Yoshi's Story

"Not quite the sequel to Yoshi's Island everyone was hoping for, but a good game in its own right."

Yoshi's Story began life in development as Yoshi's Island 64. Its release brought some mixed... well, mostly bad reactions. People thought it was too easy, too childish, and just not as good as Yoshi's Island. I can see why people would dislike Yoshi's Story, but personally, I thought it was a great game. I never actually owned it in the N64 days, just rented it frequently. However, now that it's been re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console, time to review!

From the moment you start, you're greeted with some squeaky voices saying "Nintendo!" And at the title screen, you hear these same voices singing the game's theme song. You'll be hearing these voices throughout the game. That's right, they're the voices of the Yoshis. While some find the game sickeningly cute, I find its cuteness heartwarming.

If you let the title screen sit idle for a few moments, you'll be told the game's amazing (well, not really) storyline: Yoshi's Island was once a thriving paradise, until the Super Happy Tree, which keeps the island "happy," was stolen by Baby Bowser because he felt like it. He doesn't stop there, though! He turns the island into a pop-up storybook for... some reason. The adult Yoshis all become lifeless, while 6 Yoshi eggs are immune to the spell. They hatch and come up with the idea to eat fruit to become "super happy" and kick Baby Bowser's baby butt and get their tree back. Yeah, not the best plot, but the game is aimed towards children.

As you may or may not remember, Yoshi's Island featured lush, cartoony sprites with backdrops that look like they were colored in crayon. Yoshi's Story also has a unique graphical style. The game, while originally marketed as 2.5D, is really just 2D with pre-rendered sprites, like Donkey Kong Country. The Yoshis and other various characters look great in this style, but what you'll really notice are the game's backdrops. The island looks just like a pop-up storybook. Some levels are made out of cardboard cut-outs, some out of patchwork and denim, some out of wooden blocks, and some out of mosaics. This is some real eye-candy here, and this effect wouldn't have looked nearly as good if the graphics weren't pre-rendered. Really, this was one of the best looking games on the Nintendo 64.

The sound direction in this game, while some may find it too cute and obnoxious, I think it's wonderful. The game's music was composed by Kazumi Totaka, who is also the voice of Yoshi. Pretty neat, huh? Almost all of the background music, aside from the final levels, is based on the same song, but they're each distinct so it's all good. Beach levels have a nice soft guitar and steel drum, jungle levels have bongos and chanting, nighttime levels sound very relaxed, et cetera.

Alright, now that presentation's out of the way, time to talk about how Yoshi's Story plays. The game controls similar to Yoshi's Island. Yoshi can still gulp down enemies, throw eggs, ground pound and flutter-jump. Baby Mario's nowhere in sight this time around, instead of trying to keep him on your back, you have a Flower Meter for health. Each time you get hit by an enemy or hazard, you lose some petals. To restore them, just eat fruit or enemies. The more Yoshi likes what he's eating, the more petals will be restored. Eat five of the same fruit and a Super Happy Heart will appear, eat it and Yoshi will become invincible for a short while. Ground pound while in this mode, and any on-screen enemies will be morphed into a Lucky Fruit.

The main goal of the game is not simply to get to the end of the level, you must eat 30 fruits to move on to the next level. If you want to play the game in a way that'll challenge you, though, it's wise to focus on eating the Lucky Fruit (a random selection which happens shortly before game-play) and your Yoshi's favorite fruit. Unlike Yoshi's Island, you actually get to pick which color Yoshi you want to play as this time around. There's six of them to choose from. Each Yoshi's favorite fruit is the one which is closest to their color. The fruits consist of watermelons, bananas, apples, grapes, and the almighty melons. They all love melons. The biggest challenge of the game is eating just melons in each stage. They can be hidden well, which is why you must use Yoshi's nose as a radar to sniff them out. They're also found through mini-games, such as racing, balancing melons to the finish line, and flying as far as humanly possible with Yoshi's flutter-jump.

Now, the game has six worlds, with 4 levels per world. However, you only play one level per world in Story Mode. The way to play the other levels is to find the three giant hearts in each level, since each one opens up an additional level on the next world. In other words, you have to complete the game at least four times. People tend to just eat every fruit in sight and not bother to unlock the other levels. In doing this, the game can be beaten easily in an hour tops. To get the most out of the game, I'd recommend being a smart eater and unlocking all 24 levels.

Since the game is pretty much score-based, replay value comes in the form of trying to beat your high scores in Trial Mode. Once you unlock a level in Story Mode, it's available for playing any time again in Trial Mode. Believe me, trying to find every melon in the game will keep you busy.

Rent or Buy?
It'd be difficult to rent this game since the N64 era is long-gone, so you'll just have to ask yourself... Do you like Yoshi's Island's style of game-play? Are you willing to make the game challenging? And will you be able to tolerate how adorable it is? If the answer to any of these is yes, the game may just be for you!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/21/08

Game Release: Yoshi's Story (US, 09/17/07)