"Groovy, baby!"

I have always stressed my disappointment with the fact that most of the titles available on the Nintendo DS are aimed at younger children, instead of more mature gamers. I still can't believe that Nintendo hasn't started truly marketing to more age groups than just children, and as such, I was really skeptical about how much I would enjoy Yoshi's Island DS. If I had judged the game by its cover and never played this game, I would have never forgave myself, because Yoshi's Island DS, though it is childish, is one of the best, though not very original, platformers that I have ever played.

You probably noticed that my little remark about how Yoshi's Island DS isn't very original. Honestly, it just really isn't. Yoshi's Island DS has all of the traditional features that make up a platformer. Most of the time, I believe tradition goes first and foremost if you want to make a decent game (ahem, Final Fantasy), but I believe that improvements should be made on the formula that makes up the games. For example, Yoshi's Island DS, being a traditional 2D platformer, has scrolling levels, which just drives me crazy. The scrolling levels don't add any difficulty to the game, they just make the game slow, boring, and frustrating to play.

However, who would play a modern 2D platformer that was exactly like every other 2D platformer out there? What makes Yoshi's Island DS somewhat unique is that the baby versions of various popular Nintendo stars ride on Yoshi's back and depending on what baby is riding Yoshi, different abilities are available. For example, Baby Mario can make Yoshi run fast as well as get a special star that temporarily lets you control Baby Mario in an invincible form. Baby Donkey Kong makes Yoshi stronger, plus Donkey Kong can grab onto vines. Baby Wario has a magnet that attracts metal objects, Baby Peach has an umbrella that can let her float, and Baby Bowser shoots fireballs (though while Baby Bowser is riding Yoshi, you lose the ability to throw eggs).

That's right, the classic Yoshi move of throwing eggs returns to shine in Yoshi's Island DS! Just like previous games, you swallow enemies to turn them into eggs. You can throw these eggs to activate switches, hurt other enemies, and collect items that are out of reach, stuff like that. What made this feature somewhat irritating was the fact that you sometimes have to backtrack in order to get more eggs to progress farther into the level. This can cause some seriously aggravating cheap deaths that may make you start all the way back over in the level.

Well, I already mentioned the power-up that Baby Mario can receive, but what about any other special items found in Yoshi's Island DS? It's rare for Nintendo not to pump their platformers full of special items to spice it up, but Yoshi's Island DS didn't seem to have that many odd power-ups. However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it makes the game more simple and easier to make enemy strategies with what you are able to do. It also makes the game a lot more challenging. This isn't to say that the game is totally void of any power-ups, though. In some of the levels, Yoshi can turn into vehicles, which is a great new addition.

If you know anything about the original Yoshi's Island, you know that you don't really die in the game, unlike most 2D platformers. Instead, when Yoshi is struck (unless he falls into a pit, then, of course he dies) the baby he is carrying flies off in a bubble, and the player is given a set amount of time to retrieve the baby. The amount of time you are allotted to get the baby back is dependent on how many small golden stars you have collected, which add more to your time. Sadly, this can get somewhat annoying and it isn't really even that hard, because the babies float to you, anyway. However, I am most definitely sure that if the babies would float randomly, the game would become overly difficult and probably would be much, much worse.

There are some mini-games that you can unlock throughout Yoshi's Island DS by collecting keys hidden throughout the levels. Sadly, these mini-games are ripped-off of all the previous Nintendo mini-game sets found on the DS already, but they don't even take advantage of the DS's unique features. In fact, Yoshi's Island DS never really takes advantage of the DS's unique features like the microphone or the touch-screen. The game does try to take advantage of the fact that the DS has two screens, but this is a somewhat flawed system and really feels tacked-on.

After completing each level, you are given a percentage score based on how well you did in the level. By getting perfect scores all across the board in every level you unlock two secret levels for that world. I actually found some of these secret levels to be relatively interesting and original, though I never felt the need to keep replaying the levels over and over to get the perfect score to unlock them, so they are a nice bonus if you get lucky to unlock them the first time through.

Simply put, Yoshi's Island DS is a beautiful 2D platformer. I was blown away by how amazing everything in the environment looks, especially for the Nintendo DS. However, I was somewhat disappointed with most of the boss designs, because they are usually reused designs from various enemies in the game, but bigger and with a small twist on things. If the developers had taken a little bit extra time to make the bosses more original, I'm sure that the game would've been just that much more enjoyable.

I remember in my review of Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time that I noted the baby's crying actually wasn't that annoying, just long. Thankfully, in Yoshi's Island DS, the cries of the babies are drastically shortened due to the fact that you get them back on your back pretty fast after being damaged. All the background music is all right and I didn't have any real complaints with the rest of the audio from Yoshi's Island DS.

Obviously, you can't expect an amazing and engrossing story from a Nintendo 2D platformer, but the story isn't as bad as you'd expect, either. It is somewhat enjoyable, though the game seems to force plot progression without really giving you time to comprehend what is exactly going on. To give you a quick synopsis, Baby Luigi has been kidnapped by Kamek, Bowser's caretaker, as well as a bunch of other children, in order to harvest their powers. Yoshi meets up with Baby Mario yet again, and they go on a quest to stop Kamek and save the babies.

One of the major downfalls that plagues Yoshi's Island DS is the fact that there is not that much replayability. The title is relatively short, spanning only five worlds (though there are eight levels in each world) and the mini-games really aren't that great. I doubt you'll feel the need to try to unlock the secret levels, simply because it is a very difficult task (though some of the secret levels are definitely worth it). With a lack of multiplayer, Yoshi's Island DS has replayability in the gutter.

I don't care how old you are, you'll find something to like in Yoshi's Island DS. If you've already beat Kirby: Canvas Curse and you are still dying for a decent Nintendo 2D platformer for your DS, Yoshi's Island DS should be at the top of your choice list. If some of the minor problems were fixed, this game could have very well been the perfect 2D platformer, as well as the first game on the DS to receive a perfect score.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/04/07

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