Yoshi and the Mysterious Book review: 2D exploration on Switch 2

Good-Feel developed Yoshi and the Mysterious Book for Nintendo Switch 2. The game presents Yoshi as the single playable character who explores the pages of a sentient book named Mr. E to discover dozens of new creatures across themed chapters.

The story begins when Bowser Jr. looks through a magnifying glass inside a book at Bowser’s Castle and becomes trapped in its pages. Yoshis on Yoshi’s Island find the book and are asked by Mr. E to explore its illustrated pages and record discoveries about the creatures within.

Gameplay is 2D side-scrolling platforming built around discovery. Creatures serve as individual stages and chapters group those stages into themed areas such as seaside or bug environments. Stages emphasize experimentation: players use Yoshi’s moves — running, jumping, flutter-jumping, crouching, tail flicks, gobbling enemies and throwing eggs — to interact with creature-specific mechanics like surfing on living boards, swinging on spider webs or activating musical notes.

Each discovery grants a star and places a stamp in Mr. E’s book and in the stage background. Stars unlock additional chapters. A stage’s main discovery grants three stars and advances campaign progress. Tokens found in stages can reveal names or hints for undiscovered creatures in Mr. E’s book; Smiley Flowers are collectible items that appear in stages and can be spent on optional Exploration Tools.

Stages are designed as open, side-scrolling sandboxes rather than linear courses with end flags. Falling into hazards results in immediate respawn nearby; there are no lives, health meters or timers. Boss encounters, including fights with Bowser Jr. and Kamek at chapter finales, are present but do not produce a traditional game-over state.

The game uses Unreal Engine on Nintendo Switch 2 hardware. The in-book platforming uses a hand-drawn, colored-pencil aesthetic rendered at up to 4K resolution docked and generally 60 frames per second. Some animations intentionally drop frame rates or adopt staccato motion to mimic stop-motion or claymation effects. Cutscenes and the home menu area are rendered in simpler 3D.

Exploration Tools are optional overlays players can buy with Smiley Flowers. Available overlays include a radar pointing to nearby points of interest, a thermometer, a speedometer and a life gauge that cannot be fully depleted. The review noted that these tools can reduce UI visibility and that tokens and hints can be avoided for a fuller discovery challenge.

The title focuses on single-player design and does not include local co-op. Levels were developed without multiplayer constraints and progression, discoveries and stage design reflect that single-player emphasis.

The game follows earlier Yoshi entries such as Yoshi’s Woolly World (2015) and Yoshi’s Crafted World (2019). The character’s visibility in recent franchise celebrations and a feature film coincides with this release period.

A review rated the game 8.5/10. A review copy of Yoshi and the Mysterious Book was provided by Nintendo UK.