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Yoshi’s IslandDS arrived on the NintendoDS just
prior to Christmas as part of what seemed to be a rather
lack-lustre fourth-quarter First-Party line-up for the system. With
great titles such as
 StarFox Command,
Children Of Mana, Phoenix
Wright: Justice For All, Actionloop and
Pokemon
Ranger pushed into the early 2007 release schedule, the
NintendoDS’ Christmas was handed to the likes of
Pokemon Mystery
Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team, Tenchu: Dark Secret and
Yoshi’s IslandDS itself. Following the vein inaugurated by the
SNES’ Yoshi’s Island and the Nintendo64’s Yoshi’s Story,
Yoshi’s IslandDS has a lot to live-up to; not least
considering that most in-the-know are considering the title the
latest instalment in the Super Mario World series, Super
Mario World 3, regardless of the lack of any notable intention
in the games’ title.
The title plays as would be expected by those familiar
with pretty much any of Nintendo’s First-Party Platform
series; the player is presented with a beginning and end, and must
traverse the space between whilst avoiding pitfalls and enemies, as
well as having the option to reap further benefits by collecting
the special items; Red Coins, Flowers and Stars. At the end of each
Level, the game grades you a numerical score – out of 100 –
depending on your performance gathering the special items. Yoshi
retains his ability to swallow enemies, most of which can be turned
into eggs and used as artillery. Throwing eggs can kill enemies,
destroy blocks and uncover secrets.
The title is divided into Worlds, each of which
contains eight Levels, including a mini-Boss halfway through, and a
final Boss at the end of the World’s last Level. The Bosses feature
a nice degree of variety, and although not particularly challenging
to a seasoned player, the unique trick to defeating each will
entangle more casual gamers for some time.
While most of this will be familiar to those who played
the SNES release – as of which, most of the game is incredibly
closely related – a new feature appears with the recent ritual of
adding character-switching abilities. Baby Mario is obviously the
default character; however, the player must also use the varying
abilities of Baby Peach, Baby Bowser, Baby Wario and Baby Donkey
Kong. Baby Wario has a magnetic attraction to coins, whilst Baby
Donkey Kong
throws eggs very, very hard, and can clamber across
vines, and Baby Peach has the ability to float. While adding a
little extra spice to the formula – the character-switching is
limited to specified points within each Level – it seems quite
ridiculous that the developers would choose to restrict one of the
foremost abilities inherent in Mario-based Platform titles to just
one character; Baby Mario is the only character that allows
for the option of a dash manoeuvre.
The Level construct in very well designed. Yoshi’s
IslandDS retains the sense of compulsion to see what the next
Level holds throughout; with completion of one Level often
resulting in the player feeling compelled to attempt the next
immediately. The difficulty curve is well-placed, a small feat
considering the seemingly-random compilation of Level variety
within each World; a single World may contain basic Platform
Levels, sky-based Levels, mine cart-esque rollercoaster ride
Levels, Ice Levels and much more. Unfortunately, however, the Bonus
Missions aren’t quite as inviting as would be hoped, and so much of
the replay value lies in achieving a perfect 100 score on each
Level – wherein the rewards don’t necessarily satisfy the effort.
Yoshi’s IslandDS is clean and crisp. A well
delivered 2D Platform release on a system which may well be capable
of more, but content with being a title that doesn’t need to be
that demanding. Much of the visuals have simply been lifted from
the SNES iteration of the series and given a little polish;
even the Mode7, 3D-esque rotating image of the island on the Main
Menu appears to be directly dumped onto the Game Card. The
3D-effect on the opening of the doors, the Sprite-Rotation and
Parallax effects and even most of the animation have been taken as
exact from the series originator – given the impression that
Nintendo simply offered the development team the entire source code
from the original title to be pulled-about as wished throughout
production – resulting in a title that could easily have better
visuals given it’s chosen system, yet is comfortable enough not to
require them.
Yoshi’s IslandDS is a very approachable game
filling the very classic image of a well-crafted Platform title. In
comparison to the average NintendoDS competitor –
Scooby-Doo!
Unmasked, Spongebob Squarepants: The Yellow Avenger,
The
Incredibles: Rise Of The Underminer – Yoshi’s IslandDS
simply blows the opposition out-of-the-water. However, when drawn
in comparison to Nintendo’s own offerings – namely,
NEW Super
Mario Bros. – it becomes quite apparent that the title has
flaws that hinder its longevity. Remaining one of the best titles
available on the NintendoDS, Yoshi’s IslandDS only fails
when drawn in comparison to one of Nintendo’s other top-ranking
First-Party offerings. 
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