Forget Mario, Nintendo's joyous new Switch 2 exclusive has me hooked
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book really isn't only for kids – it's for everyone
There's always been something (or someone?) of an underdog in the Mario games. And, no, I'm not talking about Luigi. It's Yoshi who's largely been the sidelined character, despite the dino being the protagonist in a number of stellar Nintendo exclusives.
Well, 2026 might see all that change completely. For Yoshi And The Mysterious Book has just launched for the Nintendo Switch 2 – and it's a surprisingly under-the-radar exclusive for the console that I've been playing with increasing obsession for the past fortnight.
Many of the most famous Mario titles are three-dimensional adventures, but the history of the franchise (as many superfans will know) is built upon classic side-scrolling platformers. It's this genre in which Yoshi titles have so lovingly re-invested on repeat – see Crafted World and Woolly World, of course – but The Mysterious Book delivers in an altogether new and refreshing way.
That's the magic of Nintendo, really. Somehow this Japanese games company is able to deliver time and again, without the formula becoming too formulaic. And in The Mysterious Book, Nintendo has managed to create a non-linear and explorative platform-style game that will keep you chipping away with invested interest.
That's ultimately this Yoshi title's point of distinction. In it, you find a mysterious talking book (hence the title), whose pages you must explore to investigate new discoveries. Different creatures with multiple facets of interest are to be explored and noted in "Mr. E"'s very pages (I read his name as a teen raver of the 90s more than an innocent child of today might).
It's got the typical simplistic play-style that makes Nintendo platform games so easy to pick up, yet somewhat hard to master – hence it not being "just for kids". You can command Yoshi to run and jump and, but of course, eat his foes with that long tongue.
But many levels require sequence and logic to solve. Others require you to find a special item to open a new path. You'll go flying. You'll go fishing. Even fly-fishing, eh? It's as much puzzler as it is platformer.
Even when you're done with a level, you're very often not. Yet-to-complete tasks appear among Mr E's pages, providing reflection on what you've missed and how you might contemplate resolving it for 100% completion.
Let's also not forget that the Switch 2's roster of exclusives has been relatively mild since launch day. To receive such a massive Mario-world-aligned first-party title in the middle of 2026 is major. That it's so versatile for such a wide audience is, yet again, confirmation of Nintendo's ongoing and worthy success.
Initially I wasn't sure about The Mysterious Book's premise. But the more I sat back and let it guide me along, the more I felt as though I'd embarked upon a virtual Yoshi safari. There's a lot of joy in that process – and it's always like a welcome escape from the typical AAA games of today.
Now a few dozen hours in – and I'm about to delve in again, aboard a long-haul flight from London to Hong Kong – the more I explore Yoshi's latest adventure's pages, the more I want to keep returning. It might not be the most conventional, but I can only applaud Nintendo for that – and in staying so relevant.
So if you've got a Nintendo Switch 2 and have been awaiting exclusive new titles then here's your next one. It might not have all the fanfare of "bigger" games, but this glorious art-style and unconventional play-style warrant it every bit as much worth as the next Mario game. So dig in, you won't regret it – whatever your age!
