Yoshi gets squashy! (Yoshi's Touch & Go (DS))

Member Name: otalgia

Product:	Yoshi's Touch & Go (DS)
Date:	09/08/08 (67 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun and challenging to play.

Disadvantages: Unvaried gameplay.

About the Game
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Yoshi Touch & Go was released in 2005 by Nintendo.

Yoshi, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the Mario series of games and cartoons, is a green friendly dinosaur. The game is an arcade style game that also stars a baby version of Mario.

The story of the game is simple; baby Mario is falling from the sky through a field of obstacles and enemies. Using your stylus and breath you must guide him safely to the ground. Once on the ground you mount Yoshi and head across an enemy infested terrain where you must strive to survive the journey with the aim of meeting The Stork and being carried away (presumably into adulthood).


Gameplay
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On starting the cartridge you are presented with the main menu which gives you the following options of Gameplay - Score attack mode, marathon mode, time attack mode and challenge mode. In addition to the game modes you can also opt to watch a demonstration of the game and also view the score rankings of your previous attempts.

The Gameplay only slightly varies between modes, so I'll review the main game first and then highlight the difference of the other modes later.

Score attack mode -
This is the standard game mode. Each game has two parts; the descent and the landscape game. The first part of the game starts with a cute baby Mario (we know it's Mario as he's wearing the obligatory red hat!) falling from the sky clutching desperately onto 3 balloons. Each balloon represents a life and if one should burst then a life is lost. If all 3 balloons are burst then the game is over.

Baby Mario's descent from the heavens to the Earth is not a pleasant one. Despite there being coins to collect and Stars that add to your score there are also flying and static enemies that are there to burst your balloons. To guide Mario towards the coins and goodies you need to direct him by using the stylus to draw cloud paths. When baby Mario lands on your cloud paths he gently slides down them in the direction you have drawn. Should you make a mistake, such as drawing a path straight into an enemy then you can blow into the Nintendo's microphone and the clouds are quickly blown away!

There are several types of enemy on your descent. Most of the moving enemies will burst a balloon should they collide with you. Fortunately you can protect Baby Mario by using your stylus to draw circles of clouds around the enemies. Doing this turns the cloud circle into a bubble that traps the enemy. In this trapped state you can pick up the bubble with the stylus and hurl it towards Baby Mario who will gain extra points as the bubble pops.

This method of defence may sound straightforward but in practice it is really difficult. Firstly there are several simultaneous enemies to destroy, bubbles must be perfectly circle and the correct size; add to this the fact that you still need to direct baby Mario in his descent and you will quickly realise that your multitasking skills are put to a real test!

There is also another enemy, which is definitely the worst one, which remains static, resembles a shell of a conker, and is green and spiky. Attempts to circle this enemy results in an instantly burst bubble, so the only choice is to steer clear.

Should baby Mario survive the descent he will drop and almost squash a loyal awaiting Yoshi in the forest below that will proceed to take him onto the second part of the game.

In the second part of the game you must guide baby Mario riding on Yoshi's back across a horizontally scrolling landscape of threats and danger. The target is to survive for 500 yards. The Yoshi walks automatically at a set speed and the remaining distance to travel is shown in the upper right screen of the console.

There are several obstacles to overcome on this part of the game. There are for example several air bound enemies that attempt to knock you off Yoshi's back and end the game.
In addition to these enemies that are also dangers in the terrain itself, and parts of your path hold many pitfalls.

Luckily you are equipped to overcome both of these dangers. You can attack any air bound assailant by clicking on them with the stylus which will fire a white and green Yoshi egg towards them, which will kill them if hit. These eggs can also be fired at onscreen coins and bonuses to up your score. The eggs are initially limited to twenty so you'll need to use them wisely. You can accrue more though, by certain power ups encountered on your journey. You can also destroy some enemies in the same manner as the first part of the game by drawing cloud bubbles around them and then throwing them at Yoshi.

The terrain obstacles, such as missing track and potholes can be overcome by using the stylus to draw bridges over them. If you miss draw a bridge or are not happy with its path then you can blow in the microphone to erase it and draw another to replace it.

If, despite your assailants, you manage to complete the 500 yards then the game is complete and your score is recorded on the score charts (if it is high enough that is!).

So that's the main game explained, the variants in the other modes are as follows -

Marathon Mode -
The first part of this game is identical to the score attack mode described above. The main differences are in the second part of the game. In the second half of the game instead of trying to survive 500 yards you try to complete 3000 yards. The other difference in this mode is that every 1000 yards you will change over onto a different coloured Yoshi (well even dinosaurs need a rest don't they!).

Time attack mode -
In this mode, the first part of the game is again identical to the score attack mode with the exception that there are bumper obstacles, similar to those found on pinball machines that will send baby Mario flying if collided with.

The second part of the game is different to score attack mode. Once you have landed on the ground you see baby Luigi (you know its Luigi by his green hat!) being flown away by enemies. To save him from his enemies you must hit the enemy twice in fast succession. If you leave too long a gap between your attack the enemy will re-attach to Luigi and you will need to try again.

Challenge mode -
In this mode you need to avoid being caught by a fast approaching enemy. Your score is measured in Yards and the further you manage to avoid being caught the higher your score. You start with about a minute and a half, though you can top up this time by destroying enemies along the way.


Graphics
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As you would expect from a Nintendo Mario themed game everything is bright and cartoon like and lusciously drawn. The colours are vibrant and the animations and movement are all smooth and perfectly executed.

Sound and controls
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The sound, as you would expect from a Nintendo release, is excellent.
The background music of synthesized organs, percussion and pan pipes suit the mood of this game perfectly. The sound effects, such as popping bubbles or the screams of baby Mario are all enhancements to the enjoyment of the game.

The game is controlled solely by stylus and microphone blowing, which makes the game a breeze to play. The controls are responsive and precise and a joy to use.

My conclusion
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Everything gels well in this game and the vibrancy of the colours and complementary soundtrack make this a fun title to play. My only criticism of the game is that there isn't a great deal of variety in Gameplay and your biggest reason for returning to the game would be to try and beat your previous scores. That aside, it really is a fun game to play


Additional details, Price & Availability
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Developer: Nintendo
Genre: Arcade

The game was available for around £13 from the Amazon marketplace at the date of writing (8th August 2008).


Copyright M Jones (Otalgia) 2008

Summary: Good fun game with great graphics and sound.