Yoshi's Story!
Reviewed by Michael Schaefer
Nintendo has come out with yet another video game. And as usual, the net is split.
But I think Yoshi's Story deserves better than what it's getting. Reviews everywhere
are saying that Yoshi's Story is empty of challenge. But I'm here to challenge that.
Graphics 10 out of 10
If there is only two words that describe it, it's Eye Candy. The graphics are stunning!
Right down to the backgrounds, the games graphics are as sharp as a tack. The Yoshi's
move like the whole game cartridge has been devoted to making "Yoshi-motion".
Nintendo has outdone itself with it's 2 and a half Dimensional (2 1/2-D) game.
Control
What can I say? Everything revolves around the control stick, making it look and feel
like your playing it at an arcade. Thanks to the revolutionary N64 controller, game
play is almost immersive. You probably couldn't have better control unless the game
did it for you.
Gameplay 7 out of 10
Enough about graphics and controllers, lets talk about game play. There are many
puzzles and tricks in Yoshi's Story, and too many to find in one nights rent. Unless
of course, you intend to go twenty four hours with it, then you may have a chance.
The genius of the game is YOU set EXACTLY how hard you want the game to be. A
baby could waltz through if it decided to eat everything it came across. But a true
gamer would find (or try to find) all thirty melons in a level. And not all are easy
to get! I had to play for awhile to find the two missing melons in "Rail Lift" and I
even had to pull out my Players Guide! I meet people who say they have found
EVERYTHING in the game. Then I ask, "What's the Secret Message?" This is often
followed by the response, "What Secret Message?" This practically proves
Nintendo still gives it's players quality. Getting back to how difficult it is,
Nintendo is getting burned for giving user convenience. They let you decide
how hard you want it, and you come back with hatred? Come on! See this game
for what it is, and you'll see what I mean.
Difficulty
Like I said- how hard do you want it? It's your choice. I've not gotten through
every level of the game yet! It is a challenge for me! The only thing I would change
is that I get too lucky. I only beat Magma castle because Baby Bowser kept hanging
out with exploding Bomb-ombs! They should have put a fail-safe in there. Difficulty
rating? You decide.
Replay Value 7 out of 10
It maintains the same replay value of YI in two ways. Have you found thirty melons
in all the courses yet? If yes, what about the secrets? If no, go for it! Second way
is its unique "Trial Mode" where you can go for high scores and try to beat your old
records.
Sound 8 out of 10
About the only thing that everyone agrees on is that the sounds tend to be ultra
cute! You like it? Good for you. I do. However, if you can't take it anymore, why
would you want a game like this anyway? It only takes common sense to put Baby
Yoshis, baby everything with "Cute". Anybody who doesn't see that spends a little
too much time playing N64. The sound tracks can be cool, and there are a lot of
"extra tracks" that make the game interesting. For instance, here are three places
with tracks all there own. Each snake has a little music box tune for going up,
down, or left, right. And my favorite is in Jungle Hut. Just go in the blue pipe at
the top of the area. The green one works too.
Overall 8 out of 10
Yoshi's Story is an innovative, original game. Maybe that's why people are so split
over it. If you love Yoshis, or like a different game that you can set the challenge
on your own, then Yoshi's story is for you. You should be able to tell whether or not
a game is for you by looking at what the description is on the back.