Yoshi's Island DS Review
This game is a sequel to the original. And more so than some other so called sequels, this shows, both good in how it seems to be styled the same in ideas, and bad in how it sometimes feels more like an extension of the original than a new game.
Story wise, it's pretty simple. Complex for a Mario non RPG game, but simple otherwise. Bowser is behind this, and Kamek, who works for Bowser kidnaps various babies from around the Mushroom World for an unknown reason which is covered later in the story, and relates to stars (again). Now, two of the babies are freed once the stork attacks the Toadies that are helping Kamek kidnap the babies, and they, with the Yoshis have to investigate the disappearances and the giant, certainly evil castle floating in the sky above the island. And yes, the whole original story of schools being raided, young kids going missing from there and a floating island mysteriously appearing has somehow gone astray and is totally forgotten about. Well, good story, but part of me wants the old concept back.
In terms of graphics, the change is pretty minimal, and in terms of style, nothing has really changed from one to another. This is good in that the graphics are nearly as amazing as the original game graphics, and in certain aspects, even better (like the new enemy designs in some places). However, they also don't feel as sharp or crayon like as the old game, and sometimes the original does seem to have more charm in the graphical sense, with seemingly handrawn and coloured levels with neat characters and enemies.
Sadly, music on the other hand fares less well. Most of it, which can be said is also pretty bad in terms of atmosphere, and in many songs, the original owns this extremely badly, with some songs more likely to drive you insane from the perfectly happy, unoriginal background music. However, not all of the music is as bad as some reviews make it seem, and the intro and final battle themes are actually rather cool in my personal opinion, as is the Kamek theme tune of this game (but the original's seems a bit better). Never the less, not the best music you will ever hear by far, especially not in a Mario game.
Gameplay is describable in one simple word. Awesome. The game in this aspect does shine, it is fun and is not a let down in comparison to the original, managing to at least hold a candle to the SNES classic (and in a far better way than Yoshi Touch and Go or Topsy Turvy ever can). The new things are generally innovative as well, with a space rocket being a new vehicle addition, and new enemies and bosses being to an extent pretty interesting for the most part. However, there is not perfection here, just as there was not in the original, to a minor degree simply because it feels like another part of the original rather than a whole new sequel, simply because of the amount of almost recycled material and fact that certain important things for gameplay, like items, water melons, various transformations and certain interesting enemies are not there. This however can be somewhat countered by how the mini games and time trial mode are to the most extent excellent additions to this game, and do feel rather polished.
Length and difficulty wise, you can never say this is a let down. 50 levels. Some secret and extra levels that are stupidly difficult, various unlockable mini games, bonuses and levels, time trial mode after completing the story, five stars on the title screen. These things keep people playing until the game is done.
Overall, a very good sequel by Nintendo, and a definite improvement over some of the mediocre Yoshi games produced, some of which really let down the amazing original, and also this awesome sequel.
90%