Much like the pink blob Kirby, I’ve never been big on Yoshi’s spinoff games. Even as early as the Nintendo 64 with Yoshi’s Story, I found the green dinosaur’s adventures a little too simple, too wholesome. Yoshi was a fantastic addition to Super Mario Galaxy 2, but he was just that, an addition. It was a Mario game first and foremost. More recently, Kirby’s Nintendo Switch escapade, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, managed to win me over with its wacky power-ups, clever level design, and banging soundtrack, so I was vaguely hopeful lightning might strike twice with Yoshi’s first Nintendo Switch 2 game, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book.
The Mysterious Book in question is, believe it or not, a talking book called Mr. E (get it?) Bowser Jr. is up to his usual antics, entering the world of Mr. E’s pages in search for the Bewilder Bird. This causes all kinds of chaos, so Mr. E asks an island full of Yoshis to investigate his contents, studying the various creatures within, all of which have unique mechanics that play out in a level-based 2D platformer.
Rather than jumping your way from A to B to reach a goal, Yoshi’s mission here is to interact with each level’s creature, discovering all kinds of things about them. This might entail learning what they taste like, whether they sink like a stone in water, or how they might react to a butt stomp. After making the main discovery of each little beastie, you return to the real world to see all your discoveries peppered into Mr. E’s pages and cap it all off by naming the creature.
This is quite an interesting spin on the standard formula of a level-based 2D platformer. It encourages experimentation and rewards trying random things out. What happens when a creature that blows big bubbles eats a chili? Or when a being that multiplies when bounced on fills up a volcano? By giving the player the ability to answer these questions themselves and at their own pace, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book does manage to capture its fair share of Nintendo magic.
That said, there are six worlds, each with 5-8 creatures to learn about, and as you progress, earlier levels will get modified by having other creatures arrive to twist things up. Ultimately, it starts to feel a little repetitive and, dare I say it, a bit like a chore. I don’t really know what the solution to this would be, other than having a whole other side to the game to balance things out with, but regardless, as I made my way through each chapter of the book, I did find my fatigue with the concept slowly growing.
Visually speaking, both Yoshi’s and Kirby’s spinoffs are known for picking a distinct visual style. Whether it’s claymation in Kirby and the Rainbow Curse or knitted puppets in Yoshi’s Wooly World, there’s usually some creative choice being made with these games’ overall aesthetic. In Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, they’ve gone for a picture book style, with the levels fading out into blank pages at the edges and each new creature discovery being scribbled into the background as you make them. While this is a pleasing visual identity, it has certainly been done before, and even ignoring that, it doesn’t really pop here.
For those who enjoy completing checklists and striving to reach 100% in games like this, you’re likely to have a blast uncovering all there is to find about each creature and filling out Mr. E’s pages. Yoshi is cute, the critters are as surprising as they are plentiful, and the visuals are relaxing. If, however, you were hoping for something with a bit more depth or challenge or, hell, even just a tad more traditional platforming, then this is a book that is better off remaining a mystery.
Rating: 7/10
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book was reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2 with a code provided by Nintendo.