Who
ate the Flying Chair?, tiddles, my
ratings, me, Graffiti,
Manga, Computer Games,
deep stuff,
word of the week, other stuff,
downloads, links.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's
Island
(Dinosaurs, lizards... Yoshi's neither. He's a Yoshi.)
As the subtitle 'Super Mario World 2' indicates, this is a platform game, one which was made after the original Super Mario World. (Incidentally, this subtitle only appeared in the west in an attempt to boost sales. In Japan, it was sold as a totally seperate entity.) However, whilst Super Mario World simply seems to want to expand and improve upon the Super Mario Bros. games, Yoshi's Island almost seems to take every possible step to seperate itself from the crowd.
//throwing eggs
The first thing you may notice about the game is its totally unique attack method - throwing eggs. You can hold up to 6 at a time, and when throwing one, a cursor rotates around Yoshi and a button must be pressed to fire the egg in the direction of the cursor. To gain more eggs, smaller enemies can - and must - be licked up and turned into these small green and white oval objects. The age old attack of jumping onto enemies still remains, however, and these two attack methods live in harmony.
//baby Mario and death
This game is set before any other Mario game, at a time when Mario and Luigi (who, it is revealed, are twins) have just been born. Whilst you control a Yoshi, baby Mario rides on your back, and the objective of the game is to get him to his parents. If you are ever hit by an enemy, rather than dying or losing some sort of power-up, baby Mario will fall off of your back, start wailing and float about in a big bubble.
When this happens, you must try to rescue him as soon as possible. Every second you take rescuing him, a countdown ticks away and if it reaches 0, you lose a life. The countdown will slowly go back up to 10 if baby Mario is on your back, but to get it to go higher, you must collect little starmen. The countdown has a maximum value of 30.
Some things will kill you automatically, such as falling into lava, or falling off the bottom of the screen.
//graphics
However, for most, the thing that stands out most will be the graphics. They are rendered as if they were drawn by a (rather talented) child, probably with crayons. Obviously, people disagree over whether they are a charming style which truly adds to the game or whether they are simply too 'scrappy' and rather ugly.
//sound
The music is of the typical Mario style, but os possibly even more joyful and bouncy than Super Mario World's tunes. The music has a rather child-like quality to it, and whether you approve or hate this element is up to you.
The sound of baby Mario wailing has been cited by many as being the most annoying sfx in a game.
//overall game plan
Whilst you can go back and re-visit levels, the map of this game is far more linear than Super Mario World's or Super Mario Bros. 3 and unlike those games, extra levels are not accessed by finding some hidden object in the main levels. Instead, after completing each level you will recieve a percentage score. This depends on how many red coins and flowers you collected throughout the level and what the number on the countdown was. If in one of the 8 areas you attain a 100% score on every level, a bonus level will appear, along with a bonus game, which basically consists of scratching panels or such to gain items. If you get 100% on all 8 bonus levels, your reward is a slight graphical change on the main menu.
//power-ups.
Yoshi can't power up in the same way that Mario can, saving him from hits, but he can collect green, blue or red watermelons which enable him to spit seeds, ice or fire respectively, or stars to increase the number on the countdown. Items normally need to be used instantly, but can be hoarded if they are collected in a bonus game.
Also, occasionally a box will appear that turn the Yoshi into a car or has some such similar effect.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
how far I got: completed game twice, opened up the bonus level in world 1, still trying in the other worlds.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
rating : 5
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
One guy recently asked me 'It's a platform game... how can it be that good?'
Well, the short answer is that it's enjoyable to play. It's original, it's well designed, it's never frustrating and it's, quite simply, a joy to play.
However, I feel that you deserve to hear a better answer than that, so here goes...
Yoshi's egg-throwing and baby Mario's presence make it a rather unique experience and one which has been well thought out and developed.
A huge variety of enemies has been developed in a radioactive petri dish for this game and when you see a new one, much remains to be discovered. Can you lick it? Can you turn it into an egg? Can you jump on it? How does it attack? Is it actually an enemy, or just some other wild'n'wacky creation of Shigeru Miyamoto's mind (such as the clouds which intoxicate you)? The bosses require a special mention. Each one is unlike bosses you have previously seen, many will surprise you, and a few can claim to be truly original.
The originality isn't just limited to the enemies, however. New ideas are bountiful throughout the levels, and, for some strange reason, many have never been copied. Some people feel that too many of the nice ideas are wasted in the earlier levels, but the later ones are still good enough to make an unstable person scream and break a pencil.
The graphics are rendered as if they were drawn by a child, and this unique style adds to the game in a similar way to Parrapa the Rapper's 2D characters. I've never seen anything like it, and at a time when graphics were moving towards a more realistic style, the decision was a brave one, and it works.
Even after completion, gaining 100% on all the stages in a level will open up new stages and so even if - for some strange reason - you become bored of the game, this means that when you return (and you will), you can explore new areas. On the other hand, you may simply wish to play it through again like I occasionally do. Not to try to complete it faster, or to write a review, or anything like that.
Simply because it is such a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Overall, this is a game which should be played by any computer games aficionado. Many ideas were totally original and have not yet been copied. It's original. Best of all, it's enjoyable to play...
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends