If there is one thing that Nintendo has always done well, it is develop wonderful side scrolling platformers, and the formula almost always reaches levels of perfection when they throw in their Mario character staples. Finally, after several years, Nintendo is taking a trip back to Yoshi's Island, and it is most certainly a destination you'll want to spend some quality time at.

THE STORY SO FAR
After kidnapping the baby Mario franchise characters, the Yoshis of the island decide to join up their forces to rescue the little kids and to bring an end to the magic wielding koopa. All would be pretty bleak if baby Mario hadn't found his way to safety, and with his help you are soon off to try and save the others and put an end to the bad guy's magic mischief…and that's about all there is to the story.

Much like all of Nintendo's other platformers, Yoshi's Island DS has a story to set things in motion, but that is really all the cohesive story you'll get from this adventure. At the end of world levels there are a few cute cutscenes, but nothing that advances the story any.

GAMEPLAY
If you know anything about Yoshi, then you'll know he is famous for two things: 1) Eating things, and 2) Pooping out eggs. Not much has changed regarding those two factors, as those quick working eggs will be one of your main weapons in your fight to save the babies.

As Yoshi, you'll have several initial moves available to you, such as being able to stick out your tongue to grab enemies, spit them out as weapons, or swallowing them to make them into egg ammo. You can also jump, flutter jump, and ground pound your enemies into submission. Yoshi's ability to shoot eggs comes in real handy throughout the game, as you'll use his egg tossing not only to do away with enemies, but to also gather coins and flowers he can't otherwise reach. There are two methods to control Yoshi's egg tossing: 1) Manual control (point where you want), or 2) Automatic (where a cursor will go up and down and you press the button at the right position to fire – the preferred method while I played).

But Yoshi isn't alone on his adventure, as he will have a baby on his back at all time, which grants Yoshi special abilities. Mario allows Yoshi to sprint; Princess Peach allows wind gusts to lift Yoshi into the air; Donkey Kong allows Yoshi to do some strong attacks and swing on vines; Wario grabs onto metal; and Bowser can shoot fire. You'll also have to switch back and forth between their powers as you advance through the game, and this is fairly easily done by reaching a Stork Store, where you can switch out to any baby you want simply by jumping into the air after pressing a button. However, the babies are just as much a curse as they are a blessing, because if you get hit, a magical bubble will grab them and float them into the air, and it will be all over for Yoshi if he can't get them back on his back in time (you have a counter that counts down while they are floating in the air)..

Yoshi can also change into several vehicles to maneuver through certain parts of the game, such as a helicopter to fly across otherwise uncrossable ravines, a mole tank to dig through small tunnels, and a submarine to navigate underwater. You don't use these modes too much, and they rather feel like afterthoughts, but nonetheless they are inside the game.

The game makes use of the two screens very well, as you could be on the bottom screen and see stuff happening at top, which might need you to hurl an egg up that way to perhaps gather something like a flower. The two screens also come into play during some boss fights, where the boss might stay up in the top screen for most of the battle, but drop down every once in a while to attack.

The gameplay of the game is pretty obvious as long as you've played a Mario platformer before, because you'll scroll left to right, up and down, and whatever way is needed to get from the beginning of the level to the end. You'll have enemies to hop on, enemies to shoot eggs at, and collectibles galore to gather.

Yoshi's Island DS is a surprisingly lengthy adventure, and that is if all you care about is going from one level to the next simply to beat the game. If you are a completist or someone who just must perfect every level, then the game time will expand even more, because to fully get a 100% in any given level, you'll have to gather the five hidden flowers, all the hidden red coins, and the stars as well. At the end of the level you get an update on what you gathered, and I found most of the time I was missing a good bit, and I always thought I was pretty thorough with the levels.

If there is one downfall of Yoshi's Island DS when it comes to gameplay, it is that it continues the recent trend in Nintendo platformers, in which the game is relatively easy and if you ever get the ultimate game over screen, you have no right to call yourself a gamer. Throughout the whole game, I've lost only a few lives, but never have I been close to losing all my lives. Coins are abundant, 1-ups come fast and furious, bonus rounds will help keep you in supply as well, and by one point in the game when I finally looked to see how many lives I had, I was surprised to see a whopping 31 sitting there; I hate to tell you Nintendo, but you lose a bit of the tension of a hard platformer when, first up, it isn't actually that hard, and then you don't have to worry about making the wrong move since you have so many lives to experiment and muck around with.

GRAPHICS
My eyes! They burn! The colors are so bright and vivid! The graphics are absolutely perfect for the game, because it isn't trying to be anything too complex, just a beautiful, flat, 2D side scroller. The background environments and objects in the level all have a cute, children's storybook shine to them, but the animation of the characters is just as well done. Yoshi's Island DS isn't pushing the DS to its limits in terms of graphical capabilities, but jeez is it a beauty to look at.

SOUND
The sound work is just like that you'd expect in any other Nintendo platformer, as much of the music has that same peaceful and cartoonish vibe to it, and the sound effects in general have that same pleasing aesthetic to them. The game doesn't push into any new boundaries with the DS or the Yoshi's Island franchise, but it is good, and you can't argue against the cuteness of a yelping Yoshi or a crying baby Mario.

IN CONCLUSION
If you were a fan of the original Yoshi's Island, then be sure to pick this game up. If you love the Mario platformers of old, be sure to pick this game up. Sure, it isn't anything new and something that Nintendo hasn't done over and over throughout the years, but when you get that formula worked perfectly, there really isn't anything you can do to improve on. Because it follows many of the same formulas that has made Nintendo who it is today, Yoshi's Island DS can never really truly be a great game (and any future installments probably won't either) but that doesn't mean it isn't a really good game and one certainly worth your time and money.

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