Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1071 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Nintendo
• Model: NTRPAYWE
• Published on: 2006-11
• Released on: 2006-12-01
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platform: Nintendo DS
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .50" h x 5.50" w x 4.75" l, .25 pounds

Edge
Concrete proof of the brilliance of Nintendo's designers

Manufacturer's Description
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island for the SNES was revered as one of the greatest side-scrolling platformers ever made. The light-hearted art style and compelling game play defined a genre. Now, return to the colourful wilds of Yoshi's Island in a new platforming adventure for the Nintendo DS. Kamek has captured Baby Luigi, and now Yoshi and his band of babies must rescue him.

This time, Baby Mario, Baby DK, Baby Wario and Baby Peach are along for the ride. Each one gives Yoshi access to unique powers: While they cling to his back, Baby Mario gives Yoshi speed, Baby DK gives him strength, Baby Peach gives him the ability to fly and Baby Wario gives him magnetism.

All of Yoshi's classic abilities are on full display. Players gobble enemies and either spit them out immediately, or turn them into eggs that they can throw at items and enemies. Pound the ground to flatten whatever's underneath, and flutter jump to traverse precarious heights. In certain areas, Yoshi can even morph into special vehicles.

Thanks to the power of the Nintendo DS, all of the lush vistas and perilous paths of Yoshi's Island span two screens. Players hit objects on the top screen while using the touch screen, and tackle super-tall enemies that fill both screens.

Hidden in every level are flowers, stars, red coins and character coins, so even after players finish the game, the challenge continues.

Game storyline:
A mysterious floating castle has suddenly appeared over peaceful Yoshi's Island. Soon after its arrival, kids begin to disappear. Baby Mario, Baby Peach, Baby Wario and Baby DK manage to avoid being kidnapped, but Baby Luigi isn't so lucky. Now Yoshi and the four young superstars and must set out on a wild and colourful quest to rescue the kids and investigate the ominous castle hovering overhead.

Characters:
Yoshi, Baby Mario, Baby Peach, Baby DK, Baby Wario, Baby Luigi, Bowser, Kamek.

How to progress through the game:
Players run, glide, climb and fight your way through five levels as Yoshi, gobbling up enemies as they go. As they play through different levels, different babies will join the party. Depending on the baby on his back, Yoshi can adopt different abilities. The main game play comes from using different babies' abilities to defeat foes and advance past obstacles. Each level is also stuffed with hidden items like stars, red coins and character coins, which give players bonuses when they collect them.

Special powers/weapons/moves/features:
Yoshi returns with all the abilities we know and love: He can swallow enemies, turn them into eggs, throw eggs and flutter jump. However, depending on the baby he's carrying, he also adopts new abilities. Baby Mario gives Yoshi the power of speed, while Baby DK gives him strength and the ability to climb vines. Baby Peach lets Yoshi float, and Baby Wario's giant magnet grabs metal items like coins.

Customer Reviews

A sequal to a great snes game
Over a decade ago, Yoshi's Island on the Super Nintendo was a blast that at the time took the gaming world by storm. It didn't quite have the same impact when it was released for the GBA in 2003, but it still managed to sport some of its originality. We finally get a sequel, and its actually pretty good. It keeps all the good stuff from the previous game and adds in some new quirks. So it isn't exactly the same game. There are indeed some key differences.

In the first Yoshi's Island, Kamek kidnapped Baby Luigi while Baby Mario fell to Yoshi's Island. The Yoshi's rallied together to reunite Mario with his brother. The adventure was long, satisfying and quite a challenge. In the sequel on DS, Kamek is up to his dirty tricks again, but the key difference is that now the Yoshi's are taking care of more than one baby.

A lot of gameplay mechanics from the first one return. As you go through levels Yoshi does pretty much all that he did in the first one. That is to say you can jump and hover briefly, ground pound, make enemies into eggs and throw those eggs, as well as spitting your enemies back out at others. In this aspect Yoshi's Island has not changed at all. In addition to all this, keeping track of the baby on your back is also the same. If Yoshi ever touches an enemy he'll lose the baby off his back and a timer starts to countdown. You have to recover the baby before the timer runs out or else you lose a life. Also like in the first one, stars refill the counter.

There's more that returns. The completion of the game is a spot on match to the first one. As you go through levels you'll see flowers, red coins among the normal ones, and stars that need collecting. Upon completing a level you'll be given a score out of 100. The only way to get 100 is if you collect all the flowers, red coins, and manage to keep your counter completely full by collecting stars. There are always 100 points, and if you manage to score 100 points in every level of a world, you'll unlock a bonus stage... just like in the original.

There is one difference in the gameplay in particular that separates Yoshi's Island DS from the original Super Nintendo version. The fact that there is more than one baby that Yoshi can carry on his back. At first this doesn't sound like much, but it makes a difference in some of Yoshi's abilities. You'll begin the game with Baby Mario and Baby Peach. As you progress however, you'll get more babies--DK, Wario and Boswer. They each allow you to do something different. Bowser, for example, can spit fire while DK can swing on vines and ropes. In the end, if you actually want to do everything Yoshi's Island has to offer, you'll have to use all the babies. Some levels cannot be completed unless you've got the right baby to do it. So if you're having trouble getting some items, or you can't access a certain part of the level, it might be because you're not using the right baby.

The best part about Yoshi's Island is that the game as a whole is a challenge. More so than the original. The mechanic of having to switch babies to progress through levels adds a lot of variety to the levels. Having to score 100 points on every level also adds a lot of variety and challenge. Yoshi's Island DS is also fun to play because it doesn't do away with the mechanics that made the first one so good. The boss fights are just as memorable here as they were in the SNES installment.

Its the graphics where Yoshi's Island DS misses a little bit. In all honesty, it doesn't look all that different from the first one on the Super Nintendo. This isn't bad seeing as how the art style is still unique, but it doesn't look that much better than the game we got over ten years ago. It's pretty and all, but if you played the first one to death, you're not really seeing anything new. Most of the enemies look the same as they did before. Most of the backgrounds and platform look the same. Some of them are given more detail, but for the most part, most of the graphics are all the same.

The game also doesn't use the touch screen. All the top screen is used for is so that you can see more of the level. So if you were expecting it to take full advantage of the DS's capabilities, you'll be disappointed. This in no way detracts from the game's value, though.

In the end, Yoshi's Island DS isn't so bad. The game keeps all the aspects of the original game in tact while adding in some new features that make it unique. It's a satisfying game experience overall, even if it does bring back a little too much from the original.

Yoshi goes wild!
I think this game is AWSOME! sometimes though it is a bit hard. I thought it look colourful and fun so i got it for christmas! i was really right! it's a really good game and i would probably recomend it to 10-11+ 'cause it is quite hard, i even find it hard but then again i'm not very good at platform games! (but i still enjoy them!)

Smarter Than Mario
What an amazing game. As a Megadrive owner as a kid, I never had the pleasure of playing the original on the SNES, and I now see what I was missing out on.
The game looks fantastic, plays wonderfully and offers a more intelligent challenge compared with the brilliant New Super Mario Bros.
It's so good that I even missed my train because I was so engrossed in playing it, and didn't notice the train pull in.