I played Yoshi and the Mysterious Book and haven’t had this much fun playing a Yoshi game since the Super Nintendo

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a return to form for Mario’s beloved sidekick, but with plenty of interesting areas to explore and discoveries to make along the way. It ditches the 2.5D visuals and more realistic look of recent Yoshi games for a new 2D, stop-motion animation style that makes the whole game feel like a giant pop-up book.

I have fond memories of playing the original Yoshi’s Island growing up, and Yoshi and the Mysterious Book made me feel the same way with its side-scrolling, 2D gameplay. In fact, even after completing a chapter, I kept coming back to find creatures and discoveries I missed the first time around.

Even though this is Yoshi’s first official outing on the Nintendo Switch 2, the game runs well and plays great. Controlling Yoshi feels smooth throughout, even on busier, more complex levels. However, I was a bit thrown off the first time I saw a loading screen before a level started, and I had to wait longer than expected.

Still, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is the perfect cozy game for fans of the series, especially since you don’t take damage or lose lives. Instead, exploration and discovery are the main focus, which is a nice twist on the classic Yoshi formula.

Is this book and the creatures you’ll discover within its pages worth a read, though? Find out in my full review.

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book: The Basics

• What is it? Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a 2D puzzle-platformer that focuses on exploration and discovery as you investigate new creatures.
• Who is it for? Yoshi fans who want a return to the series’ 2D roots but with a discovery-focused twist.
• What’s the price? Yoshi and the Mysterious Book costs $59 for the digital version or $69 for the physical edition.
• What other games has the developer made? Yoshi and the Mysterious Book was created by the same talented team responsible for past hits like Yoshi’s Crafted World and Yoshi’s Woolly World, as well as Kirby’s Epic Yarn and Princess Peach: Showtime!
• What games is it similar to? With its 2D design, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book feels a lot more like Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. However, the game’s core exploration and discovery mechanics are similar to Pokémon Snap and Scribblenauts.

New book, similar foes

As the name implies, one minute the Yoshis are enjoying their carefree existence on Yoshi’s Island, and the next, a strange talking book who calls himself Mr. E — read mystery — falls from the sky. Since he’s forgotten what’s inside his own pages, he tasks the Yoshis with exploring his various chapters and the mysterious creatures found in them.

It wouldn’t be a Yoshi game without Bowser’s resident wizard, Kamek, making an appearance, though. However, instead of traveling with Baby Bowser like in past games, this time around, it’s Bowser Jr. who joins him instead. This makes sense as Yoshi and the Mysterious Book takes place in the present-day Mario timeline, but it’s also a nice tie-in with the recent Super Mario Galaxy movie.

While most of the game is spent investigating the various creatures found within Mr. E’s pages, you do have several run-ins with Kamek and Bowser Jr. They were some of my favorite moments in the game, as each boss fight sees Yoshi battle a massive creature alongside this meddling pair.

Later boss fights change up this formula entirely, though, and instead of fighting Kamek and Bowser Jr., you spend an equal amount of time saving them from danger.

Turning the page

Gone are the photorealistic textures and objects of Yoshi’s Crafted World, and in their place, we’re met with watercolor-like visuals. The levels within each chapter look as if they’ve been hand-painted, and I really liked how the start and end of each level appear as if they haven’t been colored in yet. The game really leans into the fact that it takes place within a storybook, which works quite well.

Whether you’re exploring a forest, the seaside, or even underground, the chapters and various levels within them in Yoshi and the Mysterious Book are filled with color and life. The game looks just as great in handheld mode as it does on a 4K TV with HDR enabled, too.

When you’re done exploring a level, all of the discoveries you’ve made on the game’s various creatures are quickly jotted down inside Mr. E’s pages. Then, instead of having a classic picture-book-style look, your discoveries appear more like journal entries.

That theme continues once you unlock Mr. E’s Exploration Tools, which you get by turning in Smiley Flowers. For every five you hand in, you get a new exploration tool you can pin to your screen. From showing stats like Yoshi’s current speed to how many eggs you’re currently carrying, they help mix up the gameplay while allowing you to give the game your own custom look.

Overall, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a beautiful game with a simple yet timeless art style.

Gotta study ‘em all

Exploration and then discovery are at the core of Yoshi and the Mysterious Book’s gameplay. First, you explore a new chapter by interacting with a lone creature on the page. Once you’ve studied and named said creature, another one will be revealed, and you can then study it in the next level. That sense of discovery kept me hooked, especially as there isn’t a time limit or damage to worry about. Instead, I was free to take my time and explore each level at my own pace.

Since you’re helping Mr. E study the creatures in his pages, he takes detailed notes throughout each level. One creature might taste delicious while another has Yoshi recoiling after sticking out his tongue. All of this info, along with the way creatures interact with Yoshi, each other, and their environment, is recorded.

Given how the game pushes you to experiment in these open sandboxes rather than follow a straight path, the level layouts can occasionally get slightly confusing when you're hunting for that last interaction. However, you’re rewarded with stars for uncovering new things about each creature, and subsequent chapters require a certain number of them to be unlocked for you to progress.

For a 2D puzzle-platformer, there’s a lot of thought that goes into each level, and I really liked how my past discoveries influenced how I approached later levels. For instance, knowing how a particular creature reacts to water might be the difference between missing a discovery and uncovering one on another level.

As you learn about new creatures, the Index at the back of Mr. E’s book begins to fill up. You can revisit your findings along your journey, and eventually, the knowledge you’ve gained about the game’s various creatures comes back into play. Along the way, though, you’re running, jumping, and flying through the air with a new creature in Yoshi’s mouth or perched upon his back. Yoshi’s movements feel very responsive, and just making your way through each level as you uncover hidden rooms and areas is a whole lot of fun.

Just one more discovery

Although I’d recommend taking your time and completing Yoshi and the Mysterious Book at your own pace, the game’s sense of discovery and exploration kept me playing longer than I intended to each time I played. Seeing the overworld of each chapter come to life with new creatures quickly got addictive, as did finding new discoveries in each level along the way.

Being that this is a Yoshi game after all, it’s not overly difficult. Yes, you do need to earn a certain number of stars to unlock each new chapter. However, as I worked my way through the five main levels in each chapter, I uncovered enough discoveries that I never needed to backtrack just for stars. Instead, when I did backtrack, it was because I wanted to.

Once you unlock the next chapter, nothing’s stopping you from progressing. I don’t even think you necessarily have to complete each boss fight to do so. However, as I mentioned before, the boss fights are some of the best I’ve seen in a Yoshi game yet. Likewise, you do learn a bit more about the game’s story and what’s driving Kamek and Bowser Jr. to explore Mr. E’s pages when you do.

Even after completing a chapter, though, I found myself going back and looking for new creatures to study on Mr. E’s pages. Those extra levels were a lot of fun, and adding to the index feels a lot like building out your Pokedex in Pokémon. It was only towards the end of the game that I realized just how important the discoveries I made along the way actually were.

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book review: Verdict

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a charming and surprisingly fun 2D puzzle-platformer. It makes excellent use of the Switch 2’s more powerful internals, even if those longer load times before each level did throw me off. The return to true 2D is a welcome change for the series, and I almost feel like Yoshi and the Mysterious Book reinvents the tried and true Yoshi formula in a similar way to Super Mario World.

If you’re looking for a more serious platformer where every dodge and jump counts, this game likely won’t be for you. However, if you want a return to Yoshi’s Island but with the freedom to explore and discover a whole host of unique and interesting creatures, then it’s an absolute must-play.

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