Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3

"The Real Return of Yoshi"

YOSHI’S ISLAND

After the awesome Yoshi’s Island back in SNES days I eagerly got Yoshi’s Story for N64. I played through Yoshi’s Story like I did with Island, but the thing that went wrong was the length. Yoshi’s Island has great everything really, but they focused way too much in the psychical appearance in Story ruining a game with lots of hype and potential. I was very mad when I got my NP (Nintendo Power) issue back awhile ago and there was Yoshi’s Story for an upcoming release, but not Yoshi’s Island. That anger was short lived though, Super Mario Advance Three: Yoshi’s Island was announced.

I thought I’d have to wait awhile for Yoshi’s Island it’s popularity would be dumbed down a lot still though. I thought Story would be released first, but Island was released and Story still hasn’t been released (thank god!). I opened Island up on the way home popped it in the trusty old GBA and started playing. I beat the game in a few weeks, but I’m still trying to get 100 points on every level almost a year from it’s release; Yoshi’s Island definitely is a great game.

Now all you people that think this game is for little kids go back and play your “cool” games that totally suck. Even though the game may be pretty simple to beat it is VERY HARD to get the maximum amount of points (100) in every level. If you’re still thinking this game sucks and it’s for little kids you should go rent this game and try to get 100 points on all the levels (likely if you said this game is for little kids still you’ll never beat the game).

Gameplay [47/50]:
Ok, let me start out by saying the Gameplay is very good overall. The basic theme of the game is to go across obstacle course like levels while carrying Baby Mario through. Throughout some of these levels you can gain level-only power-ups like helicopter Yoshi and Super Baby Mario. Inside this obstacle course levels you use a lot of eggs. Whether it’s hitting a floating cloud or popping a baddy you’ll use them. That brings to the point, how do you get eggs? You get eggs by eating enemies and sometimes from fruit colored blocks.

The whole game doesn’t revolve around eggs though there is a lot of other things too. Other than hitting things with eggs and getting upgrades you jump around and pound things. Whether it’s pounding down hundreds of feet or jumping from block to block across lava. You cannot forget about the boss battles either. Throughout the game you will fight 12 different bosses through six worlds, each unique. Also, occasionally you can play mini games either card based, or action based. Overall the gameplay is solid, but there are a few annoying things. The only thing I really hate about the gameplay is what happens when you’re hit (Mario goes off and starts crying).

Control [9/10]:
Basically any game that’s move button isn’t like start, or R gets a 9 or 10 here. Yoshi’s Island had pretty good controls, the moving was easy and the jumping was simple, but firing eggs is kind of annoying unless you change the controls. Other than firing eggs Yoshi’s Island has good solid easy to use controls that fit perfectly.

Story [8/10]:
I should be a little harder on the story, but you can’t expect much of a story from a platform game. Basically the stork is attacked and they capture Baby Luigi, but Baby Mario falls down and Yoshi’s find him. They then go on a quest or something to find the other Mario and the stork. The story is not too good, but not too bad except storks don’t deliver babies. Overall it’s a decent story for younger kids and older people know platform games never have stories so they don’t expect much.

Graphics [10/10]:
The graphics of Yoshi’s Island are awesome! I love how spritish they are and how clear everything is. In games like Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers there is good graphics, but they are really dark colors and stuff, but in Yoshi’s Island the colors are bright and lively, the graphics really bring the game together. Believe it or not, I’d say the Yoshi’s Island portion has the best graphics any game has to offer right now.

Sound [6/10]:
This is Yoshi’s Island’s only real flaw. The sound is really really really annoying! The normal music is okay, but it gets repetitive toward the end of the game, but I have no serious complaint there. Now what really ticks me off is the sound effects. Everytime Baby Mario starts crying, or Yoshi starts to make that funky noise when jumping it pisses me off. The sound is nothing not to buy the game for, but it can be annoying at times.

Length/Replay Value [10/10]:
I usually don’t give 10’s here so this is special. The length of the game is pretty good, there is 48 normal levels averaging five minutes or so in length and 12 extra levels. There is also the matter of getting the extra levels and getting 100 points in all 60 levels, which is no easy task let me tell you (so close 5989!). The game has a lot of replay value and if you know the mini game code (hold select and press L,L,B,A,R) it will last even longer.

Overall [90/100]: Overall Yoshi’s Island, the core of the game is pretty well done. It doesn’t have too many flaws and is fun to play with a lot of reply value.

MARIO BROTHERS

Ahh! The classic endless arcade game reborn for the third time on GBA! This game really never does get old. Basically in this game you are Mario and you have to dispose of enemies by knocking them on their backs then stomping on them. In order to do this you must hit the ground the enemy is on your waste part of your valuable POW block. Overtime you will gain points and pass through levels. As the game progresses the levels get harder and so do the enemies. Besides enemies there is also fireballs that come in two colors. These cannot be destroyed since they are not on the ground so you must avoid them at all costs.

Throughout the game you will find yourself in helpless situations, in these situations it may be necessary to go through a pipe across the stage. Besides the enemy stages there is a few bonus stages where you collect coins for points. The bonus stages are for the most part easy and are just meant so you can rack up points. The graphics and sound basically suck. You really don’t care about the graphics though, they are decent quality, but sucky for a GBA game and the sound is awesome for one of the original arcade games. What can you really expect from a port of the first ever Mario game?

Overall [9/10]: Overall Mario Bros. is a fun game to waste your afternoon with, but certainly not a full game. It’s a nice addition to Yoshi’s Island that you can play after beating Yoshi’s Island or when you’re frustrated.

Overall Game Score 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/20/03, Updated 07/31/03