GENRE
	Platformer
	DEVELOPER
	Nintendo
	PUBLISHER
	Nintendo
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1
	CONTROLLER PAK
	no
	RUMBLE PAK
	yes
	RAM PAK
	no
	BUY NOW AT

Following the success of the SNES' Super Mario World II: Yoshi's Island, comes Yoshi's Story, Nintendo's latest achievement for the Nintendo 64. Formerly entitled Yoshi's Island 64, the renaming of the title is appropiate as Yoshi's Story comes as not being Yoshi's Island at all, but instead takes a new direction in the series, something the game was criticized for early on. Yoshi's Story is the second 2D platforming title to grace the N64, coming after Treasure/Enix's Mischief Makers. Often referred to as being 2.5 dimensional due to the additional depth perspective given by the game's luxurious graphical detail, Yoshi's Story is heavenly bliss for platform fans and fans of Nintendo's own titles. In the typical Nintendo fashion, an almost elementary style has been incorporated to give it the more general appeal for the gaming market. This may come as a turn off for those seeking something aimed more at an older market, but it takes one to go beyond the graphical interface to make the most of it. Because while Yoshi's Story isn't Yoshi's Island II, it is another shining example of simple, unadulterated entertainemnt in gaming.

visuals

Not surprisingly, Nintendo spared no expense in making their title stand out among the multitude. Aside from bearing the Nintendo trademark label, Yoshi's Story is incredibly vivid and colorful in detail, giving it a storybook quality that almost seems to have been plucked straight from a child's imagination. Everything seems to move and come alive, recreating an enviroment that's like no other. The incredibly large cartridge size can be accounted for by one thing: the widespread use of sprites.Yoshi's Story is two-dimensional and therefore requires vast amounts of sprites, and, in order for those sprites to move and animate fluidly (at a startling 60 frames per second at that), a larger cartridge is necessary. Which is encouraging, as it becomes apparent that Nintendo isn't willing to sacrifice the quality of their title just to minimize costs. In addition to the smooth framerate and large size of the title, Yoshi's Story also uses a higher resolution to avoid those washed out appearing or pixelated sprites that debuted in most first generation titles. This enables all the beautifully compiled computer generated artwork to really give the title a push into the second generation of titles. Making full use of some of the the N64's graphical capabilities, from tantalizing transparency effects to an effective color palette, Yoshi's Story could just about pass for an animated Disney film. Gamers with a sweet tooth for eye candy won't be disappointed in the least.

audio

Much to my ears' content, Yoshi's Story's audio quality rivals that of its graphics. The music composition isn't anything to scream about (well, for some it may be) in comparison to some other titles but the crystal clear quality of it all certainly gives gamers a taste of what can be achieved in terms of audio. As for the musical composition, I enjoyed it, despite the cute flavor you'll be left with. The introduction theme alone will be enough to turn some gamers off, but once you get accustomed to the singing Yoshis, it becomes downright adorable. Certainly distinctive. An interesting audio effect is that as Yoshi's health wears down, the music's tempo slows down representing Yoshi's current state, so players won't have to look at the health meter to determine their condition. As for the rest of the musical composition, it varies as much as the types of textures in the game, from a mild but catchy rapping theme to an offbeat, happy tune to a mellow, acoustic number with just about all sorts of music in between. It all adds up to a nice deal of variety in music that will thankfully water down the overusage of techno beats that seem to run rampant on the system. Sound effects are equally cute and cartoony as well and flows well with the given atmosphere; a nice touch that doesn't go unnoticed.

gameplay

Where most titles stress the importance in challenge in completing a level, Yoshi's Story emphasizes challenge in exploration--something rarely done in two-dimensional games. In order to exploit each level's myriad of hidden treats, players must carefully work their way through each area of the levels, which is divided up into sections. Of the 6 worlds, each with their own distinctive theme (earth, fire, sky, plant, water, castle,) and 4 levels per world, only 6 levels, one from each world, must be played through in order to beat the game, a type of Starfox 64 format where players must accomplish certain objectives in order to be able to access all of the next stage's levels. In Yoshi's Story case, players must find three hearts, often times well hidden, in order to do so. The hearts can be found quite simply by using the tinkling sound that signals how close to a heart Yoshi is, an easy give away at times. However, it becomes harder to find them in later levels of a stage; for example, finding a heart in World 1-Stage 1 will usually be significantly easier than in World 4-Stage 3. And getting them is something that should be done, as the later levels are terribly impressive.

As many well know by now, in order to pass a level, players must simply collect 30 fruit. The type of fruit gives players a score varying on what it is (apple, watermelon, banana, grape, or the special melons) and if it's lucky or not (determined at the very beginning of the main story mode by a random selection process). A lucky fruit is one that regenerates all of Yoshi's health and gives players extra points. The difference in that and the special melons are that they aren't as well hidden as the melons and a melon only regenerates three petals of Yoshi's life, represented by a flower. Also, deciding what order to eat certain fruit also affects the overall score and eating six fruit in a row of the same kind causes a heart, an item that makes Yoshi invincible and do everything with an extra flair, to fall down from the sky. In addition, eating the same colored Shy Guy as the Yoshi in use for that level gives additional points; in order to change a Shy Guy's color, players simply pound the ground until they come across the color they want. There are 4 different colors and 8 Yoshis in all, but not a problem. The red and pink Yoshis prefer to eat red Shy Guys, the blue and aqua Yoshis the blue ones, the yellow Yoshi the yellow ones, the green Yoshi the green ones, and the hidden black and white Yoshis will eat any color save black Shy Guys (no one likes those). In a similar manner, each different Yoshi, grouped in the same way as above, also prefer certain types of fruit, easy to associate because of the color of the fruit and Yoshis (ex: Yellow Yoshis prefer bananas) with the exception of the jalapeno like peppers which no one likes either. All this amounts to an incredible amount of depth for what most players will take as a simple game. But there's more. In order to get an even better score, coins must also be collected, and, when players eat the first group of six melons in the order they're found throughout the level, therefore getting a heart that makes Yoshi invincible, formerly coins will be revealed and form a letter that spells out a phrase throughout all 24 levels. As for those special melons, each level is loaded to the brim with special melons, each containing 30 well hidden melons. It's quite a feat to manage to gather all these melons as often times it takes certain timing and requirements in order to find them. Once players have walked through the entire level, they are warped back to the beginning so they can more carefully explore each section. Fortunately, thanks to Miss Warp, a stationary, egg shaped friend of Yoshi, Yoshi can jump on her head and jump again to be warped to a different section of the level so running all the way through is unnecessary.

In order to find all these melons and hidden goodies Yoshi has to have various techinques and friends to help out on the adventure. By using Yoshi's nose to sniff players can locate if there's something hidden underground by Yoshi's reaction. The faster the sniffing, the closer you are. Then by using a ground stomp Yoshi can uncover any secretive goodies. Thankfully for Yoshi, various friend have come to his aid on his quest to recover the Super Happy Tree from Baby Bowser and help him find those fruit. Poochie, a yipping dog, will often times help the Yoshis by leading them to a spot where something helpful may lie. Along with Poochie is Miss Warp, previously discussed, and friendly dragons and serpents that take Yoshi from place to place. And of course, Yoshi can swallow his enemies and make an egg of them to toss at someone else all by himself ,kinda like a cow patty war in the country.

Control is tight and innovative, and listed below are a handful of the moves that can be done by using the analog and buttons or both:

• Walk-push analog mildly
• Run-push analog strongly
• Tip-toe-push analog lightly
• Crouch-push down
• Crouch n' Walk-push down and left or right
• Jump-A button
• Stick tongue out-B button+direction
• Float-hold A button
• Sniff-R button
• Throw eggs-Z or C buttons
• Ground stomp-A button+down on analog
• Turn fruit border on/off-L button

A lot of these moves are incredibly handy in avoiding 'death' as it were. When one Yoshi 'dies' Shy Guys kidnap Yoshi and haul them off to the castle when another Yoshi takes over until there are no more. Players can sneak them back form the castle though by finding the White Shy Guy (a type of one up), a traitor to the baddies, who goes and nabs one of the Yoshis at random and brings them back. The only catch is players have to complete the level with him intact. Several mini games have also been included such as races against time, and carrying several boxes across varying terrain in the attempt to not drop them. Your reward? Melons.

In addition to the Story Mode, a Trial Mode, where players can play any level they've opened and beaten to get the highest possible score, and Practice Mode have been included.

multiplayer

N/A

overall

At long last, Nintendo owners can satisfy their nostalgic memories of two-dimensional gaming with none other than a classic Nintendo made game. Not perfect, but it was certainly worth the wait.

8.0/10