Yoshi’s New Island

Genre: Platformer

Players: 1, 2 Competitive Minigames (Local Wireless)

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Review:

Yoshi’s New Island is a Platformer released on Nintendo 3DS in 2014, evidently trying to copy the success of games like the New Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong Country Returns franchises, reviving a beloved classic and modernizing it for a new era with a sequel that lovingly recreates and expands on the gameplay of that classic.

And make no mistake, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System truly was a classic, one of the greatest games that platform ever received, one of the best 2D Platformers ever made, and arguably even one of the greatest games of all time. It’s no wonder Nintendo has repeatedly tried to recapture the winning formula that game had, with countless Yoshi games released on multiple platforms over the years doing their best to build on that classic.

New Yoshi’s Island is a bit more blatant about this than most of Yoshi’s sequels, however. Much like Yoshi’s Island DS, New Yoshi’s Island hews very close to the original Yoshi’s Island, featuring similar controls, characters, aesthetics, and even a plot that seems like a retread of that game. This is a game that’s shameless about copying Yoshi’s Island, and to its credit, many of its best qualities are ones it succeeds in bringing over from that game.

Most notably, Yoshi’s New Island has a gorgeous look to it that does a magnificent job updating the original game’s “crayon-drawn” aesthetic by adding in 3D elements and also making the 2D elements more lively with excellent animation and good use of stereoscopic 3D to give even those 2D visuals some nice depth. More than anything else this game does, these visuals perfectly carry over and update that visual creativity that was one of the hallmarks of the original game.

The sound, on the other hand… ugh. By this point, I suppose we all have to be resigned to tolerating Yoshi’s high-pitched tones accompanying his every move in the game, something virtually every game has had since Yoshi’s Story on the Nintendo 64. But these annoying noises are joined by a pretty terrible soundtrack. It’s like the game’s designers actually took a moment and asked themselves what musical instruments people found the most annoying and juvenile, and built the soundtrack around those. Xylophone? Bring it in here! Kazoos? Let’s make entire songs with them! As a result, even while your eyes will want to drink in this game, your ears will feel like they’re being tortured.

As for the gameplay, picture Yoshi’s Island, but with sluggish controls, worse level design, and an overall lack of creativity that the original game was known for. All of the core gameplay is still here, in a way that could almost seem like a carbon copy of Yoshi’s Island, except many of Yoshi’s actions now seem to a take a brief moment so the game can frustrate the player. Notably, starting to run from a stop or tossing an egg are both actions where Yoshi needs to take a moment to get going, a moment that will increasingly frustrate gamers as these moments stack up over the length of the game.

Meanwhile, the levels seem short, linear, and uninspired. There are some new elements here, but they are largely self-contained and gimmicky – new transformations (generally controlled via gyroscopic motion control), areas with giant eggs you can throw… mostly these ideas work, but they generally feel shallow and not especially compelling.

And since the game tries so hard to be like Yoshi’s Island, it all acts as a reminder of just how much more fun, varied, creative, and overall better that game was, and make you question why you’re not just playing that instead.

In the end, Yoshi’s New Island is not a terrible game, but nearly everything good it does is just copying the original Yoshi’s Island with varying degrees of success. Visually, this game looks fantastic, but the gameplay feels off, the level design is uninspired, and the soundtrack is atrocious. If you’re a Yoshi fan, you might enjoy this… but you’re just as likely to be disappointed that it evokes a legendary game without getting anywhere close to the same level of greatness.

tl;dr – Yoshi’s New Island is a Platformer that is a sequel to, and directly inspired by, Yoshi’s Island. Graphically, this game is a wonderful modern take on the crayon look of the original, but other parts of the game are far less successful at this game’s naked attempt to copy the original game’s formula. The controls are sluggish, the levels and gameplay are uninspired, and the soundtrack is horrible. This isn’t a bad game, but it sticks so closely to the formula of its legendary predecessor that it virtually demands that you draw comparisons between the two, and those comparisons only serve to make this game look far worse.

Grade: C+

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