One of the most entertaining and original platformers on the planet (Super Mario World 2 - Yoshi's Island (N64))

Member Name: Murf!

Product:	Super Mario World 2 - Yoshi's Island (N64)
Date:	20/07/01 (391 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Imagination by the bucketload, cool world map theme thing, hugely entertaining

Disadvantages: Not long enough, the graphical style might be a little too 'individualistic' for some, too linear

y the time this worthy title was released, interest for SNES was slacking. Because of this, many have never played Yoshi's Island. But everyone should! Any cynic who believes that they have got to the point where no platformer is capable of surprising them also must play this. YI, more than any other Nintendo release I've seen, attempts to make as many surprises as humanly possible. This endevour is helped no end by the use of a Super FX 2 chip, previously used in Vortex and Wildtrax. Unlike the aformentioned titles, however, YI does not use the chip for polygons much. YI is a 2D platformer in the Mario World tradition, but with knobs on. The Super FX 2 chip is used here to stretch, rotate, and generally piss around with sprites for the most part, although the game is not totally polygon free.

The idea here is that the Yoshis must save Mario from the clutches of the evil Kamek, by carrying him through the levels. If Yoshi gets hit, Mario floats away in a bubble, doing the most convincing baby wail in any game I've seen - not that I'm aware of strong competition - and you must get him again before the timer runs out and he is nabbed by the bad guys. Yoshi is better equiped to dispatch the forces of evil than he was in Mario World, as he can finally lick upwards, fire eggs (formed from swallowed enemies), butt slam Mario 64 style and do a really cool lip-licking animation when he swallows something small...

Nintendo's coders have done a good job of making each and every level have something new, and not in the strict 'one gimmick per level' fashion of Donkey Kong Country 3: the ideas are liberally thrown around the levels in the way only a very imaginative group of people could do. Another thing which often grabs your attention is the attention to detail. In one area for instance, missiles are dropped on you from above. But they don't just appear from out of the blue, oh no. There is a line of Shyguys above you, and th
ey pass along the missiles down the line towards you. There are tiny frogs on some levels that also only serve to amuse you.

The graphics are something that are likely to split people into two groups: those who call them messy and washed out, and those who call them imaginative. Basically, a lot of the graphics were done in the style of a felt tip, and whether this makes for an interesting style or a crap one is up to you. Personally I like the graphics. Few will dispute the graphical quality of the bosses, which are huge and ooze humour. The way you dispatch them is always different, too.

One of the strengths of Mario World was the way you could choose your route through the game, and unfortunately they've done away with said feature here: your progress through the levels is totally linear. Also, there aren't as many levels as before, but to be fair there are a good number, with a good helping of secret levels, too.

Sound? Not too bad for Nintendo to give them credit. One fantastic idea whereby the world map theme starts off with only a few sound channels, and then every time you complete a world, another instrument is added into the theme, ending which an orchestral ditty by the end of the game. The rest is pretty good by Nintendo's standards. Cutesy, but ultimately hummable.

All the ideas floating around and all the little touches etc make this an unique game, and one I'd recommend playing through.

Summary: