Yoshi's Island was one of the best selling games on the SNES and now its on the GBA for the gamers enjoyment. Of course if your SNES version still works, the differences are very minimal.Once upon a time there was a stork delivering a couple of babies to their parents when out of nowhere the evil koopa Kamek storms by and snatches one baby and the other plummets to the land below. Meanwhile, on Yoshi's Island the baby that managed to remain unsnatched lands on Yoshi's back with a map. The Yoshi's then decide to rally together and help baby Mario find his twin brother, Luigi. Back in 1995 the story was very original and even today there has been no game like Yoshi's Island.
Yoshi's Island presents a different tone to gameplay than any other Mario game to date. For example, you can either jump on enemies or you can have Yoshi slurp them up and make an egg to throw. Throwing eggs also has its benefits; you can grab coins or out of the way items that Yoshi normally can't reach. One con for the game I can pull out now is you have to get used to the shoulder buttons early on. The R button fires eggs and if you're still used to the SNES version you may still have the "A" button embedded into your mind as the release button for throwing eggs. Yoshi can also hover from place to place.
The entire objective of Yoshi's Island is to keep Baby Mario safe. You can do this by collecting stars (carrying up to 30). Each time Yoshi gets hit or sustains damage Baby Mario will be tossed off his back and the countdown (which depends on the number of stars you have) will begin. If the Countdown reaches zero Baby Mario will be kidnapped and you'll lose a life. If the countdown reaches below ten and you grab baby Mario then the countdown will refill up to ten.
The levels in Yoshi's Island are rather exciting. Each level has a score of 100 points you must obtain by collecting 30 stars (one point each) 20 red coins hidden among the yellow ones (one point each) and five flowers (ten points each). Each time you beat a level two things happen. You're points will tally up based on the collection of times and depending on how many flowers you got you may or may not get a bonus game. Five flowers gives you a 50/50 chance.
The levels are also rather challening and LONG. Some levels may also have mini games inside that can be frustrating. Some are fun such as when you grab a watermelon and shoot your opponent before he shoots you. But others like popping balloons or throwing the balloon before it pops aren't fun but rather frustrating.
Each world has eight levels, two of which are boss levels. Each world also keeps track of your score. If you score 700 points total in a world (out of the possible 800) then you get a bonus mini game that would normally be presented to you if you grabbed some flowers in a normal stage. Score 800 points (meaning you get 100 points on EVERY stage in that world) and you'll get an Extra Level. Keep in mind these Extra Stages are beyond hard and require some great skill.
The music as with every Mario Advance, doesn't sound as good as the original. In fact, Yoshi's Island sounds the utmost worst of the whole bunch. The noises that Yoshi makes eventually get annoying and repetative and what's worse he has a noise he makes for EVERYTHING he does, even jumping. The graphics look about the same as they did on the SNES but because of the GBA's pixle problem some of it actually looks a tad bit worse.
As for the bonuses in Yoshi's Island that weren't previously on your SNES version. Well, after you beat the game you can unlock six "secret" stages that will really test your skill. Yoshi's voice, which I already talked about and then there's the "Classic Mario Bros." But I bet most of you have classic Mario Bros. on another Mario advance game already. At least the six secret stages will keep you busy for a while, but that's the only real "Bonus" you get.
Overall of the GBA re-release frenzy Yoshi's Island doesn't fare too badly. A couple of minor flaws that can easily be overlooked.
The Good
+Re-release of one of the greatest SNES games
+Fun levels
+Original Gameplay
+Original Storyline
+Still looks good
+New Secret Stages
The Bad
-LONG levels
-Yoshi's voice is ANNOYING
-Limited amount of bonuses may not make people rush out and buy the product.
