A sequel that's a prequel? (Super Mario World 2 - Yoshi's Island (N64))

Member Name: Midrange

Product:	Super Mario World 2 - Yoshi's Island (N64)
Date:	15/09/08 (39 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Familiar platform game feel with some cool bonuses

Disadvantages: The game feels a little too long 2nd play through - LOADS of levels, some are super long

A sequel that's a prequel?

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is of the classic Nintendo role-playing scroller variety. The player takes charage of a Yoshi (a cute, colourful dinosaur) and directs him from one end of each level to the other. Yoshi's quest in this game is to reunite Baby Mario with his borther, Baby Luigi - and fight Baby Bowser of course.

The game is, clearly then, set before any of the other Mario games - with Mario howling like a... well, baby whenever he is "hit". The most unusual thing about the game is that when the player is hit (by a flying enemy, fireball, mutated plant etc.) you do not "die" (as you would do in most Mario games). Instead, Baby Mario flies from the back of your Yoshi (where he has been happily hitching a lift) and floats about in a bubble. You then have 10 seconds (or more, if you collect special stars) to reclaim Baby Mario before he is abducted by Bowser's evil flying critters - I believe the critters are known as Shy Guys.

The level format is very familiar - with a few twists and turns in the gameplay. For instance, Yoshi can transform into a number of vehicles (helicopter, submarine, train etc.) using special transformation blocks. Yoshi can also launch eggs at enemies/targets and knock them out/activate secret areas. The egg firing takes a while to get used to, but once you've got the hang of controlling both a Yoshi, a moving crosshairs and keeping Baby Mario safe, you'll be laughing.

There are loads of levels in this game. Loads. There are six worlds - increasing in difficulty naturally. Each world has eight levels (including 2 "dungeons" or "castles" if you will). There are also (alledgedly) bonus levels in this game. As hard as I try (believe me, I've tried!) I never once worked out how to access them. I tried getting a score of 100 on every level - didn't work. Never mind.

Ah yes, the scoring. That's one more special feature for this game. You can collect Red Coins to up your score, as well as jolly, smiling flowers - which give you an extra life if you collect all five on a level. Much like the Yoshi Coins in Super Mario World 1.

Conclusion - it's a good fun game. Nothing incredibly new - the egg firing is cool though. The graphics are very different from other Mario titles - kind of finer detail, more texture, but more of a "drawn" cartoon feel to them. The level backgrounds are the best of any Mario game and the music is cool. As you progress through the worlds, more and more instruments are added to the main theme - a nice touch. All in all, a highly respectable and playable Mario title.

Summary: Not quite as friendly feeling as SMW1, but playable and fun