Yoshi’s Island | Sep 19, 2019 | 7:51hrs | rating: 4/5
I super loved this one back in the days, and although my first impression this time wasn’t great, it grew on me. Specifically the enemy design is amazing, as you never know what creature will show up next and what they will do. Even goombas have a surprising twist.
GAMEPLAY: Really tight and snappy, and there’s a good amount of challenge too. Bosses are wonderfully creative. The levels are mostly too maze-like for my tastes though, and I often feel like I just want to get done with them. Worst parts are the luck-based minigames that are just annoying.
AUDIOVISUALLY: The graphics don’t look “hand-drawn” the same way it used to, but there are still a lot of effects and detailed animation that are nice to look at. The music gets totally stuck in your brain.
STORY/PRESENTATION: I would have preferred a proper world map, but it’s a very coherent and unique presentation that still holds up.
MULTIPLAYER: You can play the minigames against a friend, but it’s not something that stays fun for more than a couple of minutes.
At first I just ran through the levels, thinking there’s no way I’ll collect all the red coins and flowers, but as I got deeper into the game, I got more and more invested in clearing the levels 100%. Had an itch to go back and unlock the extra levels in the end, but decided that seeing the end credits was enough this time.