Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3

"A great Adventure game; entertaining, exciting, and wacky!"

Whoopee! It's another Mario release, and this time he's a baby! That's right, that Italian plumber is a baby now, and this is when he meets Yoshi the dinosaur and befriends him. Baby Mario is carried by Yoshi towards a dawning castle (hey it's a Mario game, of course there's a castle!) where it is Mario and Yoshi's duty to rescue... Luigi?! Nope, not Princess Peach, Luigi! Mario's on a quest to save his brother, but Kamek has unleashed some enemies to keep Mario and his dinosaur pal off from the castle. But hey, Mario's gotta have a tough adventure, right? Or else, where's the fun?

Graphics
7/10
This game is in 2D, and it's good at that. There are some amazing backgrounds, some neat designs, and great levels. The levels vary in their special way; whether it's a peaceful forest with some lakes, or a spooky old cave where you can't see head or tail of the level. The graphics are pretty good, and the backgrounds are dazzling. The different environments are impressive. The enemy designs are also great; those turtles are back, there are flowers who want nothing more than to kill you, and monkeys who'll try to show you who's top banana when it comes to combat. But that shouldn't be a problem for a dinosaur, should it?

Story
7/10
When Baby Mario falls from the sky, he lands among a pack, herd, school, whatever of dinosaurs. He seems to know something, so Yoshi takes him onto his back and runs off into a gigant island filled with danger, excitement and confusion. You fight thru trying to save Luigi and battle off against bosses like Bigger Boo, a giant ghost, a giant frog prince (actually, it's you who's small), and of course, the shelled dread Bowser. The storyline sticks to usual Mario ones, but is somewhat different. More or less, it's unique in it's own way.

Gameplay
8/10
This game has gotten great gameplay. It has those usual secret pipes thru which you'll fall down into a bunch of loot, hidden stuff, and whatnot. An interesting feature is that you can gulp down your foes and either spit them out, or lay an egg. These eggs can later be thrown at enemies to attack them, or used to strike floating roses or clouds marked with a question mark to drop down coins or open up stairways. There are also collectibles like flowers, coins, keys, and of course, lives. You can also gulp down flaming enemies and spit fireballs. If you devour a watermelon, you can spit out seeds. Swim thru rivers and lakes, battle thru some frustrating caves that make you want to smash the screen, and leap thru castles of dangerous peril and dungeons galore! The platforming elements are great, what with those deadly spinning blades, moving platforms (sorry, 99% platformers have this), jumping fish and hidden keys to unlock rooms. Overall, the gameplay is great, exciting, and has a moderate difficulty. If you want to take on those bosses, you'll need some decent strategies and tactics. And skill, of course. Trust me, it's a great game.

Audio
5/10
Sadly, the music is a disappointment. It's nothing catchy, and the other sound effects are decent, but nothing great. The sounds are a mixture of high pitch and low pitch, and Baby Mario sounds plain annoying when he starts wailing. The audio is moderate. Nothing excellent, nothing horrible.

Playtime/ Replayability
6/10
This game is decently long and will take quite some time to beat. Replaying isn't bad, go ahead. The replay value isn't very high, but it's pretty good. The game should keep you occupied for at least 30: 00, maybe even more. If you plan to get 100% and wish to do so fast, make sure you do not miss a single part of it on your first play thru a level. If you do, you just might have to cross those hazards again.

Should I Buy It?
If you're looking for a "Wow!" platformer for your GameBoy Advance, I'll have to recommend it. The game is great, it has moderate difficulty, and most importantly, a lot of FUN! Trust me, it's a MUST for GBA players. Old or young, you'll love this game's brilliant environment, story and wonderful gameplay. Don't worry about the audio, there's always a volume shifter on your GBA if you feel like your ears need cotton buds shoved in.

Final Rankings/ Summary

Graphics: 7/10
Story: 7/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Audio: 5/10
Playtime/ Replayability: 6/10
Should I Buy It?: Yes
Final Score: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/24/06