Yoshi's Island

My Favourite Game

If I am ever asked what I think the best game of all time is, I won't say Yoshi's Island, but if I am ever asked what my favourite game of all time is, I won't hesitate to say that it is definitely this game.

Released originally for the SNES in 1995, this game served as a prequel to Super Mario World (although it is titled as the second game in the series). Mario games have never been known for their gripping storyline, but for me this game stands head and shoulders above all other 2D Mario games in terms of its plot. The story is as follows: A stork is carrying Baby Mario and Baby Luigi to their parents house in the mushroom kingdom. Kamek, the servant of a young Bowser, forsees that the two children will cause trouble for Bowser in the future, so sets out to kidnap them. Kamek then attacks the stork carrying the children, but only manages to capture Baby Luigi, with his red-hatted brother falling from the sky. Luckily, Mario lands on a remote island inhabited by the Yoshi's - Yoshi's Island. The Yoshi's decide to help the infant by rescuing both his younger brother and the Stork, carrying him via a relay system. And so their adventure begins, with Kamek and his subordinates in pursuit. Although this plot is arguably a lot more interesting than the well known 'Save the Princess' routine, it is still only the framing device which drives forward an incredible platform game.

Make Eggs, Throw Eggs

This game added a huge amount of new game play mechanics to the already successful Mario formula. Apart from the obvious fact that you control Yoshi for the game and not Mario (mostly), a host of other features were added which brilliantly changed the platforming style whilst remaining simple and easy to play. One of the most important game play devices that this game brought with it was the concept of making and throwing eggs. Yoshi could swallow most enemies and turn them into eggs that would then be used to throw at a number of things - switches, coins, other enemies and a lot more. Yoshi's Island featured a host of new collectible items in each level, similar to the Yoshi Coins from the first Super Mario World. Collectible in each level were 20 Red Coins and 30 Stars, each worth a point each, and 5 Flowers, worth ten points each. Gaining as many points as possible was essential to unlocking extra levels and achieving 100% completion. Collecting more Flowers also increased the player's chance of playing a mini game when they reached the end of the level. Another major feature of this game was the countdown timer. If Yoshi took a hit from an enemy, Baby Mario would be thrown from his back and the countdown timer would begin. If the timer reched zero, Kamek's minions would arrive and kidnap Mario, costing Yoshi a life. The timer could be extended upto a maximum of 30 seconds, depending on how many stars Yoshi had. This point leads me on to the only aspect of the game that I thought could have been improved. Extra lives in this game were so readily available (through the mini-games, most prominently) that is was perfectly easy to have over 100 lives at any one time, making the 'Game Over' system seem fairly pointless.

Yoshi's Island added a host of new enemies that were filled with their own character and charm. Some enemies from previous Mario games returned, such as Koopa Troopas, Goombas and Shy Guys, but with its graphical style and personality, Yoshi's Island made these enemies a lot more interesting. One memory that springs to mind is the Sumo Shy Guy, which produced giant eggs when swallowed that would unbalance Yoshi when he tried to throw them.

The presentation of Yoshi's Island was something that always managed to put a massive smile on my face. The bright, bold colours were complemented by beautifully illustrated landscapes, set to a fantastic soundtrack which were as iconic of the game as throwing eggs.

Treasured Memories

Previous Mario games had fairly repetitive boss battles, with each boss being slightly more difficult than the last, but Yoshi's Island changed that massively. When Yoshi entered the lair of the castles bosses, he was greeted with a lowly foot soldier, such as an ordinary Koopa Troopa, for example. Kamek would then appear and cast a spell on the enemy which hugely increased their size, requiring Yoshi to figure how to defeat each Boss in a different way.

Yoshi's Island was a game that was filled with memorable moments. For example, touching a certain enemy would cause Yoshi to become dizzy and look as though he was drunk. Another moment that just oozed genius was a boss fight that shrunk Yoshi, rather than enlarging the enemy. Yoshi was then small enough for the enemy to swallow so Yoshi had to fight out from inside his stomach. Perhaps the most memorable of all moments in this game is the final fight. After Yoshi defeats the young Bowser, Kamek uses his magic to increase his Master's size to gigantic proportions, Yoshi then needs to fight him in three dimensions as he turns away from the player to throw eggs at an incoming Bowser.

The game eventually got a sequel more than ten years after it's original release. Yoshi's Island DS was released in late 2006, and although it had very solid platforming gameplay and some interesting new ideas, for me it did not quite manage to capture the magic that the original did. Small aspects such as the way mud would splash underneath Yoshi's boots in the original game were missing from the DS version, even though it was on a more powerful system. The soundtrack was also not quite as catchy and memorable as the SNES game.

Yoshi's Island has been announced as one of the games that will be available for free download to anybody who is part of Nintendo's 3DS Ambassador Programme (as it was also ported to the Game Boy Advance). I will be playing it again when it is available, but I have already lost count as to how many times I have completed it, and I have enjoyed it just as much every time.