YoshiÂ’s Island

Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 7/10
Fun Factor: 9/10

Having never played YoshiÂ’s Island on SNES, I was eager to pick this game up. I said to myself, if it were anything like Super Mario World, IÂ’d be more than satisfied. Well, incase you were wondering, itÂ’s not like Super Mario World, rather, it throws a bunch of new game play elements into the mix. And, itÂ’s a blast to play!

What type of new things are in this game? Well, you play as yoshi, with Mario on your back, when you get hit, Mario flies off your back in a bubble as a timer counts down. You carry eggs around and can fire them off at enemies, to open doors, unlock secrets. You can get eggs by either eating enemies and, uhm, pooping them out as an egg, or just grab the eggs.

This game most definitely has a style of its own, and a style that I didnÂ’t like at first, but now adore. It looks almost as if youÂ’re running through a coloring book at times. The thing that I noticed is the great use of hardware this game. The characters and backgrounds make great use of the Mode-7 GBA effects, rotating, scaling, and transparent enemies are abound everywhere! Phenomenal animation on yoshi, Mario, and the enemies. IÂ’d put it up near the top of the heap for one of the best-looking GBA games!

The sound isnÂ’t quite up to par with the graphics, but absolutely acceptable. I just didnÂ’t hear myself whistling the tunes on any of the levels, and the baby MarioÂ’s voice can get a bit tedious. All of the newer yoshi sounds are in there, and fit in very well, however.

The bottom line is about this game is itÂ’s a very fun very well designed game that adds a few new touches to the platform genre if you havenÂ’t played it before. If you enjoy Mario World, (who doesnÂ’t!) Pick this game up, itÂ’s worth your 30 bucks and blast to play to boot!