"An okay game, but not as good its prequel."

In Yoshi's Island DS, Yoshi is back again for another adventure with Baby Mario. Like the original Yoshi's Island for SNES (and later the GBA), you control Yoshi as he shoots eggs at enemies to progress through each level. Yoshi's Island DS is quite a fun game, but, in my opinion, it just isn't as good as the original Yoshi's Island...

Story: 3/10
In Yoshi's Island DS, the story is almost exactly like the story in Yoshi's Island. The only real difference is that, instead of kidnapping one baby, Kamek is kidnapping multiple babies. Nothing too exciting there.

(I wasn't sure where I should put this next paragraph, so I put it here.)

There is one thing about the bosses in this game, however, that I really dislike. They took a couple of the bosses from Yoshi's Island, changed them a little, and reused them in this game.

1)
They took Burt the Bashful from level 1-4, the giant jumping enemy who you defeat by shooting eggs at him until his pants fall off, comes back in Yoshi's Island DS. However, instead of one giant boss, you defeat two slightly smaller versions of him.

2)
They took the giant piranha plant from level 3-8, the giant plant that you defeat by shooting eggs at its navel, tweaked it a little, and used it as a boss in Yoshi's Island DS. Now, while the way you defeat the boss in YIDS is different from how you defeat it in YI, anybody who's played both games would know that the plant appears in both games.

Sound: 2/10
The music in Yoshi's Island is awful, in my opinion. Compared to the original, the music is a lot more simple and, well, boring. The sound effects are pretty good, though.

There is one thing, however, that I hate about Yoshi's Island DS involving the sound, and that's Baby Peach crying. I HATE how she cries. It's the most annoying thing in the world. However, I can just turn the sound off on my DS, so I don't have to suffer. I still wish she didn't cry like that, though; it's awful sounding.

Controls: 10/10
The controls for this game are very simple and very easy. Anybody can pick up this game and quickly master the controls.

Touch screen usage: 0/10

This rating didn't influence the overall rating, I just include this for DS games. In this game, you...well, you don't really use the touch screen at all. I think there could've been a lot of cool things you could do with the touch screen in this game. Oh well.

Graphics: 5/10
The graphics in this game are very cleaned up looking compared to the original Yoshi's Island. However, cleaner isn't always better. I personally enjoyed the look of the original one a lot more than the look of this one. It's okay, but they shouldn't have changed it.

Gameplay: 9/10
This is a simple platformer game that involves solving puzzles and defeating enemies. One thing I really enjoyed about this game is the ability to use different babies, each having different powers. I think the idea is a good one, and it made the game more entertaining.

Replay Value: 8/10
Like the original Yoshi's Island, this is a game you can play through over and over and it still is fun. Despite having its flaws, it's still one of those games that you can pick up and play for the billionth time, and it's still very fun.

Overall score: 5/10
Yoshi's Island DS is a fun game. However, it's just not as fun as the original one. If you don't already have the original, save your money and get it before you get this. You should still get this one, though.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 03/05/07