Review number 5 coming up for me. Anyone who is a tourist here should know the resulting opinion coming up, but people new to the Mario series may instinctively want to get Yoshi's Story for being an N64 game as opposed to Yoshi's Island's Super Nintendoness. Before that happens, these game will be put to the comparison test to explain where your money really should go when it comes to Yoshi's series. Let the battle begin!
Now that I mentioned battle, let's see to it that this becomes a boxing match. As referee, I will grade what each game has to offer on a system of ten, 1 being pitifully weak, 10 being an amazing blow in the history of gaming.
*GONG*
Storyline:
Yoshi's Island, the Super Nintendo game, lands the first strike introducing a time as Baby Mario and Baby Luigi are being delivered from birth. Since this is a child-like interpretation of birth, they gave in to an unscientific concept of giving a stork the job of delivery. However, this story hammers itself a definite place in the Mario Universe as now we see the turmoil of Mario and Luigi's infant stage of life, and also get possible insight as to why Mario and Bowser are enemies.
Score against Yoshi's Story as they weasel in something about a sacred artifact, or in this case, a Super Happy Tree of infinite fruit being stolen by Baby Bowser and now the Yoshis trying to retrieve it. That was all they could hit us with. Weeeeeaaaak. I'm telling you. I must say, it does help their case somewhat that the fruit in this game acts as healing items. Yes, it does help give the impression that you are following the trail of the Super Happy Tree, eating the fruit it left behind.
Island: 6
Story: 4
Controls:
Island controls:
D Pad = Move
B = Jump (hold
to flutter, press down to pound ground)
A = Bring in
aiming cursor, Fire Eggs
L/R = Stop movement
of aiming cursor
Y = Lick (to
capture and eat enemies by pressing down on D pad in turn)
Since Island was able to bounce eggs off walls to hit his enemies, there was no denying that he got cool points from the crowd, and of course me. I mean, the crowd threw all sorts of valuables at Island for managing to strike a blow this way, items including Stars and coins. Seeing it that you get a bonus from hitting enemies by bouncing eggs off walls in the game Yoshi's Island, it gives more insentive for putting up with the challenge. This kind of thing also makes it easier to get a perfect score on a level in the Stars category (the other two categories being red coins and flowers). The Stars also keep Baby Mario safer from Kamek for longer. So it's easier in a good way.
Story Controls:
Control Stick
= Move
A = Jump (hold
to flutter, press up to fly high, press down to pound ground)
C Buttons or
Z = Set up egg firing cursor (control stick to aim, release C/Z to fire)
B = Lick (control
stick to aim)
L = Display collection
of fruit or turn off display
R = Sniff environment
for surprises to pound and reveal.
Now Story had a more precise aim, unlike Island, who had to manage a rapidly moving target cursor. Story on the other hand had a much more limited range for firing eggs. His eggs would explode like grenades wherever he aimed. He had a rather itchy trigger finger. Holding that C/Z button must have been a nuisance. Now Story also seemed to have a stronger case of the munchies than Island. Everything Story got his mouth on, he ate. Island however had better ideas and sometimes spat the object at his enemies.
Now Island was limited to aiming his tongue either up or in front of him. Story had better abilities at aiming his tongue all around him (done by using control pad and stick respectively). Story's tongue aiming system had problems because apparently, while crouching with his nosr pointing at the ground, that was the only direction his tongue would go in.
Overall, there seemed to be less frustration concerning Island as compared to Story. Island's fighting style gets bonus points from me!
Island: 9.5
Story: 5
Characters:
I took note of fans in the front row seats. They interested me somewhat as I noticed who they were, and how they expressed devotion to their game. Starting with Island:
Green, Red, Light Blue, Yellow, Purple, Brown, Pink, and Dark Blue cheered their game on with great effort. Well, it was to be noted that they were the main characters of their game. They apparently were a relay race team, the baton being Baby Mario and the finish line being the baby delivery stork ultimately, who was trapped at Bowser's castle. They took turns fighting for the sake of their game in each separate round. Now the sad thing was that they really only knew one fighting style altogether. I mean, if they were the same color, I wouldn't know the difference between them.
Since Baby Mario currently wasn't under any threats thanks to me regulating the actions around these games, he also participated in order to fight for Island at times. The tyke only did so when presented a Power Star item… but when he used it, he charged into battle and made Island virtually unstoppable in its gaming conquest. Of course, the Power Star was a temporary-effect item, so the different color Yoshis of Island kept close guard for the moment Baby Mario's Star Power would run out.
Kamek fought for Yoshi's Island, because it was his game for crying out loud! However, he was also here because Baby Mario was apparently the bane of his existense in the entire game. He didn't like Baby Mario meddling with his affairs... especially considering all the fame he was getting in this boxing match. He in jealousy, and in fear of losing dominance, would try to kidnap Baby Mario from the action whenever there was a moment the Yoshis lost guard of him. His way of fighting for the game was summoning BIG bad guys. Using magic, even the most insignificant Koopa of the crowd became a considerable threat in this fight for example. His monsters were also a tough threat for Yoshis to handle in the game itself. However, they had a critical weakness. Apparently, the humiliation of cracking eggs on their heads was too much for them to handle ;)
Baby Bowser attended, although he came by very late for his game... and the boxing match. He mainly was trying to get a "donkey ride" out of the Yoshis the whole time. We couldn't help but laugh at his failure. Well... Kamek wasn't laughing. And that was a very bad thing. He transformed Baby Bowser into a HUGE, GIGANTIC final boss. Do you know how much money I wasted in order to clean up the aftermath of that match?
Yoshi's Story had many fans too. Starting now, they consisted of:
Various colors of Yoshis representing the rainbow attended for Story. They had one interesting difference between each other: they had different favorite fruits. As each one had its turn defending its game, when a Yoshi would eat one of its favorite fruits, it would get a large power boost, as in a larger boost than if it had eaten a different fruit. However, the power boosts from different Yoshis were no different in any way.
Another interesting creature was a Miss Warp, some round creature wearing a jersey with a number from 1-4. There were four total in this stage. They slept at various locations at a stage. Yoshi's Story could wake up these creatures and using their magical powers to teleport to another area of the stage where there was another awoken Miss Warp. This technique effectively confused his opponent, and also helped him revisit areas in a level.
Baby Bowser also came once more for Story's case. Only this time, he was mad and was trying to bomb the stage. We very gladly returned the favor to him. It seems that he very much appreciated the returned favor, so very much, that he didn't need to ask for more. Then again, I was shelling out more money for stage repairs after that whole buisness.
Poochy, a dog, attended the boxing match, and I don't know why, but he just seems to unconditionally love the Yoshi competitors. He's a good, tough dog. Very loyal. Besides, he's just so darn adorable.
So the fans gave me interest. Some of the big baddies were so gruesomely interesting, I only wish I could describe them to you! Now Story didn't have as many characters to patronize their game. Island had Yoshis whose differences could only be described in terms of color. Neither game had very many talkers. Still, Island managed to prove himself the most popular. I think I like Island too for the same reasons his fans do.
Island: 7
Story: 6
Graphics:
Island was a 16-bit figure, but amazingly, that didn't limit him to the 3D world. His home island in the title screen has a stunning 3D display, rendered for a cartoon appearance. His final fight with Bowser was particularly exciting for us all. Besides, 16-bit figures look cool. Mario's world was meant to have a cartoon feel to it, and 16-bit does that job really well. The environments of his home were also aesthetically pleasing and intricate. No complaints here.
Story now was a real tangible object out there with 3Dish structure. He looked more personable and expressed his emotions quite clearly. However, his hometown, as colorful and such as it looked, was a popup book, which was quite unattractive to my tastes. This does explain why he is called "Story". The irony is that Story doesn't do anything 3D at all. In addition, the newer dino looks uglier and less like the friend that willingly gave Mario rides. Still, his appearance was something his 16-bit form could not mimic. He had a cool style in his own way, since he actually had hands that you could see. So he IS unique to his system. But he ruins the cartoon image he was supposed to have.
Comparison disregarding
system:
Island: 6
Story: 7
The "REAL" comparison
of opinion and such, regarding system:
Island: 10
Story: 6
Sound 'n' Music:
Baby Mario actually cried out loud when he saw Island take a beating. I didn't expect a 16-bit baby to make such commotion. However, the music was sissy stuff besides perhaps the music set up just for Bowser. He did at least theme his music appropriately to the situation, so at least I didn't get sick over a false impression of what was going on. The other characters had their own form of babbling that got across to me as intelligence too. Eggs bouncing off walls and demolishing them gave a nice ring to the stadium too.
Story's Yoshis actually spoke out. I mean, we were on a treasure hunt once. He gets excited and audibly tells me to pound the ground. The thing that really startled me and lots of the audience at this boxing match was the way the Yoshis of Story groaned when doing a flutter jump. That really got us literally worried sick. Fortunately, everything was clean anyway, but for giving me anxiety, I had to nail Story for that and scaring audience members away. When he tried to bring in music, half the punks in the audience had seizures and I had to tear the soundtrack to shreds.
Island: 7
Story: 6
Items, Interactive Terrain, etceteras… and of course, in depth on gameplay:
Now the way the competitors responded to pain was interesting. For Yoshi's Island's case, whenever a Yoshi took damage, they would lose track of Baby Mario, and he'd start floating around in a bubble crying and vulnerable to an attack from Kamek. Yoshi would use the power of Stars to keep Kamek away from the conflict so that he'd have enough time to recollect Baby Mario... and not get disqualified by me for staying outside the stage for too long. Makes things go easier for him in a good way. Island's Yoshis seemed nearly invincible. If there was anything he feared besides losing Mario, it seemed to be spikes and lava.
Story however had no concerns over the baby. Things seemed less hectic for them in that sense. On the other hand, they couldn't stand pain for long. They could only take so much damage before dying. At their top condition, four hits and they've had it. But that kinda made sense having a limited amount of health. So did I mention limited health? They apparently have eight segments max, take three damage a hit, and when they have zero segments left, they can only take one more hit. They overcome this pain by eating fruit. Wow... that must be good-tasting stuff. Considering that Story has finite health, that makes me somewhat suspicious of Island and his near invinciblitity.
In this boxing match, nearly anything goes! Geez, being prepared isn't a bad thing. Is it? So I wanted to see how well the two competitors equipped themselves.
Island's Yoshis actually had a sack of tricks with them. They would take items out of it such as extra eggs, melons (for ammunition of seeds or even fire and ice), and other odds and ends and put those to great use. His adventures included lots of other types of interactive terrain. These items were interesting if crucial elements needing activation for game progression.
Story didn't have a sack of tricks on the other hand. The items he did come across also did interesting things, such as turning him into an egg that worked as a deadly projectile.
At Island's home, he had a good variety of settings for us to use in this competition. Ice, jungle, grassland, mechanical devices, and magma are a handful of the terrain that was offered to make the battles more interesting. I could see that Island was ready for many terrain types.
I couldn't find an icy ring at Story's home. However, he had an underwater dueling area. He also had similar types of terrain to explore in and fight at as that of Island's... except that it all looked like a popup book.
The two competitors had different goals while they completed their quest. Island as I mentioned earlier was into relay racing his way to Castle Koopa. Along the way, he also liked collecting flowers, red coins, and stars. However, I was lucky that collecting wasn't his biggest obsession compared to relay racing. Otherwise, I could have been waiting a fair bit.
Story on the other hand was a treasure hunter. Very persistent. And very hungry the whole time. He would not move onto the next level of the game, or the boxing match unless he found thirty pieces of fruit to sustain his stomach to moving on. This got annoying... because well, at this boxing stadium, the search for food could go on for quite a while beyond the recommended time for intermissions. He also had a tendency for trying to hunt out for thirty melons specifically; the rarest fruit around this area. Getting his fill on melons was quite a challenge, much more annoying and challenging than the quest of Island to get to the finish line.
Overall, both competitors had rather good terrain and a myriad of items to interact with, especially in Island's case. The competitors themselves, I found Island less frustrating and easier to deal with in terms of getting him to the boxing match. I'm docking Story for holding me up excessively with his treaure hunting habits.
Island: 9
Story: 8
Replay Value:
There were many items and treasures around the homes of the competitors, and I couldn't help but go back there take a few.
At Island's home, the different places were soooo much easier to find since he provided an easy-to-read map! I could readily go to any of the 60 levels I'd visited and search for the treasures I missed. Also, some of the places had some interesting theme park rides, like a car, helicopter, sledding, and the bosses of the places made good fighting practice and had a sense of humor in my opinion. In fact, I can recall Island transforming into a train and running over his competitor, flattening him before my eyes. One complaint about his world was that the water was mostly off limits without a submarine. Apparently enriched by such variety from his world, he had a lot to offer in the match, and the audience was going wild to see moves done over and over again.
As for Story, and his world... it's a small world after all! Only a total of 24 places. I didn't get as much of a theme park experience out of it, and I was annoyed having to go treasure hunting over and over for fruit again in order to get Story to allow me access to the next area. I would also have to retrace my steps back at the previous area and look for these three Heart items of an area so that I could get admission to hidden sections of the area. So many levels being not readily accesible with normal progession really takes away from the fun. Now it was mildly interesting for me and the audience to watch Story go on a time attack in each of his levels. But remember, we had to have been at the specific area-section at least once. You must understand that having to collect Heart Items to reach hidden levels is annoying, if you didn't get the rest of the paragraph.
Besides, this type of playing system can misleadingly make the game appear smaller than it already is if one simply doesn't get in the first place that the Heart Items are what are hiding so much. The other problem is that you'll have to play the game at least three times after the first time, having to recollect Heart items each time, ugh. Heart items were done BADLY for my purposes.
I must say that both of them had interesting things to offer, to sum that up. Island however was less frustrating with letting me go over levels again and again. He gets cool points for that. Besides, Island took me at least a good week or two of playing to beat as opposed to about two days for Story.
Island: 10
Story: 8-9.5
Now, the winner!
Island totally overwhelmed Story. Story however put up a decent fight... considering my belief that Island was high on something. Island still won the match, and that is what counts. The ultimate scores are as follows (as a result of averaging and a minor element of luck).
Island: 8.36
Story: 6.43
And for a general Fun Factor, add .7 to Island's score, and add .4 to Story's.
Yoshi's Island is a really cool guy. Go meet him. In fact, give him a full donation to support his cause if you can afford it and of course... track down his location! It is a good cause. Trust me. He is often found at GBA these days at the headquarters known as Super Mario Advance 3. However, he also greatly appreciates if you go to SNES and pay tribute at Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.
Yoshi's Story is still nice. However, I don't exactly care for what he does nearly as much. You may consider paying the fee for a tour around his activities at N64. Maybe you can get the benefits of a friend's full membership contribution. However, I don't really see nearly as much good out of what he is doing. You have been warned. So don't cry to me that you wasted your money on this game by going all out buying complete membership rights.
The other thing that can be done is you can go to the new country (hint: console) known as Wii. Now becoming a citizen there is likely to be expensive soon after the day they declare themselves a new country. But they will likely have cheap access to the activities of these two competitors.
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