Reviews » Yoshi’s Island DS [DS]
Reviewed by MetallianTHE DS STANDS FOR DIS SUCKS
Way back when in the days of SNES, a little game called Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was released. many rushed to purchase it only to be bewildered by a game that was most certainly not Super Mario World. You didn't even play as Mario. You were Yoshi, carrying baby mario on your back, and gameplay centered around eating enemies, chucking eggs, and collecting tons of items in every stage. The art direction mimicked a child's crayon drawing, the music was lilting lullaby-like tunes, and pastels and smiley faces covered the landscape. Many were put off by this. But for those who stuck it out, they were soon rewarded with the realization they were playing the last great Platform Adventure of the generation, and still the last best I can think of. Only the recently released New Super Mario Brothers comes close. It was a wholly different game from Mario, but Shigeru Miyamoto doesn't mess around, and it was truly a masterpiece in its own right, an instant classic.
You can tell I'm especially fond of the game, and it was an apprehensive and exciting wait when I heard that a sequel was in the works for Nintendo DS. I've purchased the GBA port of Yoshi's Island no less than twice (it loves to get lost, for some reason), and the sequel would be a welcome addition to my collection. Nintendo farmed this one out to another developer, Artoon, and while I was worried a bit about that, the movies and screens I saw had be believing it would be great anyway.
It's not.
What I got was the biggest disappointment in years, my biggest letdown so far on DS. I have to go ahead and tell you right now: I did not complete this game. I made it to world 5-1. This was all I could stand. As much as I would prefer to give our readership the most complete review possible, I have to also take into account that playing this game past world 3 is like kicking yourself repeatedly in the nuts. I wanted desperately to like this game, but it just isn't going to happen.
When you start off, the experience is nostalgic and wonderful. As I began, I thought this game could be as good as the original. The visuals are not quite as stylized as the first, they are sharper and more colorful, but it captures the same spirit. Being on DS, the game takes up both screens, and crouching down or stretching up can shift the view up or down to scan your surroundings. The gameplay is standard YI; you eat enemies with b, crouch to swallow them, turning them into eggs you can carry behind you in a maximum quantity of six. the r trigger brings up a swinging reticle that allows you to chuck the eggs at enemies, coins, collectible items, switches, and even ricochet them off walls for fancy stuff. The mechanic is strange at first if you're a newcomer, but it soon becomes second nature. You don't die outright if you get hit in YI, what happens is that the tiny Baby Mario you carry on your back pops off, in a little bubble. And you have to tag him to get him back before a timer runs out. You can collect stars to get the timer up to 30 seconds to give you a bigger margin of error. Also in every level there are five Flowers, 20 Red coins hidden among the regular ones, and special Baby coins to collect. 30 stars, 5 flowers, and 20 red coins will net you a perfect 100 score, miss something and you'll lose points. Points net you extra lives and open bonus levels. New to the sequel is the baby-swap system. You don't just operate with baby Mario, you also can switch between baby Peach, DK, and at times Wario and Bowser. Each has a different special ability. Mario allows you to dash. Peach can ride air currents with her parasol. DK climbs vines. Wario has a magnet that attracts treasure, and Bowser shoots fireballs. At certain points in each level you can switch freely between available babies to access special areas or avoid certain obstacles.
This is an alright idea, and I know they had to gimmick up the sequel a bit, but it just ends up feeling like a useless annoyance later on. Even so, the mostly classic gameplay remains entertaining for the first 2 worlds. Once you get to World 3, you start to notice that the polish that Miyamoto effortlessly doles out on a daily basis just isn't present, and it starts to hurt the game. Yoshi doesn't move quite the same, he feels a little heavier. The levels aren't as cleverly designed and enemies and obstacles aren't placed as well. The levels are long, like the first game, but the middle Save Ring doesn't seem ever be in the place it needs to, sometimes leaving two gauntlet-like portions of a level tied together for an extra long bit of annoyance. The game continues to wear thinner and thinner. The middle and end bosses of world 3 take forever to beat. They aren't necessarily dangerous, they just take way too much time, and a precision you aren't left enough window for. Repetition and luck will get you through.
Then there's world 4. Snow and ice. Long has this been the bane of gamer's existences, ever since SMB2 I'm pretty sure we've all hated them. But this one takes the cake. The levels just get annoying. At first they aren't incredibly challenging, just long, trite, and boring. Then you pass 4-4 and it goes to hell. You are introduced to small birds that don't hurt you directly, they just bounce you away. You're on ice , mind. Then a little later comes level 4-7.
This is the worst, hardest level I can ever remember playing through. It's not hard as in challenging. It's hard as in stupid. The missile level in Contra 3. Mos Eisely spaceport in Super Star Wars. Hades in God of War. These are all levels that I pissed away countless lives on, threw controllers, cursed up a storm, but I always came back and beat with a sense of accomplishment. Hades is arguably the worst, it's become pretty infamous for the spinning blade-wall of death. But the rest of the game was good, and one you were done with that horrible part, you were back in the groove.
Not so with Yoshi's Island DS. This level is covered in slippery ice. The only ground is tiny platforms. The aforementioned bouncy birds patrol the level. Also in a stroke of genius, the developers thought it would be a real good idea to include flying, homing Bouncies as projectiles. Bouncies are big pink orbs several times your size that you can bounce off of and get some impressive air. Until now they were rooted in the ground to help you on your way. Well, now they are screaming at your fucking head, two at a time, as you tear across tiny, slippery platforms, trying to avoid or eat birds, and just make it to the goddamn next ring before you murder your neighborhood in a blind rage.
When I started the level I had 117 lives (yeah, they are abundant). When I finally beat 4-7, I had 75. I'm not calling myself a grandmaster or anything, but i'm no slouch, I've spent 20 years analyzing and conquering patterns in videogames. This was just fucking stupid. When I was done there was no sense of accomplishment. Only anger and bitterness. Who the hell thought this was a good idea? Even more surprising is that once you finally get the middle ring, the second half of the level is a homage to the beloved Ice Skiing level from the first game. But I was so pissed, I didn't even enjoy it! They found a way to ruin the skiing level for Christ's sake. After peeking my head into world 5 and discovering a punishing land of enormous chomps that decimate the ground under your feet, I decided i was done with this game. It's the polar opposite of fun. It's antifun, and I'm disappointed Nintendo would let one of their star franchises get such a poorly implemented treatment.
I wanted really badly to like this game. Hell, I wanted really badly to finish it. But it just turned out about as fun as a game of ...backgammon with... I dunno, Hitler or something. The entire point of a videogame is fun, and all the ambition, great ideas and winning source material in the world won't save you if you can't put it all together. If you can't play on Miyamoto's level, Artoon, don't try. It's not completely without merit. the first half of the game is pretty good. But all the little inconsistencies and rough edges snowball by the time they try to make it hard, and it falls on its face. This game would seem a lot better if it wasn't a sad copy of such a wonderful game. They aimed high, and failed, so if you want to play Yoshi's Island on your DS, the original is available for GBA for about 12 bucks used. A far superior use of your time and money. If you feel you've got to play this, rent it.
Yoshi's Island DS - DS
Presentation
It looks good. Not quite as nuanced and endearing as the FX graphics of the original, but very true to the spirit, and attractive. Probably its best quality.
Gameplay
Just a hair off of great, which unfortunately compounds into an enormous problem once the developer's ambitions eclipse their cleverness.
Replayability
If you like this kind of abuse, collecting all the extras in ever level leaves a lot of replay value. But since I couldn't finish it once, I'm gonna have to say real, real low.
Value
I would not buy this game again if you gave me the money. So much better to be had for $35.
Overall
Aim too high, you've got too far to fall.
