Review: Yoshi's Island DS
Score: 77
Ah yes, Yoshi's Island. A game that's been around a bit, first released over ten years ago on other Nintendo consoles. One look at the screenshots below and you'll instantly grasp what this game is all about.
Yoshi's Island DS is a strictly two-dimensional platform puzzler, although if you like the genre then you'll adore the huge, and I mean huge variety in puzzles and devices here, from simple score-coins to huge screen-spanning spiked wheels threatening to run Yoshi and his rider over.
You get to play with a number of riders, including Baby Mario and even Baby Donkey Kong - each baby from the Nintendo character range comes with his or her own special abilities (e.g. Mario can run, Donkey Kong can climb etc.), adding an extra subtlety to solving puzzles and getting through each level. Baby 'Wario' includes an extra-strong magnet, with which you can attract coins and other metallic objects.
As you can see from the screenshot above, the graphics are optimised to allow for the physical space between the two screens (which is why the screenshot looks wrong). Although this creates the illusion of one big playing space, it does mean that the plastic between the screens becomes an irritating bar that stops you seeing part of Yoshi's world and in many cases this means that important puzzle elements are obscured - you have to nudge the display up and down using the shoulder buttons in order to 'reveal all'.
As with most platform games, you have to experiment and explore as you move through each level, and the sheer mind-expanding time-wasting ability of Yoshi's Island means that if you're looking for something to soak up the hours and provide value for money then you won't go far wrong here.
The soundtrack is a little disappointing, seeming like something from ten years ago - but then that's when the Yoshi's Island concept first arrived, so maybe Nintendo have simply done the retro thing...
There aren't many negatives to Yoshi's Island, but I'd highlight the fact that there's little use for the touch-screen and that the game will 'waste' so many hours and hours of you and your family's time. Of course, if that's your objective, then this will be perfect for you!