The 'Shroom:Issue XXVIII/Review Corner

Review Corner by

Hello, fellow review-ites! Welcome to uncle Luigifreak’s review bananza! This week we will be reviewing……. Erm………. *Loud pop* Yeah…. That was my Cerebrum.


 * Cerebrum- n. The largest part of the brain. The Cerebrum is split in two halves, called hemispheres, which contain frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal lobes.

Nice little science lesson…….. Well, this month I will review the game Yoshi’s Island DS. *gets shot for reviewing a Yoshi game* Yeah… well, just for incidents like this, I always wear a bulletproof vest. As you can see after the incident with my Cerebrum, please give suggestions, or my Cerebellum will probably pop after thinking too hard, and you will have to take your final exam on the brain. Anyway, Yoshi’s Island DS is a very nice game that not many people recognize. I’m not even sure it’s in stores anymore. That’s a shame. Well onto the review.

Story
Once upon a time, pretty pretty storks were carrying ugly ugly babies to the pretty pretty houses, then ugly ugly Toadies and Kamek came and took the ugly ugly babies from the pretty pretty storks. *gets shot again* Okay… okay, just stop shooting! It scares the little review-ites out there. Anyway, the toadies took many babies, including Babi Luigi. However, Baby Mario and Peach fall into the hands of Yoshi and co.!tm Kamek realizes the missing babies, and tries to find/ kidnap them. So, why does Kamek want Weegi? What is he gonna do with the babies? Why do I always ask questions at the end of the story section?

Gameplay
Well, let me just say, this is platforming at it’s best. You have different platforms on which you can jump, several gimmicks, and enemies. Cool, but average, right? Ha-ha. WRONG.

You are playing as Yoshi. If you know much about Yoshi, he can flutter jump for a limited time. He can also eat enemies with his tongue, and get eggs. Eggs can stun enemies, hit switches, move platforms, ect. You have to have a kind of good aim, so that adds a lot in terms of gameplay. You also have a cool ground pound (Badum Hut!) so that’s cool.

For the battle system, you can jump or throw eggs at the baddies. However, if you get hit, you lose the tyke that is traveling with you, and he floats in a bubble. You have a star meter that slowly decreases. If you don’t rescue the infant in time, Toadies will snatch it away. You can get more star points to refill your meter.

As much as Yoshi adds to gameplay, the babis add more. You not only play as babi Mario, but also as Peach, Dk, and others. Each has something to add to gameplay. DK can climb vines and swing, Peach can float on rushes of wind. So, you will have to consider when to use each baby. Often there are multiple paths that only one baby can take. Some paths are harder than others, so you really have to consider what each baby can do. The only downside: You have to go to these stork stops to change babies, and it can get tedious and boring. Otherwise the gameplay is similar to most platformers, albeit with many more aerial levels and platforms.

Diversity of Levels
Let me make this short: There are 8 levels in each world (plus 2 extra ones..) and 5 worlds. 40 levels, and each of them are really different than the last: new enemies, gimmicks, ect. So good.

Diversity of Enemies
Nothing to complain about, many of the same enemies, like shy guys, but somehow, they aren’t boring. Each level introduces a new type or reintroduces a really old one. Shy guys who are in every level, still aren’t boring. Each enemy is pretty much different, so pretty darn good.

Playable characters
Another really brief section: You have 5 party members, each with a different power. So good.

Replayability
On each level, there are 5 flowers, 20 coins, and many stars to collect. To truly beat the game, you have to get all the red coins and flowers, and 30 stars on each level. That wouldn’t be so bad if it wasen’t for the…….

Difficulty
This game is THE HARDEST (besides maybe Lost Levels) Mario platformer. Not saying it’s bad. It is really hard, but not throw your controller against the wall hard. It provides a really good challenge that really makes you want to beat it. It really gets hard when you go for 100% completion, but it’s worth it.

Pros

 * Good gameplay.
 * Good levels
 * Good replayability.
 * Many Characters

Cons

 * Mediocre Story.
 * EVIL STORK STOPS

Overall
Really, I can’t say much more. It’s a really good platformer, so if you like those, get this. NOW!!!!!!!!
 * Gameplay: 9/10
 * Diversity of enemies and levels: 10/10
 * Story: 7/10
 * Playable Characters: 9/10
 * Replayability: 10/10
 * Difficulty: 8/10
 * Overall: 8.8 B+
 * Overall without story: 9.2 A-
 * Overall without difficulty: 9 A-