Nintendo brings innovative to the Mario universe via Yoshi's Story's amazing visuals and music!
Genre: Adventure
Developer: Nintendo
System: Nintendo 64 (N64)
Total Score: 84/100
Value Score: 8.4/10
• Story: 8/10
o The story of Yoshi's Story is as simple as a typical mario game but with a different twist. There was a island where many creatures have lived, amongst them were a race of Yoshis who thrived on the fruit of a tree called the Super Happy Tree. One day Bowser (Baby*) cast a curse which turned the whole island into a storybook and stole the Super Happy Tree for himself, the curse also affected all the Yoshis making them obsolete from even attempting to save the tree. There were a group of eggs however that remained unaffected by the curse, they hatched and planned a strategy to take out Bowser and his curse and to rescue their lovable happy tree. They planned to spread happiness throughout the island to break the cures and started their journey onward towards Bowser's castle where the Super Happy Tree is held captive.
• Characters: 8/10
o Yoshi's Story consists of several characters seen in different Mario series games such as Shy Guys and of course the Yoshis, however this game also includes a few of the rare enemies/creatures from Yoshi's Island. The game also includes a whole new collection of characters both enemies and allies but some of them may seem generic or not even worth mentioning as a single playthrough would of course make you only see less than half of all the creatures that are in the game.
• GamePlay: 10/10
o Yoshi's Story plays similar to Yoshi's Island where you play as Yoshi, but this time you dont have mario nor the invincible no health Yoshi, you now have a flower health meter where if you get hit 3 times from having full health you will of course lose a life. You can restore your health easily by eating fruits throughout the stages or eating certain enemies or taking a flower which can easily heal your health. You need to collect about a whole set of fruit to finish a stage, the fruit list is surrounded throughout the outer edges of the screen to show you where you are in the collection. Collecting 7 of the same fruit in a row will reward you with a super fruit which you can then use for invincibility and to throw a infinite amount of eggs. You can also smell around with the L or R button to sense for any hidden objects or fruit. The game plays similar to Yoshi's Island in terms of exploration as well, as you will go throughout different sections of a stage, some might even take you back to the beginning or somewhere along half way, it can be pretty much a maze. You also have many obstacles and objects which you can use to travel through the stages such as Jars, boxes and pipes which let you explore certain areas. Swimming levels are as common in this game as in the average mario game however you will love the controls as they are very fluid and easy to learn. Throughout the game you will have the chance to collect hearts, there are 3 in each stage, the hearts allow you to unlock a pathway to a new level on another map. Collect as much as you can to play through all the stages. There is 1 boss in each page and up to a total of 6 bosses. You also have access to a Trial mode where you can beat your score and a practice mode where you can practice the game's controls, you also have an option to delete any information you have saved in progress whether they are the game's progress or score progress.
• Graphics: 9/10
o Yoshi's Story uses a unique graphics style that you wont see in many games, matterfact many games after Yoshi's Story mimicked the graphics style, one can say that this lead to Cell Shading but it is highly disputable. Yoshi's Story literally uses a pop up picture book style of graphics which both old and new players will surely enjoy no matter how old or young you are. The game has a stellar color design which is wonderful to look at and you will awe in the environments throughout the game, its as if you are in a nursery or a toy box, very original and colorful.
• Sound: 10/10
o Yoshi's Story has a dynamic sound effects compared to older mario games, each sound effect is so clear and crisp you would think you have surround sound. All the way from Yoshi's grunts towards Bowser's cry, you will enjoy the stellar sound effects heard within this game.
• Music: 10/10
o Yoshi's Story has a OST which is both short and sweet, with only a dozen or so tracks, its amazing how the music is good with so little few tracks. You will notice some of the songs are actually remixes of either older mario games or famous orchestral tracks. Pretty much if you have played any Mario game afterwards such as Super Mario Sunshine, you can actually hear some of the tracks which inspired the OST for Super Mario Sunshine as they sound familar.
• Length: 4/10
o Yoshi's Story's main weakness is its length, although the game consists of 24 stages overall spanning of 4 stages per map (which include 6 maps). The game should not take you no more than 5 hours if not less.
• Replay Value: 5/10
o There isnt much replay value within the game, but you would have to do at least 4 playthroughs to unlock all stages, along with that you have the choice of unlocking two additional Yoshis, a black and white one however their shooting power and appearance are pretty much what divides them from the original group of Yoshis. Other than that you have the Trial mode where you can challenge your scores from previous playthroughs.
• Player Value: 10/10
o Yoshi's Story is an amazing game, it is sweet and short, fans of all ages both Mario and video game fans will surely enjoy this cute and classic game. The game's amazing soundtrack, beautiful original visuals and great gameplay will capture your interest in playing this game for many years to come.