddling the wheels, balancing seesaw to reach higher area, running on yarn-roller, evading hazards such as spikes and lava pits, destroying sponge blocks layouts, walking on fluttering bridge, climbing on cages and scarf-rolls, pushing chomps or huge chunks of snowballs through blocked passage, flipping cookie panels, throwing baby puffins to create line paths to walk across, controlling flying carpets and of course you need a boost from the companion such as Poochy has ability to cross through the ground spikes as well as performing high jump to reach higher area as well as smaller puzzle aspects in the game such as finding 4 key to unlock next area, memorising different paths to gain access exit point and solving switch block that causing dotted-line blocks into red blocks to cross obstacles or reach inaccessible areas within time limit.
Each levels has numerous of 5 collectable wools and and 5 flower items can be found in some areas, so if you have collect them all then you will unlock a bonus stage may appear on level select.
As a 3DS version, you get to control Poochy on his bonus mode called Poochy Dash where you had to collect many beads as possible to get a current hi-score as well as completing tasks. 

The controls in the game is just what you expecting from Yoshi games because it is really good to have a control options with your preferred preferences like I always preferred choosing the classic style controls over the modern-controls because it is really easier for gamers like me who previously had played Yoshi's Island on SNES making it easier to aim and throw eggs at enemies and objects which really fits my style of gameplay controls, but I don't think I recommend turning on tilt controls which is kinda pointless for 2D platformer is better off sticking with regular options. 
The levels in the game is quite creative thanks to platforming layouts, transforming segment, and puzzle aspects which I think it creates a new ways of adding the game mechanics which is good for most part, but I think setting the mellow mode on just kinda ruins the fun of the game which allowing you to skip past the level way too quickly, so you better off setting the classic mode on for entire game.
I got to say the boss battle is kinda way too easy especially playing on classic mode because it is easier to memorise boss's patterns and only has 3 damage hits to defeat that I finding the bosses kinda underpowered in my opinion, so I wish they could have add 2 more damage hits and making boss's patterns impossible to evade things that could made the game bit challenge doesn't mean its every thing bad about the game because I fully understand the game is designed for little children, but at least make it bit fairer for pro gamer who enjoys more on mild difficulty.
It's a shame that the 3DS version did not include 2-player co-op like from Wii U version that could have made the game fun with the friends if its included in the 3DS port.
So far, I've managed to enjoy the whole game had turned out to be quite decent thanks to 6 unique worlds with creative levels, collectable items, designing your own Yoshis, and sharing with replay values is what I've liked about the game that is worth playing again in sometime future.

Overall, it has creative levels, clever gameplay mechanics, and fair replay values.



Graphics

The game is visually stunning for 3DS hardware that nails the game perfectly thanks to colourful art-style filled with woolly yarns fit nicely on level environments and detailed characters followed by a great use of animation and special effects that looks really amazing in entire game.
I have no problem with the size of the screen resolution on the 3DS which is smaller compared with the Wii U version that doesn't affect the overall fun of the game regarding with the size of the levels and screen HUD layout is absolutely fine the way it should when playing on your 3DS system.
The overall performance is quite stable in most part which I didn't get any of performance issues entirely and the game are also looked fascinating with the use of 3D effects in most levels.

Overall, it has colourful art-style design, great animation and effects, and stable performance.



Music and Sounds

The original soundtrack does have a similar vibes as Yoshi's Story on N64 which is pretty good for most part in the game.
It has very happy and charming songs for some levels, while others has catchy epic tunes that fits the game's personality, so it was composed by Kazumi Totaka is not the only who created the original music, but also a major voice for Yoshi did a stunning job in whole game.
The sound quality in the game is pretty incredible on 3DS system gets a same charm as the original Wii U version retaining all sound effects and design for whole game.

Overall, it has charming soundtrack and incredible sound design.



Special Features

The craft island has selectable areas to choose from such as Yoshi's hut to customise Yoshis, Poochy's Hut for mini-game, Scrapbook hut to watch cutscenes and bonus videos, amiibo hut to scan amiibo item, and unlockable boss tents.

Overall, an impressive feature.



Advantages

Cutey presentation

Lovable characters

Designing your own Yoshis

Creative levels

Clever gameplay mechanics

Colourful art-style design

Charming soundtrack

Fair replay values



Disadvantages

Missing out 2-player co-op

Mellow mode kinda ruins the game's fun

Way too easy to defeat bosses



Final Verdict


Presentation 9/10 - remarkable opening plot, lovable characters, and woolly presentation design.

Gameplay 7/10 -  creative levels, clever gameplay mechanics, and fair replay values.

Graphics 8.5/10 - colourful art-style design, great animation and effects, and stable performance.

Music and Sounds 8.5/10 - charming soundtrack and incredible sound design.

Special Features 8/10 - Yoshi's hut to customise Yoshis, Poochy's Hut for mini-game, Scrapbook hut to watch cutscenes and bonus videos, amiibo hut to scan amiibo item, and unlockable boss tents.


Overall 7.5/10 - Poochy and Yoshi's Woolly World is a decent 3DS conversion of original Wii U version that didn't disappoint the fan of the series should gets a hands on with another Yoshi's adventures featuring customise your own Yoshis, unique worlds to choose from, has variation of creative gameplay design, and has bonus Poochy's mini-games that is the reason why I've liked the game on my 3DS, but I'll admit the Wii U version is slightly better for including 2-player co-op which adds the fun factor of the game, so don't get me wrong because this version of the game is still stepping in the right direction trying to be just as faithful as the original form.

I am glad that Good-Feel did a solid job on the 3DS counterpart as well as being a better Yoshi's games on the 3DS library since Yoshi's New Island did not live up to our expectation, so this game is only recommended for those who owns 3DS system because I feel that the Wii U owners, who already had the game on their Wii U collection, don't have to buy another version of original game.
That being said, it is a charming 2D platformer that the family and kids can enjoy the full exciting adventures of Poochy and Yoshi's Woolly World.   

         
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