Yoshi’s Land - What we want to see in Yoshi’s first solo Wii U game

Yoshi’s Story is the black sheep of the mainline Yoshi games, mostly because it’s mediocre compared to the unforgettable classics that he’s appeared in before and since. Even if the content in the N64 sidescroller was a little light, the children’s storybook style was way ahead of its time, and definitely worth returning to.

Similar to the style used in Kirby’s Epic Yarn and recently reintroduced to Yoshi fans in Nintendo Land attraction Yoshi’s Fruit Cart, the aesthetic is seemingly on some Nintendo employees' minds already. The low-fi, children’s book appearance works for the all ages feel of the Yoshi series, and more importantly, it could really look great in HD. And as nice as it could look in 2D, we hope to see it in three dimensions.

Yoshi has had a strange relationship with three dimensions. Most of his solo games have been 2D adventures, but he’s also appeared and been playable in multiple 3D Mario games. Yoshi’s never really had a 3D, polygonal adventure of that he could call his own, something Yoshi’s Land should really rectify.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 has already created a terrific standard for controlling Yoshi, getting his fluttery jumps and stretchy tongue to work perfectly in 3D space. Now all they need to do is dump the extra baggage--aka Mario--and let the dino fly free. And unlike the prospect of another Yoshi sidescroller, a 3D game is full of potential ideas that the talented developers at Nintendo have never tried before.

In case you haven’t been paying attention to the many Mario sports, party, and other assorted spin-offs, Yoshi has been making a habit of teaming up with the franchise’s other bipedal dinosauric character, Birdo. Known for being just a little bit weird, Birdo has gotten pretty close to Yoshi over the last 10 years, so it’s about time that they teamed up in a non-spin-off, perhaps taking advantage of that new fangled co-op everyone keeps talking about.

Imagine player one using the GamePad to control Yoshi while player two holds either the Pro Controller or a Wii Remote/Nunchuk combo. Both will possess similar speed and jumping abilities, but while Yoshi eats enemies and tosses eggs, the second player will spit eggs while looking fabulous in Birdo’s pink bow. And if she were included, we’d break that “no new babies” rule, because it’d be adorable to see Birdo accompanied by a toddler version of Princess Peach.

Assuming we’ll be using the GamePad to navigate levels as Yoshi, the traditionalist in us wants all the controls mapped to the analog sticks and face buttons. However, that doesn’t mean we’d hate the option to use motion controls at least some of the time for basic Yoshi moves, so we hope Nintendo has those as well as regular controls, like they did in New Super Mario Bros. U.

What motions would fit Yoshi’s arsenal? How about tilting the controller to aim an egg toss? And since Yoshi is a master of the Ground Pound--or Butt Stomp as some prefer--how about shaking the GamePad down while Yoshi is in the air to make him slam into the earth? Lastly, how about flicking the controller upward to get Yoshi to perform a Flutter Jump? We’re not saying these moves should be mandatory, we’d just like to try it every now and again.

Work with us, here, because things are about to get weird. While we think the game should control relatively plainly, with analog sticks and buttons and everything, we think there should be some first-person tongue shooting for super precise licking--and it should totally use the GamePad’s screen to make us feel extra Yoshi-like.

Essentially, we want it to control like the archery mini-game in Nintendo Land--hold up the GamePad to get a first-person view, and move the screen around to aim. Though we don’t think this should be used all the time (far be it for Nintendo to turn Yoshi’s Land into a latterday Metroid Prime), we think it could add some fun variety.

Yoshi’s Fruit Cart wasn’t really the most innovative game in Nintendo Land, and the single-player nature kept us from playing it too much, but we don’t want to see Nintendo outright abandon the silly minigame. If it’s ever going to bring back the “drawing a line on the GamePad to move around on the screen” genre, it should do so in Yoshi’s Land.

With enough tender love and care, Yoshi’s Fruit Cart could be an addictive, engaging puzzle game. Add in more things to do than pick up fruit in different orders, or figure out how to work in multiplayer support, and BAM! Nintendo has its own Geometry Wars. See how that works? So simple.

Do you have any clever ideas of what to do with a new Yoshi game for Wii U? We'd love to hear all about it in the comments!

Want more of Mario and his friends? Check out our list of the Mario’s most memorable boss fights and a blast from the past of Unknown Mario - 40 obscure facts and random trivia about Nintendo's mascot.