There's a question a lot of gamers ask themselves. In fact, anyone who has ever played a video game before notices problems in whatever games they play, and wonder if there is a game that has no flaws, no problems whatsoever.
Even though the people who made Yoshi's Island (both the original SNES classic and the GBA port) were not perfect, somehow by bringing the right people together, they managed to make a seemingly perfect game on the Super Nintendo and then make it even better for the Game Boy Advance. It just goes to show that even the best games can get better, similar to how even if you get a 100% completion in Donkey Kong Country, you still have an additional 1% to go, no matter how illogical that may seem.
Yoshi's Island for the Super Nintendo was absolutely a phenomenal game, but the fact is that it was made even better on the Game Boy Advance. Not only was the fact that you could take it on the go an improvement, but the tighter controls, the improved sound, and more content would make the game an improvement even if it wasn't on a handheld.
So here we go, my review of the perfect video game.
Story
No real game is about the story.
That statement may be debatable, but if you play a game for the story, you might as well be watching a movie. The facts are that the story is simple enough to condense into two cutscenes, but original enough to know not to press the A button to skip them. That's a perfect story for a video game.
Basically the evil wizard Kamek has kidnapped Mario's brother, Luigi, and since the game takes place before Mario learned his platforming prowess that makes him a star today, you don't control Mario, but instead one of a band of Yoshis who team up to save the day.
Even though this isn't really part of the story category, I must point out that the way it is presented is masterful. The beautiful graphics are difficult to ignore, and the text narration at the bottom of the screen isn't overly elaborate, making it easy to read and not text-heavy like a lot of games today. The music that plays is soothing, as if you're reading a bedtime story. Facts are, however, that the game will do anything but put you to sleep.
5/5
Gameplay
Most people know what a sidecrolling platformer game is. You can run left and right, jumping from platform to platform with the ultimate goal of reaching the end. That's the same goal here, however the real fun of Yoshi's Island is what is in-between the start and finish.
Unlike most other platformers, Yoshi's Island makes each level feel like an open environment rather than a linear experience. Super Mario Bros. 2 and 3 did the same thing on the original NES, but instead of going to those places just to go there, you have motivation to explore every nook and cranny. There are 5 flowers hidden throughout the level, along with 20 red coins that are disguised among the regular gold coins.
You also have to collect stars, hoping to have 30 by the goal. If you get hit, however, Baby Mario falls off of your back, and you slowly lose stars. When you hit zero stars, Baby Mario gets captured and you lose a life. The great thing about this system is that the game doesn't rip you off. In main Mario platformers, when you get hit, you lose your power-up, which, while it provided a suitable punishment, there was no real way to recover until the game let you have another of that power-up. In Yoshi's Island, however, your punishment is losing Baby Mario, who is easy to recover. The few stars you might have lost will be easy to earn back, but may also prevent you from getting a perfect score, making not getting hit a goal when trying to 100% the game.
Just because getting hit isn't as big of a deal as it was in past Mario titles doesn't mean the game isn't hard. In fact, it gives the game an excuse to put more enemies and enemy types in the levels, giving the game a more "full" kind of feel to it, unlike modern Mario sidecrollers, which feel empty, bland, and uninspired. In fact, this game gives me a type of challenge that I very rarely feel in video games, the kind of challenge that is fair and enjoyable but not hard enough to make you want to throw your GBA into the ground and stomp on it before you realize what you just did, and not too easy to the point that it feels more like a joyride than a game.
And pertaining to enemy types, there is some immense originality here. Shy Guys on stilts, Fuzzy enemies that, instead of knocking Baby Mario off of your back, turn the game into more of an acid trip temporarily, Bandits that steal Baby Mario right off of your back and taunt you with him, and baseball players that look like football players all make an appearence just to make the game more difficult and enjoyable.
I also couldn't mention the gameplay without mentioning the smoothness of controls. The familiar hover-kick that Yoshi has in all of his appearences was created in this game, making for more precise platforming and less slipperyness. He can also eat a lot of enemies and either spit them out to hit other enemies or digest them and turn them into eggs which can be used as ammunition for firing at enemies, flowers, coins or the famous nonsensical "winged clouds" which contain various items. A lot of times eggs will have to be used in unique puzzles to obtain flowers, which is a nice, temporary change of pace. You are only limited to six eggs, however (and if you care carrying a key then it is further limited), so you can't fire eggs all the time and therefore they don't break the game. The game always knows when you need eggs and it seems like whenever you need an egg, you don't have to backtrack far to find an egg supply of some kind.
Lastly, I should point out that the levels are all fun to play. They don't vary in length (except for the final level) and every aspect of the gameplay is interesting. The bosses are all unique and innovative and, without spoiling, the final boss is one of the most atmospheric, unique, and overall phenomenal bosses in all of gaming.
You may notice that in a lot of my other reviews of platformers, I still give the game a perfect score even though they lack some of the benefits of Yoshi's Island. Personally, I rate a game based on how well the game was planned and whether the game meets the goals it tried to reach. Yoshi's Island is the most well thought out game ever, and it meets all of its goals with flying colors.
5/5
Graphics
Yoshi's Island has a very cutesy graphical style - I'm not going to lie. But that doesn't mean that it is a cutesy game. Like I said, it is a hard, fun game. It's definitely not like Kirby's Epic Yarn or anything in that sense.
The graphics fit the game perfectly, however, because it makes the game so charming. The famous acid-trip Fuzzies wouldn't be as cool-looking if it wasn't for the bright colors that the game already had. If the game was grey and dull like Call of Duty, the fuzzies wouldn't be as crazy.
Overall, everything just looks great. It looks just as great as Super Mario World, if not better, and because the game has a cutesy charm to it, the graphics become a more integral part of the gameplay than that of most other games.
5/5
Music and Sound
The music is amazing. Every single track is one I could listen to over and over and over again. No particular track stands above the rest or anything, unlike Super Mario World, who's main theme is superior, or Kirby Super Star, who's Gourmet Race theme is the greatest.
I could say that the final battle theme is the best, but then I'd be neglecting the peaceful yet catchy overworld theme, and if that was the best, I'd be overlooking the slightly unnerving castle theme, the incredibly catchy Superstar Mario theme, the game-show like minigame themes, the level select theme that keeps changing with every world you beat, the best underground theme ever (better than Super Mario Bros.), the second overworld theme that I find stuck in my head all the time, and all the others that I probably forgot but would probably remember after one note. Even the level clear theme is phenomenal - sometimes I sit on the level clear screen just for the music!
The sound effects have been gratly improved from the SNES game. Yoshi actually makes noises as he jumps and flutters around, and the Baby Mario cry is as annoying as ever, but rightfully so - after all, if the timer runs out, you die, and it makes the entire thought of getting hit so much worse even though it isn't nearly as bad as a lot of other games.
There's not much else to say. It's perfect.
5/5
Playability
Usually playability is impacted by problems in some other category. If the gameplay is bad, then it makes the game harder to play. If the game's too hard, it makes the game harder to play. If the music is ear-breaking or the graphics are blinding, then it makes the game harder to play. Since all of the previous categories are perfect scores, and there is nothing else that really prevents someone from finishing the game, then this category also gets a perfect score.
5/5
Impact
Beating the game is incredibly satisfying. Unlike a lot of other games, where you overcome an incredible obstacle and spend 4 hours doing the same stage over and over and over again, this game has a different kind of satisfaction. You legitamitely feel like you had a challenge even though there wasn't actually a lot of death involved. Instead of making the game extremely hard, Nintendo chose to make the game feel hard, so that the game presents challenge, but makes sure that you don't put the game down because of the challenge. I know of no other game that does that.
5/5
TOTALS
5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 100%
Other Comments
I felt like there were some things I simply couldn't say in any of the categories that I simply had to put in here to commend the game.
First off, when you beat the game, six additional levels are unlocked, which are the hardest in the game. Secret 6 (Endless World of Yoshis) is one of the hardest levels in all of gaming. These levels weren't present in the SNES version. These levels also serve to make unlocking the Extra levels (that were in the SNES version) a bit less overwhelming. The score you get on the Secret levels is added to the scores of the main levels, and the required score for unlocking the levels is still 800, so you don't have to get a perfect score on all of the levels to get all of the bonus content, which is perfect.
I must also point out that the sequel of this game, Yoshi's Island DS, was absolutely horrible. It's really sad that the sequel to a PERFECT game could be so bad. I won't get into that now, however. That's for another review.
The last thing I should mention is the Mario Bros. game, which comes as part of the package on the GBA. A lot of reviews of this game tend to claim that this game is worse than the original because it has Mario Bros. instead of legitimate multiplayer. To counter this claim, I must point out that the original game had no multiplayer feature (as a lot of other "perfect game" candidates do) and the fact that this game has multiplayer at all is better than the original SNES game. Games aren't and never should be solely about multiplayer. The fact is that Yoshi's Island could never work as a multiplayer experience. It would make the game worse as a result. Nobody complains that games like Final Fantasy VI(III) or VII lack multiplayer, and those are commonly given perfect scores on reviews.
I should also point out that I absolutely hate it when games that clearly have flaws are deemed perfect. Games like Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Ocarina of Time have very blatant flaws, such as SMG2's infinite flutter glitch and Ocarina's infamous "Hey! Listen!" from the hatable character Navi. So why do they get perfect scores?
I am deviating slightly, but I guess I just want to emphasize the fact that this game is one of very few games (probably the only one) that deserve this perfect score. Since every other game reviewer I've seen, especially from bigger companies like IGN, gives so many games perfect scores, I'd like to do exactly what I said at the beginning of this review and give the game an extra 1% just for being perfect, just like in Donkey Kong Country, where there is nothing else to do to make your save file, or, in Yoshi's Island's case, this game any better.
FINAL SCORE
101% - Perfect
Pros: Perfection of platforming, memorable levels and bosses, improving on the original SNES game.
Cons: Absolutely none. That's what perfect means, right?
The Bottom Line:
There are very few things in this world that are perfect. Yoshi's Island for the GBA is one of those things.
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