Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is Positively Packed with Little Freaks

Yoshi’s Story is a game I’ll likely never return to. Not because I think it’s bad, but because I remember it being good from my childhood. And based on everything I read and hear, my memories are likely to disappoint me with that particular game. 

But that’s kind of how I feel about every Yoshi game, including the sometimes beloved Yoshi’s Island. They're cute, they're adorable, I want to play them because they look fun, but they're boring or annoying enough that I usually put them down as quickly as I picked them up.

To the smallest extent, that’s also true with the dinosaur’s latest outing, The Mysterious Book. But, unlike the others, there’s enough going on here that it never runs into the same problems the other Yoshi games do — namely that they’re too simple for anyone over the age of eight to enjoy.

The conceit behind Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is that Yoshi must … travel into a mysterious book named Mr. E to help him learn about all the weird-ass creatures hiding between his pages.

When you open the book, you’ll flip between a few different biomes, and choose a creature in the vignette staring back at you. Yoshi will then dive into the pages to get a closer look at that specific critter, and test what they’re capable of.

Each of the little freaks hidden within Mr. E’s pages has their own unique abilities and specialties. One creature might act as a water jetpack that allows Yoshi to fly around the level. Another might just be a weird fisherman guy that sits on your back and allows you to fish for objects and other things in the water of their level. And some of the most exciting creatures — usually the final ones in each biome — are huge, and can transform their level with Yoshi’s help.