Nintendo made quite an outstanding performance in 2006's E3, and among the many games that was shown in Nintendo's new line of videogames for the upcoming season was Yoshi's Island DS, which was simply known as Yoshi's Island 2 back then. We were given very little information about the game, though, other than the fact that Baby Mario would be returning on Yoshi's back, this time with Baby Peach and Baby DK in tow. As time went on, two new babies were announced to become playable in the game. These were Baby Wario and Baby Bowser.

As a sequel to Yoshi's Island, which was a huge hit in both its SNES and GBA versions, Yoshi's Island DS has been long awaited by Mario fans, and luckily for them, this game didn't suffer the same fate as many of the projects Nintendo announced at E3 and actually got released this fall. But does the game outlive its predecessor? Read on to see.

As I like to keep the rating system as simple as possible, I will be rating this game on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being superb and 1 being awful.

Story: 5/5
After Kamek and Bowser's defeat at Yoshi's and Mario's hands, Yoshi's Island has endured a time of peace and tranquility. Just leave it to Bowser's Magikoopa attendant to disrupt that peace again. See why peace is more underrated than people think? Anyway, Kamek isn't satisfied with just kidnapping one baby this time. He wants to make sure that no baby in the world will grow up to be a hero that could pose a threat to the Koopa Klan, so he has taken the trouble to kidnap every single baby on Yoshi's Island, including the soon-to-be heroes, Mario and Luigi, the bawling baby orincess, Peach, and the plump ape, Donkey Kong. The stork, however, isn't going to let Kamek get away with it this time and manages to prevent the kidnapping of Mario and Peach. Luigi, however, gets the short end of the stick again. So, Mario once again lands on Yoshi's back while Peach safely plummets down with her parasol. The stork is also able to avoid getting captured along with the babies, so it tags along with Yoshi, Mario, and Peach as they set out to once again foil Kamek's plans and save the kidnapped babies.

I found the storyline to be downright charming. As per usual, the main focus of the journey is to save a kidnapped someone, or someones in this case. While one may see this as cliché, it's standard Mario fare and works well enough.

Graphics: 4/5
The graphics have pretty much remained untouched since Yoshi's Island. The flower patches, the rocks, the glittery caves, the lava... It all looks basically the same as it did back in Yoshi's Island. Because of this, I had to take off a measly point. However, they were bothered enough to change the character designs, so they look sharper and more modern. As a matter of fact, the graphics are actually more reminiscent of Yoshi Touch and Go, a similar game that recycled many of Yoshi's Island's graphical aspects. Despite this similarity, though, they are still so beautiful and easy on the eyes that they definitely deserve a near to perfect score. Also note that while the graphics indeed are almost interchangeable, they still bear a modernized look that makes them look significantly less grainy and opaque, so they did improve on them more than it would appear at first.

Sound: 2/5
As with the graphics, most of the sound effects from Yoshi's Island have been recycled. Yoshi makes the same sound when he jumps, pushes things, etc. So when you compare the sounds with the modernized characters, the sounds don't seem very fitting. They could've improved on that. Mario cries pretty much the same as he always has, but his wail is nothing compared to Peach's. If you thought that Peach's crying was agonizing in Mario & Luigi 2, then you obviously haven't heard her Yoshi's Island DS tantrum. People will actually think that there's a baby in the room! As a result of that, I often find myself turning down the volume whenever I get hit with Peach on my back. Not only is it awkward when having company, but it's also painful to hear when alone. DK sure has a cute cry, though. Instead of throwing a loud tantrum like Peach's, it is more of a sign that he is scared. Baby Wario has by far the oddest cry in the game. It is a loud tantrum, but I still don't mind hearing it as I find it highly amusing. Baby Bowser's is pretty funny as well. It's like he takes a deep breath and lets that big scream blurt out of his mouth. But enough about crying. Let's get on to the music. Well, I must say that I was not happy by it. At least 99% of the tunes are happy tunes. Whatever happened to the mysterious cave tune and the eerie castle theme, though? They're gone. The music isn't recycled, which is a good thing, but none of it really impressed me that much, so it's pretty much a so-so feeling.

Controls: 4/5
Pretty simple. Yoshi still has access to all of his old moves and they're all relatively easy to perform. I had a little trouble at first because I was still used to Yoshi's Island's controls, so I often found myself pressing the wrong buttons, but that went away after the first level. One point had to go missing because Yoshi's flutter jump tends to be a bit unreliable with me. Normally, this doesn't affect me when I'm playing the main game, but it becomes really hard for me to win lives at the Flutter Jump minigame because Yoshi just doesn't respond. At other times, though, it will respond, with the same timing as before. That just struck me as a little inconvenient there.

Gameplay: 4/5
We move on to the heart of every game, its gameplay. The premise of the game's worlds and levels is the same as in Yoshi's Island. Yoshi must reach the goal of each of the levels. This time, however, Yoshi isn't stuck with just Baby Mario. Baby Peach, Baby DK, Baby Wario, and Baby Bowser will also be able to ride on Yoshi, and they will each grant Yoshi a special power. With Baby Mario, Yoshi can run faster. With Baby Peach, he can float up updrafts with Peach's parasol. With Baby DK, he can climb vines, ropes, and chains as well as charge into enemies and obstacles. With Baby Wario, he can attract coins and other metal objects toward himself with Wario's magnet. And finally, with Baby Bowser he can scorch enemies with the fireballs that Bowser spits, at the expense of not being able to lay eggs. Scattered across the levels are Stork Stops, at which Yoshi can swap the baby on his back for one that's more suitable for the obstacles up ahead, keeping the gameplay nice and fresh. However, that one point there had to be taken off because contrary to my expectations, the babies don't really work in sync with one another. You'll find that once a new baby is introduced to you, at least 5 of the levels afterwards will focus on that baby's power. So basically, the gameplay isn't really as team oriented as I would've wished, but on the other hand, I was pleased with them being able to conserve the gameplay aspects from the original and build upon it for a somewhat different experience.

Characters: 3/5
You bet that I was quite excited to see the number of babies that could ride on Yoshi, so why did I end up taking off two points, you ask? Because I still fail to see how it was necessary for you to be forced to drop two of the babies shortly after being introduced to them. These two babies also happen to be arguably the most fun ones to use: Baby Wario and Baby Bowser. You get Baby Wario about halfway through the game, but after only five levels, Baby Wario decides to stay behind in order to loot more cash. After that, you only get to use him once more, at the final level. Whoop dee do. Now, while it is understandable that Baby Wario would want to do this, I still don't see how it was so necessary that they just had to do it. I mean, wouldn't it have been better for everyone if we would've just been able to keep him around? Baby Bowser's departure is understandable due to plot issues, but they still feel like they were tacked on at the last minute as mere gimmicks.

Levels: 3/5
Here I will address another one of my main complaints about the game. The game kicks it off with highly reminiscent levels. The first one is almost identical to Yoshi's Island's first, then it slowly starts changing. However, I still don't like how the levels recycle many elements from Yoshi's Island. A good example of this is the fourth world, half of which is snow themed. Remember World 5 in Yoshi's Island? That was snow themed too, and many of the levels revolved around jumping on slippery ice platforms with Bumpties on them. Yoshi's Island DS gives you the exact same thing! The caves and castles suffer the same problem, too. While the caves focus on jumping on Mushrooms, stomping Nipper Plants, and pushing Chomp stones, the castles are oriented on jumping across lava pits and finding ways to open locked doors, just like in Yoshi's Island. To their credit, though, I liked how they increased the levels' length. Unlike Yoshi's Island, which had 6 worlds, Yoshi's Island DS has 5 worlds, but the lengthy levels more than make up for it.

Difficulty: 3/5
The difficulty in this game is pretty jacked up. It can range from extremely simple levels to ones that are downright frustrating. Before we get to that, though, I'm gonna have to say that the game has overall decent difficulty. It's lengthy enough, and you're bound to come across some hardships, most of which become relatively easy to overcome once you know what to do. Other levels are a walk in the park, while in others you come to a point were you have to either rely heavily on luck or have exact precision. Such a notable level lies in World 4. In this level, you have to jump across a series of slippery and very narrow ice platforms. The problem is, on these ice platforms are Bumpties just waiting to knock you off. And to make things more frustrating, there are bouncy rubber balls of death falling from the sky at you that will also work with the Bumpties in order to make you fall to your doom. When I entered that level, I had about 100 lives. When I came out, my life count had easily dropped to the 70s. No joke. And to further add to this jacked up difficulty, the last world I found to be incredibly easy, at least in comparison to the fourth world. As a matter of fact, some of the levels in the third world were actually harder.

Fun Factor!: 4/5
I know I complained a lot in regards to the levels and the characters, but this game is still very fun. Swapping babies, puzzling levels, elaborative bosses; it all sums up to a fun and unique gaming experience. I do admit that the game was not quite as fun as I had hoped for, and many of the later levels tend to absorb some of the joy that this game has, but it still is a fun game nonetheless.

Replay Value: 4/5
After beating this game, I really found very little motivation in wanting to replay it again. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the game, but it just felt like one of those one-time deals. I'll probably be more motivated to replay it later on, though. Now, this game does have that scoring system that Yoshi's Island had. That's probably the main reason I still pop in the game from time to time. A lot of people don't seem to care for this, but come on! Home many things are more satisfying than a 100% completed game? Other than that, you have some fun minigames and a batch of extra levels. That's some pretty decent replayability you have there.

Overall: 4/5
A fun and unique platformer that should be enjoyed by every Mario fan. Now, does this game surpass it's predecessor? Eh, I guess this will vary from player to player. I personally enjoyed the original Yoshi's Island a little more. Yoshi's Island was a traditional platformer and it made you focus on the levels. This game is a bit different in that it draws more focus towards the babies. So overall, this game is like a variation of what Yoshi's Island was, so if you really enjoyed Yoshi's Island, you should have some fun and laughs playing this game.

Recommendation: If you liked Yoshi's Island, you should most definitely give this game a try. As I just mentioned, I still don't feel that this game is better than its original, but it still offers some experiences that branch off of what Yoshi's Island offered. Like every other game, it has its flaws, ones that may even prove to be a little too tedious, but it still is a charming game and a joy to play. Make sure to give this a try. After all, adding a new platformer to one's videogame collection never hurts, right?