Yoshi and the Mysterious Book | Nintendo Switch 2 | REVIEW

''R-E-A-D-ABO OK!''

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Developed: Good-Feel

Published: Nintendo

Genre: Puzzle Platformer

Release Date: May 21st, 2026

Platforms: Switch 2

GAME PROVIDED TO ME BY NINTENDO

Yoshi is back in a brand new adventure titled Yoshi and the Mysterious Book and it is developed by Good-Feel and published by Nintendo. With Yoshi having been absent from having a mainline series game for seven whole years, Nintendo decided now is the time to resurrect our little friend and give them the spotlight once more - but was this the right time and style to bring Yoshi back with? or should they have tried something else entirely? Only one way to find out, so lets do the dinosaur!

''MOVE OVER BLUES CLUES''

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GAMEPLAY:

Our cute little dinosaur is back after with a new mainline entry for the little friend after having spent roughly seven years without a new game, yes you heard that right, seven freaking years. While that may seem like a long time to wait for Yoshi fans, how do you think I personally feel as a long time and die hard Mario fan? Its closing in on ten years since that latest 3.D. Mario entry and I'm starting to feel like someone trapped in a padded room with how crazy I'm going - just lock me in Arkham Asylum at this point, I'd get along with Joker just fine. I'd be laughing hysterically at all the franchises in the meantime that have gotten entries and someone would be like ''girl, whats wrong!'' and I'd be like ''you wouldn't get it''. I can see it now, I'm laughing maniacally because Bubsy got a new game before Mario did and someone is like ''You haven't got a new Mario game in TEN years, but Bubsy has, and you think that is funny?'' and I'd turn to them and say ''I do, and I'm tired of pretending its not''. Jokes aside, I'm stoked to playing a new Yoshi entry with having grown up with the green little guy all the way since just plain ol Yoshi and even Yoshi's Cookie on the original Nintendo. Whether I was switching the shapes of characters around like Bloopers, egg shells or Goombas in a game of Yoshi Tetris in the N.E.S. game simply labeled ''Yoshi'', or arranging cookies around in a game I had no clue how to play as a kid growing up in the mid 90's with Yoshi's Cookie, its safe to say I loved the cute dinosaur from the start, and that love only grew the more entries I found him in, whether it be spin offs or mainline, it didn't matter. Although, I didn't like his ''Mama Luigi'' stint in Super Mario World cartoon, I do try to forget about that. Strangely enough my next outing with him didn't come via Super Mario World itself, since I had seen a game called Yoshi's Safari advertised in a gaming magazine, and having just got a Super Scope myself, I thought it looked really fun, and I already had, played, and loved Battle Clash with the Scope, so getting Yoshi Safari was my next big bet and... I was absolutely right. Say what you want, but I had a blast with Yoshi's Safari with on-rails gameplay shooting at fly by Goombas, fighting Lenny in his giant mech, shooting away Hammer Bros hammers, it was friggin awesome - but the most fun games featuring our egg pooping friend were still on the way.

My next step was a game that needs no introduction, Super Mario World. You guys don't need me to explain how awesome the game is, which you've heard 5 billion times before, but as a kid, I was conflicted over it, not on whether it was good or bad, but because of how many times I'd sacrifice my poor Yoshi in order to save myself at a goal or from a pit... I felt like I was abandoning a friend, and an innocent animal, and I figured I was just being evil and wondered what others would think of me doing this. Well that was answered years later with good ol America Online and the internet, as I soon found out, EVERYONE has done this and most even enjoyed it - and it had me going ''HE JUST LIKE ME! FOR REAL FOR REAL'' just like the eventual meme. Come to think of it, that game is probably why I became accustomed to tossing the little Penguin off the ledges in Super Mario 64.... I have....issues. Obviously I got into Yoshi's Island too, but Baby Mario's constant crying just makes me get a headache even thinking about it, so we'll just move on from that cause you already know, Yoshi's Island is just a masterpiece. I think went from straight up masterpiece to straight up confusion because my next stop was Yoshi's Story and immediately upon booting up the game, I became confused by what I was hearing, not because of the super cute singing by all the different Yoshi's, but what the lyrics actually sounded like. I'll let you listen for yourself. Ok did you hear that? Yeah I bet you did, it sounds like ''Poo, let them all Poo''. First off, who's poo'ing and secondly why are they doing it. Did they have Taco Bell? I bet they did, no other reason why they have to poo other than that. Dont worry though Yoshi, here ya go, Pepto Bismol. Jokes aside again, Yoshi's Story was very good and a ton of fun, but it was after that heading into the next entries where the franchise sorta of lost its identity with a subpar Yoshi's New Island 3.D.S. version, then two very easy games that tried to replicate a similar style of Yoshi's Island but in two different art forms, one dealing with Wool and the other with Arts and Crafts. Both titles, Yoshi's Woolly World and Crafted World, at least for me, were very fun, but suffered from the same fates similar to that of Kirby's Epic Yarn in that they were WAY too easy, offered little to no challenge to the player, young or old, and played it entirely safe with straight forward Yoshi's Island style of platforming and direction. I mean that's a good formula to work off of, but at this point, you want the franchise to move in a forward direction and try newer and more bold ideas - and this is what brings us to our brand new game, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book with this entry trying to get it right and move this franchise forward the same way we've seen Mario, Zelda and even the upcoming Star Fox do or attempt to do, and for the most part, it delivers, but in some other areas, it does also play it safe, I'll explain.

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''BETTER THAN GATORFACE''

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Yoshi and the Mysterious Book revolves around the themes of both discovery and experimentation, which is the opposite of what the previous two titles of Woolly World and Crafted World attempted, and instead of your traditional platformer, once again, similar to Yoshi's Island, you're instead offered both a very different take on the Yoshi formula, but also something that feels very Yoshi coded, similar to the vibe I got with Yoshi's Story back on Nintendo 64. The game involves a lot of trial and error as you find, collect and discover new creatures to be found as you explore the pages of the story, with each new creature you meet and encounter being unique themselves and their own little experience. The game has you set working alongside Mister Encyclopedia with his amazing mustache and monocle. Alright, I'm just going to say this now, if I wake up in the morning and we have a new Mandela effect and Mr Encyclopedia no longer has a Monocle just like the Monopoly man, I'm going to be raging, just saying. Much like every new ''area'' in a traditional Mario or Yoshi game offers a different change in scenery to each level, so to do the levels in general here change. Think of each page you choose to play in as similar to Blue's Clues where Blue could jump into a painting and then enter a new world - that same concept works here too in Mysterious Book as each level offers a new biome habitats that all have their different types of creatures to discover and interact with. I mean if Blue can do it, surely Yoshi can to right? ''If Yoshi Skidoo, we can too''. Here in Mysterious Book, instead of collecting an item and making it to the goal like the majority of Yoshi games, this time you must search each book page in search of new abilities via the creatures you find and then use their abilities to help you solve the puzzle that leads to you finishing the level, which of course, due to the variety and nature of each creatures of ability and habitat, obviously no page is the same as the next and each offering different solutions to solve based off the inherited ability of any creature you come across. So how does this even happen? how do magical books even just appear out of nowhere? simple, dementia. I know that sounds like I'm trying to make a joke, but I'm honestly not, because that's exactly what happens because Mr Encyclopedia comes crash landing onto Yoshi's Island out of nowhere after forgetting everything he knew about the creatures inside his book, so memory loss, amnesia or dementia, you take your pick and you're correct. So because he has no clue what's even in his own book, he enlists the help of all the Yoshi's of the island to jump into the pages of his book and help find every single creature in order to label them once again. When entering a book page, the art style changes to a children's book painting like style but moving as if the game was similar to actual stop-motion, and like you've heard me rant about before in past reviews, I absolutely LOVE stop motion, especially when done extremely well like a recent game I loved called Harold Halibut - go check that game out if you have the time. Yoshi and the Mysterious Book falls into the ''extremely well'' category in regards to its stop motion, because mixed with the childrens book like aesthetic with it, just makes the game look absolutely gorgeous and stunning.

While the traditional goals of a Yoshi game have changed, obviously you do not lose the ability to pull off classic Yoshi moves like eating things to poop out an egg or to do your Taco Bell grunting flutter jumps, no, those are still intact, dont worry. As you travel through each page and find new creatures, you'll be able to ride on their backs similar to how you could ride on Poochy in past games, eat them and keep them safe inside your mouth, let them ride on you and figure out alongside them how to navigate obstacles and puzzles to solve an issue or puzzle. By using this approach, it allows every new page and biome you partake in to feel different from one another and more rewarding due to the fact that the game makes you feel like taking the time to experiment with creatures and their abilities, as well as explore around each page, actually worth doing rather than just a straight up and down checklist to do. Plus it offers humorous ways to be a jerk to all your new creature friends in a similar manner like we all were to the poor penguin in Mario 64, by flinging them around all over the place as an '''accident''... yes... thats what it is... just an accident. FLY YOU FOOL. Stretch silly creatures out like a string, lick creatures to reveal what flavor they are, all while trying to document them in Mr Encyclopedia's book in order to earn stars that are used to unlock the next page in his book. I'd like to say this game is harder than previous Yoshi games, but that would be a half truth because overall this game is very easy once again, but its difficulty lies in the details of its level design and figuring out the solution to each puzzle as you explore the levels. While some of these obstacles might be a breeze to get through and require very little thinking overall, which is good for my little brain that runs off one brain cell and a slice of pizza, others can get a bit confusing since even with Mr Encyclopedia's hints here and there, its not always obvious what to do or what ability to use. However figuring it out is to your advantage because you'll be rewarded with a boss fight here and there that are just as fun and charming as the overall game itself and offer up just enough challenge to make them feel like a warranted reward for your brainstorming on puzzles. There is ONE mistake though that Nintendo made in this game that will be their un-doing, and an act so bad that repercussions will be felt for generations to come... and that is.... giving me the ability to name each and every creature to whatever I want. Oh yeah Nintendo, you dun messed up, say hello to Mr. Constipation!

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''KAMEK IS GONNA NEED A BIGGER BOAT''

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OVERALL:

At the end of the day, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book does try to be different than the previous two games that came before it with more of the emphasis being on exploration and discovery, but because of this is also where it can feel a bit hindered too since the story overall is a afterthought lost to the main event that is discovery and experimentation of abilities, which is sort of a bummer considering Bowser Jr and Kamek are also villains in this tale. The game at times can also flip flop on difficulty with some puzzles being WAY too easy and others being confusing to the point where you have to scratch your head for a moment to re-think your position, so if you're a parent with a little kid playing this game or me, you might want to help them out on certain parts of the game should they get frustrated. However even with those downsides, Mysterious Book with its gorgeous art style, fantastic stop-motion animation, rewarding exploration and ability testing, unique and cute creatures to name, head bopping music, fun puzzles and obstacles to overcome alongside silly boss fights, makes Yoshi and the Mysterious Book the most fun I've had with a Yoshi entry in a very long time, even if it plays it safe at times. So with all that having been said, my verdict is clear, GameNChick says BUY NOW.

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