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Yoshi's Island DS Review
Written by Justin Davis on Monday, November 13, 2006
Truly excellent and innovative level design. Great Replay value. Unique, enjoyable boss fights
Deaths sometimes feel cheap. Baby swapping slightly undercooked.
Yoshi's Island DS is, for many hardcore gamers, the DS platformer they have been waiting for, whether they realized it or not. If New Super Mario Bros. was a "reboot" of that platforming franchise, designed to appeal to new and longtime gamers alike, then Yoshi's Island DS is its counterpoint - a sequel designed for those Yoshi's Island elite who were hardcore enough to attain perfection in the original. This is a Yoshi's Island fanatic's sequel, through and through.
The game starts off slow - the first couple worlds reintroduce concepts and "challenges" that weren't even that original in the original Yoshi's Island. I got especially worried when I even fought a couple of the exact same bosses. Luckily level design picks up a little before the halfway point, and there's a full three worlds of imaginative, innovative levels to be experienced before the game ends.
The main gameplay addition this time around are numerous other babies from the Mario universe that Yoshi can carry around, including baby DK, baby Peach, and at least one baby later on that I had no idea was making an appearance at all. Each baby has their own special abilities, leading to some laughably easy early puzzles. See a vine? Gotta switch to DK. See a metal platform? Gotta switch to Wario (he carries a giant magnet at all times). Later on the puzzles become more like... well, actual puzzles. The later balance between puzzle solving skill and platforming skill is perfect, in fact. There are some puzzles I never did figure out the solution to - achieving perfection this time around requires more than just pure platforming skill.
The level design is, for the most part, excellent. There are often multiple paths through any given level, and it isn't always as simple as choosing the "high road" or the "low road." You're almost constantly given a choice of whether you want to risk the more challenging path for the hidden flower (every level contains five), or play it safe. The levels themselves are often grin-inducing and full of cute little moments. Shyguys stacked on top of each other in big, swaying columns. A snow level where Yoshi dons some skis. A handful of levels focused around (and in) a Shyguy pirate ship.
After the early boss repeats, the boss fights become much more enjoyable, as well. In fact they're often among the game's highlights. One of my favorites is a fight that takes place entirely in the clouds, as both you and the boss plummet. Another against a giant stiltwalking shyguy is also especially memorable.
It's a good thing the bosses are well-designed, because you'll be seeing most of them a lot, if you're a videogame perfectionist. The original Yoshi's Island included more replay value than arguably any other title in the genre, and YI DS continues that tradition nicely. Every level includes five hidden flowers, 20 hidden red coins, and 1 gigantic hidden coin (new, this time around). Collecting all these hidden goodies plus completing a level with full health earns you a perfect 100/100 for that level. Easy early on, much, much less easy later. The bonus for these perfect scores is actually worth it, to boot - more levels.
The game does have a few issues that add unnecessary amounts of frustration, unfortunately. The biggest is that the gap between the top and bottom DS screen isn't seamless - enemies can (and will) kill Yoshi from offscreen as he moves between the two. In a game that's already challenging (more on that in a bit), this is a significant bit of cheapness I could have done without. Also, the baby swapping mechanic, while welcome, could have used smoother implementation. Babies can only be swapped in specific spots, and sometimes you'll need a specific baby, with no swap spot nearby. Why can't we switch them on the fly?
Still, the variation in the challenges thrown at Yoshi, coupled with the genuinely fresh-feeling level design (later on) more than make up for these complaints. Yoshi's Island DS is, simply put, a classic, lengthy, & challenging platforming experience - the type of game we don't see enough of, anymore. And make no mistake - the game gets CRAZY hard, later on. This is no pushover like NSMB or Super Princess Peach. You WILL die dozens of times in the last world, and bosses WILL stump you. If you enjoy 2D platformers however, you'll keep coming back for more punishment, until you've mastered even the game's most difficult levels. Platformer fans that have New Super Mario Bros. in their library, but not Yoshi's Island DS, are doing themselves a major disservice.
posted November 14, 2006