The Classy favourite from 1995 is back, this time under the label of Super Mario World 3: Yoshi's Island (the original being no.2) for Nintendo's Gameboy Advance (2002) instead of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). Found used between 5 and 10 pounds, you can pick up an complete bargain game with real heritage. The title may say Mario World, but his involvement is minimal, yet essential to all the Yoshi's - dinosaur like creatures that can eject their tongue for an attack, eating coins for points or enemies to convert into eggs, which in turn are used to fire at various targets, ricocheting off walls and causing all sorts of havoc. The Yoshi's can also use their heads to slam into the ground, and find a few types of fruit - green allows you to spit seeds, red releases flames and blue turns enemies to ice. The Yoshi's jump and can hover slightly to remain airborne, avoiding falls or to reach higher areas. Speed is also achieved by holding the B button, found in several mario games beforehand. Should you run into an enemy or have baby Mario stolen, a timer will go down until he is saved or eventually he will be captured and its game over. His cries are the most annoying noise ever heard but thankfully, stars can be found to increase the timer. The main plot is largely down to baby mario, being held by a stalk, gets separated from his brother Luigi by an evil broomstick wielding 'magikooper'. Luigi gets captured and Mario falls down to Yoshi's Island, landing on the original green Yoshi. The multicoloured dinos club together and decide to share the burden of carrying Mario across the land, looking to free his brother and stalk, so that they can be delivered to the mushroom kingdom - so all Mario and Luigi's adventures wouldn't have even begun if it wasn't for the heroic Yoshi's!

There are 6 lands to browse through, each with 6 unique levels, 2 castle expeditions (with bosses), secret levels and minigames to gain more lives and items. Upon completion there are 6 additional levels that have been added to the GBA version. Expect to see all sorts of enemies, flowers, ghosts, koopas, bats, fish, penguins and of course the giant blue bugger on the front cover. Most of which can be turned into eggs :) The enemies span across a variety of landscapes and environments - plunder water and crystal filled dark caves, medieval castles full of dangerous contraptions, jungles with exotic creatures such as thieving monkeys and levels that keep ascending through the clouds. This may not sound too appealing when the described locations are displayed on the small screen of a Gameboy, and the game is from the mid nineties.. However, this is no ordinary video game. Yoshi's Island is filled to the brim with imaginative illustrated foregrounds and backgrounds, all coloured in with creamy smooth pastels - just use google image search to find some really good examples. There are often '?' clouds that when shot at, can supply you with coins, stars or even little bridges to aid you along the way. The musical score caters to all kinds of moods, with upbeat energetic melodies to rain drop crystal sounds and intense dungeon tracks. Towards the end of levels, you get the chance to play minigames and the castle levels have bosses that must be fought within the space of small rooms.. until you fight the mighty Bowser ..some simple strategy is required at times.

Its all pretty jolly and childlike, with flowers for lives, mushroom soft surroundings and only really gets dark when fighting bosses. It can be a bit difficult at times so it is probably best suited to gamers over 7 or 8. This GBA version comes with the fun multiplayer minigame where the mario brothers fight for coins and avoid enemies. It was also on the SNES's Mario Allstars game. Despite its simple plot, its gameplay and environments are rich and well balanced, offering different experiences and is one of the best 'Platform' games in history. A must have for the Gameboy Advance.