Yoshi's Island DS

"Doesn't live up to the first Yoshi's Island, but still manages to provide a decent gaming experience."

Yoshi's Island DS is the sequel to Yoshi's Island: Super Mario World 2, which was easily one of the greatest SNES platformers. The charming graphics style, memorable gameplay and great music made the original Yoshi's Island an instant classic. Does Yoshi's Island DS live up to the original? As my tagline states, the answer is a resounding no. However, it is still a game that is worth your time to play.

Graphics
Yoshi's Island DS sports the same graphic style as seen in the original masterpiece. That in no way is a bad thing, as the graphics in the first Yoshi's Island were a defining aspect of that game. Everything is hand-drawn, and it all looks pleasing to the eye. All of the enemies and bosses look great, and have nice character designs. Each level is also pleasantly detailed, as are the background sceneries.

Music and Sound Effects
The music department is an area where YIDS unfortunately falters. Even as I write this review, I can still remember the awesome music from the original Yoshi's Island. The same is not true for this game. All of the music is simply forgettable and not done very well. A shame, really.

On the other hand, the sound effects are right on. Each sound is fitting for whatever that sound represents. The only problem I have with the sound effects was also in the original Yoshi's Island, and that is the babies. Whenever Yoshi gets hits by something, the baby that was riding him will fly up into the air in a bubble and start crying, which is very annoying. Baby Bowser's and Baby Wario's cries are especially irksome. At least Baby DK doesn't have an irritating cry. The developers probably intended those cries to be an incentive to not get hit.

Controls
Not surprisingly, the control is spot-on. You throw eggs with R, jump with B, and lash out your tongue with B. Baby Mario and Baby DK also have a special ability that can be used by holding B while running (Baby Mario) or pressing down and B simultaneously (Baby DK). I expected perfection with the controls and I was not disappointed in any way.

Gameplay
The gameplay is very reminiscent of the original title. The extra four babies (Baby Mario, Baby Peach, Baby DK, Baby Wario, and Baby Bowser) really add to the game's good level design. If you've played the first Yoshi's Island, you should be able to jump right into Yoshi's island DS. Many of the obstacles are taken straight from the original game, like the Chomp rock for instance. A handful of the levels will remind you of levels in the first game though, and that is not a good thing as it makes it seem like they're reusing them. However, it is still not a retread of the original game, though the game does have almost the same handful of areas in it - sky levels, plain land levels, cave levels, fortress levels...the game really changes it up with the babies.

Each baby has their own set of abilities. Baby Mario can dash, become Super Baby Mario, and even see invisible ''M'' blocks. Baby Peach can float high into the sky using wind currents, and she can flutter-jump longer than the other babies. Baby DK has a Dash Attack that can kill normal enemies and plow through dirt walls, plus he can climb vines and throw explosive eggs, making him especially handy. Baby Wario and Baby Bowser don't stick around for long, but they have their own abilities also. Baby Wario can suck up nearby coins with his magnet, throw ricocheting eggs like Baby Bowser and Baby Mario, and can also pull metal blocks to solve puzzles. Yoshi can't eat enemies when riding Baby Bowser, but Baby Bowser can spit out unlimited amounts fireballs that are powerful. You can't spam them though-you have to wait a bit between attacks.

Aside from those stars I mentioned, you'll also find red coins and flowers in the levels. There are twenty red coins to be found, and five flowers. The flowers are hard to find for the most part, while the red coins can be obtained without too much trouble. At the end of each level, you get a score based on how many stars, red coins, and flowers you have. Having a perfect score lets you unlock secret levels.

You can also find huts in each level that will let you play a mini-game if you've found a key needed to open it. Playing these mini-games will net you extra lives, which you will probably need. After you've beaten all the levels in a world, you'll fight a boss. None of the bosses are particularly fun, but they're alright. The main problem I have with YIDS is that none of the levels are that great either. They are fun, but they're not anything spectacular, which is a major let-down for me. Also, there's only five worlds this time around, as opposed to the six in the SNES classic, which is another disappointment.

Like the original, Yoshi's Island DS follows the same ways of death. You may lose all your stars then watch in horror as Magikoopas swoop in and steal your baby, or you can simply fall down a pit, which is nearly always the case, since your stars slowly regenerate back up to 10 after they dip below that. You can have a total of thirty stars, and you'll find them in crates and such. Enemies make you lose stars when you touch them, or they hit you with anything. Once you've taken damage, your baby will float around in a bubble and you must touch it to get it back- hat's when those aforementioned annoying cries start. Speaking of enemies, they are in no short supply in Yoshi's Island DS. Many enemies from the original return, along with many new ones. Enemies can be killed by several ways: thrown eggs, being rolled over by chomp rocks, being jumped on, being blasted by a fireball, or by being eaten with Yoshi. Eggs are gained by eating foes or by using Eggo-Dils/egg blocks. As in many other platformers, there are some invincible adversaries as well.

Story
The story is pretty much characteristic of the platforming genre. It's not well-written or in-depth, but it serves its purpose.

Yoshi is out taking a leisurely walk when suddenly, two babies drop from the sky. One of those babies look pretty familiar to Yoshi. It's Baby Mario! With a sad face, Baby Mario glances longingly at a castle that appears in the sky. Yoshi now wonders if that same castle holds the other babies.

So it's up to the Yoshi clan to save the day again and find Baby Luigi.

Challenge
Yoshi's Island DS is one damn hard game. I've played a lot of platformers, and this ranks as one of the most difficult. The game starts out easy enough from worlds one to three, but the difficulty takes a sharp increase for the rest of the game. It's mostly due to the level design, also certain enemies can be a major pain. It's not sadism or anything of that sort, but I'll say that YIDS will certainly test your platforming skills.

Replay Value
There are some collectables that should keep you playing for a while. There is a character coin in each level, and it is either for Baby Mario, Baby Peach, or Baby Donkey Kong. Finding these often requires a lot of exploration, as they can be pretty tough to find. There's also secret levels that you can unlock by getting very high scores at the end of the levels. The maximum score is 100 points. Once you've done all that, you'll only come back once in a blue moon to play some of the better levels.

Well, this is my first review, and I hope it was an enjoyable read. Yoshi's Island DS is not spectacular in anyway though, and was quite a disappointment after the greatness that the first YI was. The music and a lot of the levels are just not up to par. Still, some of the levels can be pretty fun and they are challenging, so if you like that, then I encourage you to check this game out.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/18/06, Updated 08/06/09

Game Release: Yoshi's Island DS (US, 11/13/06)