When Yoshi's Island made its first appearance more than ten years ago on Super Nes, many players kept in mind its almost irreproachable quality, even hoisting it to the rank of superstar, styling the king of the plate at the same time. - form: Mario. It must be admitted that at the time, Nintendo had succeeded in bringing a breath of fresh air to a genre that the firm had previously created. So imagine the possibility of taking control of Yoshi, the faithful companion of the Italian plumber, responsible for keeping a close watch on baby Mario, whom he carefully carried on his back. Endowed with a certain ability to hover for a few moments while stirring the air with its panards, our little greenish dinosaur could also swallow everything that passed under its tongue, except for a few indigestible enemies. It was more than ten years ago and since then nothing, no follow-up. There was indeed this adaptation on Game Boy Advance afterwards but nothing new to put in your mouth. He had this false joy last year with the release of Yoshi Touch & Go, but it was more of a demo than a real game. After years of unbearable waiting, here is who tumbles on Nintendo's dual-screen console. Better late than never, right?
"Yoshi, the last dinosaur, he's my friend and much more..."
For this sequel, Nintendo has trusted Artoon, already popular for having given birth to the two episodes of Blinx but who was also in charge of the development of Yoshi's Universal Gravitation, published on GBA last year. In the case of Yoshi's Island DS, the designers did not take too many risks since we generally find all the gameplay of the first opus, with the difference that now, Yoshi will have to juggle between four kids this time. In addition to baby Mario, we'll have to take care of baby Peach, baby Donkey Kong, baby Wario and baby Bowser, all of whom are grumpy and whiny as soon as they are ejected from Yoshi's back. The slightest contact with an enemy is enough to throw the toddlers a few meters further, exposing Yoshi to probable death. Finally, death is not really the term to use in this scenario. Let's say instead that the "Game Over" will appear on the screen, in the same way as if you leave the abandoned cherub for more than 10 seconds, sent to the jails of a castle with uncrowded cells.
The appearance of 4 additional brats is therefore the main novelty of Yoshi's Island DS. Each of them obviously has its own specific characteristics. Mario for example allows Yoshi to sprint faster. Ideal for taking a big leap forward or passing smoothly over a balanced bridge. Thanks to Baby Peach and her umbrella transplanted from Super Princess Peach, our lizard can take advantage of the air currents to rise and reach unexplored platforms. Slower because of his golgolth build, baby Donkey Kong does, however, have unparalleled strength and agility, which allows him to break blocks of stone or cling to vines. More original, baby Wario's avarice allows him to attract metal objects, such as gold coins and others. Thus, it is possible to move steel blocks thanks to its magnet. Finally, Baby Bowser can snipe enemies from a distance by swinging handy fireballs. It is about the survival of baby Luigi, savagely kidnapped by unsavory beings. To swap a runt, it is imperative to go to an exchange station, recognizable thanks to this very useful stork silhouette. These relays are frequent in the game, like the level design which, despite some repetitions compared to the first Yoshi's Island, is exemplary except for certain levels.
Saute-dinos
The mechanisms of Yoshi's Island DS are well oiled and each of the 40 levels (divided into 8 chapters) allows us to renew our playful sensations each time. For the informed player of the first opus, the nostalgic fiber brings a second Kiss Kool effect, sometimes exciting, sometimes disappointing since we sometimes have the vague impression of having already crossed these same platforms. But it would be inappropriate to stop at this simple feeling of ephemeral sourness because the pleasure of the game is indeed there. In the same way, the very careful realization of Yoshi's Island DS reminds us of the extent to which 2D is a technique which is far from being obsolete and which will not give up anytime soon. Speaking of graphics, Nintendo and Artoon have apparently decided to leave aside the penciled and pastel aspect of the first episode, even if the artist painter touch is still relevant. On the grip side, Nintendo remains faithful to its reputation with a surgical precision that enthusiasts of platforms and incessant leaps will not fail to salute.
Like the firm's platform games, Yoshi's Island DS is devoured in two stages. There is obviously the discovery of the game and the desire to go to the end of the adventure as quickly as possible. In this specific case, the lifespan of Yoshi's Island DS does not exceed the 1 hours of gameplay. That's almost as short as New Super Mario Bros. it's true. But to be able to play it as a skilled gamer, you will have to succeed in bringing together all of the game's bonuses, namely unlocking all of the mini-games, accessible later via the main menu. These are discovered throughout the solo game and are therefore automatically saved. Then come the red coins and the medallions with the image of each of the babies that Yoshi carries with courage. Some will argue that this is a falsely extended lifespan. Not wrong, especially since we will have to go to bed if we hoped to have access to a multiplayer mode, since it seems that the developers have deliberately zapped the game with several people. And yeah, not even a little game-sharing game available. For once it's messy, I grant you.
