"A newcomer to the series.."

Yoshi's Island DS. Yet another Yoshi game in the series..
I had never bought, nor even played a Yoshi game before, but saw this on sale and decided to pick it up. Personally, I didn't think I would like it, but come on, who can resist a game on sale? Not me..
Controls 10/10
For never playing a Yoshi game, the controls were brilliant. They taught me moves the Yoshi's can do as I went along, and the signs that go along with the level, tell you all the basic controls. For being a rookie at the Yoshi game, it was easy to jump right in, and nail the controls. The Yoshi's have some really neat abilities they can do with eggs.

Graphics 9/10
I enjoyed the graphics. You could say they are a little childish, but it blends perfectly with this style of game. They did a really good job on bringing this game to the DS, and definitely excelled in the graphics department. Lots of colors, it almost seems a little cell-shaded too.

Music/Sound Effects 5/10
Eh, not much to say here. The music was really repetitive, and got on my nerves after a while, but didn't really take much away from the game-play.

Story 7/10
The babies are kidnapped!! You, playing as all the Yoshi's are on a mission to save your youngster amigos. Will you succeed? This is pretty much the story in a nutshell.

Game-play 10/10
This is the section I've been waiting for. The game-play was so great I don't even know where to start. You get to switch between playing as Yoshi's and babies, and Yoshi's Island really utilizes the touch screen features. There are so many neat moves and abilities you can perform with the Yoshi's. Swallowing enemies to make ammunition to shoot at targets was my personal favorite. I know that is probably the most basic, but like I said, I am new to this franchise. There is tons of stuff to do, and the levels are quite long. The game-play really skyrocketed the score of this game.

Re-playability 10/10
Perfectionist? Perfect! There is so much to do in this game, and so much to unlock. If you're a perfectionist, then you'll be playing this game for a while. Let's just see how long it will take you to collect all the baby coins..

Overall Rating 8/10
Being a newcomer to this franchise, I really enjoyed this game. It was hard to put down. This game was so shy of a nine, but a few nicks and nanny's, the sound department in particular, brought it down.. If you've never played the Yoshi series, then this is the one to start on. Veterans of the series will probably enjoy this one too.
Don't rent this, buy it...

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/04/06