Yoshi and the Mysterious Book preview: A choose-your-own-adventure even adults can love - Engadget

In Yoshi's latest side-scrolling journey, you get more freedom than ever to decide how the story plays out. We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. Yoshi's solo titles have always been a product of contrasts: lovingly crafted art styles belying somewhat thin gameplay meant to appeal to a younger audience. But after getting the chance to preview Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, it feels like Nintendo has created a cozy side-scroller that retains the accessibility of earlier titles while adding extra depth and replayability for gamers of all ages. As you'd expect from Nintendo's lovable green dino, Yoshi's moveset consists of familiar techniques like his signature ground pound, egg toss, extendable tongue and jumping flutter kicks, the latter of which now last longer than ever before. Seriously, if you get enough height, you can float across entire levels. However, one new mechanic is that Yoshi now also possesses a tail flick that allows him to toss certain enemies onto his back. Not only is this a nice twist after years of often being treated as a beast of burden by Mario and co., it also allows Yoshi to use whoever he's carrying to interact with other elements in t