Gentle and generous, Good-Feel delivers its best game yet in this imaginative and breezy platformer.

1. Yoshi's Crafted World Map
2. Yoshi's Crafted World Last Level 2017

'Yoshi's Crafted World is at its best when it's relaxing and pleasant. The 2D-to-3D level design keeps you curious while the go-at-your-own-pace approach keeps the pressure off and leaves you to appreciate the small, imaginative details.

The key word here, really, is craft. It's there, first of all, in the aesthetics of this, Good-Feel's second outing with Yoshi (or third if you want to be really picky and include the 3DS offshoot with Poochy). This a world of lollipop sticks and sticky-back plastic, where discarded cereal boxes stand in for rolling mountains and cardboard clouds are suspended on lengths of string; a world where Shy Guys blow into straws to keep ping pong balls afloat so that you can skip along them to your goal.

Yoshi's Crafted World review

• Developer: Good-Feel
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Platform: Switch
• Availability: Out March 29th on Switch

It's there, embedded a little deeper, in what's a meticulously engineered side-scrolling platformer - perhaps the best to have come from Nintendo since 2012's Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. It's certainly Good-Feel's finest creation yet, a world away from the slightly stale Yoshi's Wooly World, a game that ended up feeling as stuffy and insubstantial as a dusty cotton ball. Crafted World, meanwhile, feels fresh and full of ideas, its levels happily rifling through quick sketches and one-shot concepts before it moves briskly onto the next.

Yoshi's Crafted World's best trick is getting to the essence of what made the original Yoshi's Island so beloved. Somewhat incredibly, it feels like the first Yoshi game in nearly a quarter of a century and over five follow-ups that really understands what made the original sing, and it's then bold enough to place its own spin. Yoshi's Island was always a brilliantly tangible, physical game, brought alive by its tactile surfaces - the chalklines, the paper and the clay - and this time out Good-Feel have simply taken to another corner of the stationery cupboard, pulling out cardboard, string and fizzy pop straws to create its own colourful dioramas.

It's a more cohesive, coherent aesthetic than the half-hearted Wooly World, or even of that game's superior predecessor Kirby's Epic Yarn. These worlds feel like they've been constructed over long summer afternoons on living room floors or stretched out across garden patios, with a human touch - and a dash of tilt shift focus - making them feel oh so real. Maybe it's the influence of that corner of Nintendo's Kyoto headquarters that's busying itself with cardboard wonders as it conjures up new Labo creations, as Yoshi's Crafted World displays a mastery of its simulated materials.

And so it presents a world that demands to be played with and poked at, as is underlined by one of the few tweaks to Yoshi's established moveset. You can now aim your eggs at objects in the foreground and in the far distance, bulls-eyeing cut-out clouds or shy-guys peering out from behind the scenery. In another neat trick, levels each have flipsides available once you've completed them, where you track down three poochies while the sellotape, blu-tack and string that holds up the level's primary form is all exposed.

It's a world that invites languid, inquisitive exploration - there are no time limits here, other than in those flipped levels - and each element pulls towards that more laid-back vibe. Yoshi has chilled with age, settling into the stoner rhythm of stablemate Kirby in games that don't really offer any challenge but go out of their way to reward the curious. The challenge here is softer than ever before, but on the flip side the collectibles are more numerous, and often more ingenious

Yoshi himself is a sedate avatar, lacking the agility or momentum of Mario - he appears to have slowed even more since his last outing - but that's almost beside the point. He's there to flutter softly through levels, popping enemies in his mouth before spitting them out in a neat succession of experiments and illustrations of cause and effect. Jump on a foot pump and it'll blast air into an inflatable cat that will scare down the mice in the rafters that are hoarding the key that you need; fire an egg at a boulder in the distance and it'll roll down the hill and clear the landslide that's in your path; stomp a flower encased in ice down into the cold waters below and it'll float across to the monkey waiting by a fishing hole with a rod just down the way who'll then pass it up by way of thanks. This is a video game designed to idly wander through rather than butt up against, and it's all the more glorious for it.

It's not perfect, of course. There's not the jolt of the new that the original Yoshi's Island had, and even if Crafted World is less reliant on old ideas as its immediate predecessor there's no escaping the fact it's riffing off something very familiar. Around the edges there's the kind of flab and excess that wouldn't blight a true classic - Crafted World's eagerness to fill its world with collectibles can go a little too far with the 300 odd crafts and costumes available in gacha machines that pepper the overworld map, and even though there's no real world money involved it's jarring to play a Yoshi game which has folded in the loot box's close relative. The soundtrack, too, is twee to the point of being syrupy, a sweet dirge that grates all too quickly.

Still, that doesn't hold back Yoshi's Crafted World from being a fine achievement. It's a scrolling platformer with an abundance of style and imagination, and a pleasingly laid-back adventure with an ocean of depth to explore. It is, first and foremost, a work born of mastery and a keen attention to detail. This is a game of impeccable, readily appreciable craft.

So, you're starting to wrap up your play-through of Yoshi's Crafted World, and maybe it felt a little easy to you. Sure, some of the collectibles are tricky to find, but just finishing the levels might have been a cinch, especially if you opted for Mellow Mode. But don't worry. If you were hoping for a bigger challenge, Good Feel has a few more mountains for you to climb...or rather, hills. Hidden Hills.

The game's most difficult levels are located in Hidden Hills. Here's how to unlock them.

What is Hidden Hills?

Hidden Hills is a short series of bonus levels at the end of Yoshi's Crafted World. Though most of the other levels in this game can be completed fairly easily (though their collectibles may prove much more of a challenge), Hidden Hills levels are tough as nails.

Two of them (the first and the third) are tricky platforming challenges with huge gaps, moving platforms, and very few 'safe' spots to rest, as well as the added caveat that if you fall anywhere in the level, it's game over and you have to start from the beginning (other levels just return you to the last safe spot you stood with a health penalty). The second Hidden Hills level is more of a dodging and collecting challenge as you rise on a magnet platform, avoiding security lights that will send enemies to attack you, and perform a final series of tricky jumps across flying enemies.

Yoshi's Crafted World Map

These levels can be difficult, even on Mellow Mode. Good luck!

How do you unlock Hidden Hills?

Hidden Hills will automatically appear on your overworld after you beat the normal final boss of Yoshi's Crafted World. However, in order to access it, you'll have to pay a hefty Smiley Flower price.

A Blockafeller at the entrance of the levels asks you for 30 Smiley Flowers to gain access, but that only unlocks a single level. There are three total levels in Hidden Hills, and you'll need 30 Smiley Flowers for each - 90 total. If you don't want to backtrack after every single level, I recommend returning to prior levels and stocking up on Smiley Flowers before you try to tackle these tricky platforming challenges.

There is also a 'secret' final boss lying in wait at the end of Hidden Hills, and far tougher than the regular final boss. You must beat all three levels to get to them. You'll also have to, once again, pay up. It's 50 Smiley Flowers to challenge them. On top of the 90 you already need for the Hidden Hills levels, you'll want a whopping 140 Smiley Flowers to clear the entirety of this zone.

Yoshi's Crafted World Last Level 2017

What does the Blockafeller give you for 317 Smiley Flowers?

After beating the final boss in Kamek Kerfuffle, the Blockafeller you've been climbing the mountain with will ask you for 317 Smiley Flowers. This number is the amount of flowers remaining in the game after all other Blockafellers are fed and all levels are unlocked, which they should be at this point.

It's a daunting task to collect this many. You'll need to collect all Smiley Flowers in each level, plus all bonus flowers gained from 100 coins, 20 Red Coins, and 20 hearts. You'll also need to do every Flip Side level, finishing with all three Poochy Pups within the time limit, and go back and collect all souvenirs for the Blockafellers and complete all their scavenger hunts. That will amount to 317 extra Smiley Flowers, which you can then pay the Blockafeller for a bonus costume for Yoshi: The Sundream Stone costume.

Any questions?

Stuck on Hidden Hills? Let me know in the comments!

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