Yoshi's Island DS

"Stellar sequel, unfortunately lost in the Wii hype."

The original Yoshi's Island was an amazing game. Not only did it cast backstory on the Mario Bros, but it brought a whole new style of play to the platform world. Players took control of Yoshi as they whisked Baby Mario onto Yoshi's back and traveled through six perilous worlds full of creative characters and numerous challenges. Since then, several spin-offs of Yoshi's Island have been made, none of which were too impressive. Yoshi's Island DS marks itself as the TRUE sequel. naturally, when labeling itself with that title, it sure has a lot to live up to. And with Artoon in tow, its chances were grim. Yet somehow, Artoon managed to not only pull a decent game out of its ass for once, but a game that does the original justice.

And to put an annoying rumor to rest, THIS IS NOT A REMAKE.

Story:
The story is pretty similar to the original. Kamek and his Toadies once again kidnap the babies, though this time, it's more than just Mario and Luigi. Baby DK, peach, Wario, and a bunch of other unnamed babies are taken from their unsecured homes in the middle of the night and taken to Bowser's Castle. A few babies escape, however, and land onto Yoshi's Island, where the adventure begins...again.

Gameplay:
Yoshi's Island DS plays pretty similar to the original. The main difference is that there are now FIVE babies to play with. Each of these babies brings a different ability to the table. Baby Mario is basically unchanged for the most part, except he can now hit specialized "M" blocks. Baby Peach can use her umbrella to stay afloat for longer and catch updrafts to reach higher places. Baby DK can climb vines and cause eggs to explode while thrown. Baby Wario can use his magnet to attract coins from afar. And lastly, Baby Bowser can breathe fire to scorch enemies. As always, Yoshi can gobble enemies, turn them into eggs, and hurl them at objects. Each world contains ten stages and two boss fights.

Visuals / Audio:
The game retains the same graphical style as the original, though it's a bit spruced up in places. Many of the sprites are reworked, and there's a bit more color to be found. The music isn't anything stellar, though it's not quite as horrible as some may have you believe. Many of the sound effects have been kept from the first title.

Challenge:
This is where the game actually exceeds the original. Yoshi's Island for Super NES wasn't necessarily a very challenging game, save for a few stages when it came to achieving 100 percent. However, Yoshi's Island DS has many more of these "evil" moments. Unlike in New Super Mario Bros, this isn't a game where you'll rarely ever die. There may be an abundance of lives, but that's because you will desperately need them.

Verdict:
Yoshi's Island DS is the third Mario-esque platformer to come out this year on the DS, along with Super Princess Peach and New Super Mario Bros. It's s shame that New Super Mario Bros. in particular received so much more hype, as this game is just so much better and actually does the classic titles justice. Pick this up if you're a fan of platform games. The game was just released at a relatively bad time, as attention was drawn to the new consoles.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/21/06