Yoshi’s Island DS - Game Review
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love the Mario series. Each game that comes out gracing that name, or any of his counterparts, usually leaves me with new experiences that were full worth the price of admission. When I bought Yoshi’s Island DS, I expected it to provide me with a new, irreplaceable feeling that I would cherish for a lifetime. I guess that was too much to expect from developer Artoon. Yes, it looks like Nintendo stumbled on the game based on one of the most popular entries to the Mario universe.
"do not call this a sequel because at no time does it feel like one."
I do not call this a sequel because at no time does it feel like one. If you never played the original Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island SNES game, this game will be for you. For the rest of us, you’ll wonder why Artoon made the storyline a continuation but made the gameplay take a step back. The controls are functional at best. I was perplexed though, because the game doesn’t utilize all four face buttons the DS provides. Instead, the programmers made 3 buttons do 4 actions total, meaning one button must hold two duties. Rather than let that remaining button control Yoshi directly, it assists the player by moving the camera up and down when held. This option is helpful to an extent, but why not have it also scroll left and right? The button would then be operational enough to be enjoyable. It seems the only reason Artoon did this is to combat another big flaw: the game filling in pixels between the screens.
The gap that the game fills in between the top and bottom screens hinders gameplay quite a bit. This leads to frustrating moments where you are attempting to get an item, or even take down an enemy, only to have the camera automatically scroll up and hide the moving object. If developers wanted to challenge the player, they should have made the game harder instead of frustrating to play. A system should be a gateway for a game; instead this game is hindered by the Nintendo DS’s specifications. The fallout continues into the sound, where I am left wondering if coins were always this annoying to collect.
The sound that follows after you obtain some items is equivalent to a person running their nails on a chalkboard. The sound stands out not only because of that but also because every song in the game sounds almost the same, with small variations based on level theme. When I selected the overworld view, I was expecting to be greeted with the well-known Yoshi’s Island cheery theme. That jumpy, upbeat, and colorful track has been replaced with a cold, mechanical, and dull death song. The track is out of place, especially when compared to the excellent job the artists did with the game.
"this game is either broken or under-developed."
The artwork in the game fits perfectly in the Mario world, contrary to the rest of the features. Yoshi really stands out in his world, and I feel that the graphical art used not only fit the game, but evolved from the original. The characters are given a fresh coat of paint, and are full of new surprises that come in the form of gameplay. The babies play decently enough. I’m not sure if their actions are limited because they are babies, or because the developers didn’t want to bother expanding each character’s personality. While each baby is indeed unique, none seems deep enough for the characters they are representing. They seem like one-trick ponies that are constantly switched out. This doesn’t provide deeper gameplay; it only gives the player more frustrating memories.
There is one aspect that earns this game some points. The minigames are fun and addictive; more so than the main game. I found myself more interested about how far I could flutter than how far I had to go to unlock Wario (not far, by the way). It’s a shame that multiplayer was removed, because I can see where this could have given the game some wings. As it stands though, this game is either broken or under-developed.
"You see, this what mediocre developers do: make mediocre games."
Nintendo, I can forgive you for outsourcing indirect Mario titles. Those do not screw with the Mario timeline in any way, and provide fans a chance to see their favorite characters in a new light. However, what you have done by giving Artoon access to the Yoshi’s Island series is uncalled for. There are many plot holes, incorrect ideas (Baby DK lives on Yoshi’s Island? Baby Mario WASN’T raised in Brooklyn?!), and terrible features in the game that I am really not that surprised about. You see, this what mediocre developers do: make mediocre games.
