Exceptional! The latest creation brought forth from Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo's EAD developers proves that Nintendo is as capable as ever of turning out works of art. This long, long-awaited sequel to the smash hit Super Mario World puts the player in control of Yoshi, the adorable and friendly dinosaur companion to our red-capped hero. As for Mario, well, for now he's a mere infant who must ride atop Yoshi on the long journey home. Adventure through dozens of masterfully designed levels from murky caves to cloudy cliffs, all made diverse with specialized environments, enemies, and an unpredictable number of sub-areas. Bonuses and secret passageways aplenty, too! Each world is accompanied by two bosses, typically huge-ified versions of regular foes.
Play control is magnificent, easily on par with SMW. Yoshi moves with comfortable inertia, leaving the player in total control on the SNES gamepad. The dino hero can float for a short time when holding the jump button and slam down on destructible obstacles with a button combo. Egg-throwing is Yoshi's newest, and most vital move in Yoshi's Island. Gain eggs by collecting from egg blocks or swallowing certain enemies, then launch 'em with a cursor-led attack. Helpful items like freeze-breath melons are scattered throughout stages to help you out further. He can also occasionally morph into mechanical forms like a helicopter! Yoshi, as well as all other characters and scenes, are molded beautifully in a watercolor, pop-up book style with stellar detail.
JET'S REMARK:
That glorious Nintendo magic is back! Miyamoto and Co. remind us design skill trumps all else. If more SNES titles were developed with this type of creativity, perhaps the clamor for next-gen systems wouldn't have been so deafening.
Review Station Last Stop
From its gorgeously painted graphical style and brilliant musical score to feel-good play control and exemplary gameplay, Yoshi's Island is an undeniable masterclass in games design.
