PixlBit

I’m the type of guy that doesn’t think its fair to compare one game to another, but in the case of Yoshi’s New Island, an exception has to be made. It’s the second follow-up to the SNES classic, Yoshi’s Island, and Yoshi’s Island is a very tough game to top. On the positive side, Yoshi's New Island does a lot of things better than the previous entry in the series, Yoshi’s Island DS, like getting rid of the annoying baby-switching mechanic and doling out some clever levels. On the other hand, it adds some new, underutilized mechanics, disappointing boss battles, and turns a definitive ability into a shallow gyroscope mini-game.

Yoshi’s New Island closely resembles the SNES classic in terms of game progression, control, and style. You travel through six worlds with eight levels each, with lots of boss battles along the way. While the levels can be tackled in the obvious order, the fun of Yoshi’s games is using his abilities to find hidden items (stars, red coins, and flowers). Throwing eggs to tackle enemies and using them to bounce along walls towards items is an ingenious mechanic introduced in the original game, and if you’re going to try and get 100% completion, you’ll be using it a bunch in Yoshi’s New Island too. There’s also the intense chore of keeping Baby Mario safe, to keep him from getting hit and releasing one of his infamous digital cries that will also hamper your attempts at perfecting levels.

Most of the level designs are clever and charming if you make the effort to find the hidden items and keep Baby Mario from crying. While mostly straight-forward, every level contains a ton of nooks and crannies to jump around in in search of hidden items. There are also hidden passages leading to 1-ups and red coins, question-mark clouds ready to be egged, green pipes, and hidden doors.

When you tackle the stages without making the effort to fully complete them, the game feels a bit too easy and a bit lifeless – which means a lot coming from someone who absolutely adores Mario and Kirby titles that are far from challenging. Developer Arzest also added in new gameplay elements; Yoshi’s morphology returns but instead of using a bubble to turn into a vehicle, Yoshi now enters a morphology door to tackle a timed segment while using the 3DS’s gyro to change Yoshi’s form. As long as you’re not riding a bus or anything, these segments are not tough to control, they just seem pointless. Yoshi can also throw giant eggs to plow through foreground obstacles as either optional challenges or as a part of mandatory level progression; yet, not a lot of levels use this mechanic, which is a bit of a downer. Then there are the boss battles. Battles with Kamek (Yoshi’s nemesis),occur in the fourth stage castles while giant-sized enemies are tackled in the eighth stage castles. While Kamek’s battles have very clever themes to them (hitting flip switches to strike Kamek being one), the other boss encounters feel bland and unthreatening. Not even the final bosses blew me away.

Yoshi’s New Island excels in the graphics department but falters its audio. The game runs very smoothly with hardly any hiccups, and all the animations for Yoshi and the enemies are cute and creative. Level backgrounds and foregrounds, like the character models, use a chalky color scheme mixed with crayon effects that I absolutely love. With the 3-D effect on, the foregrounds do pop out, but it’s not an amazing effect, which is a pity considering the graphics almost resemble a storybook.

The audio is a very mixed bag; the sound effects and voice clips of Yoshi and Shy Guys fit the game environments well and don’t get annoying. The music is a little disappointing, as Arzest thought it would be unique to have some of the tunes in the game be composed with a kazoo and they just sound completely weird. Some tracks I didn’t mind, like the castle themes, but others were used in strange places, like an upbeat tune set in one of dreary last levels.

I have no problems recommending this game to parents that want an easy-going introduction to the platforming genre for their kids. Yoshi’s New Island is never too hard nor too easy, as long as you aim for 100% completion to make things more challenging. However, experienced gamers who never played the first Yoshi’s Island may find this game a little too easy and inconsistent in its level and audio design. It’s not Yoshi’s finest outing but it is inoffensive and perfect for young children, but I’d recommend waiting for a price drop.