Yoshi's Story
Encyclopedia
is a side-scrolling
platform game
, published and developed by Nintendo
for the Nintendo 64
entertainment system. It is the sequel to the Super Nintendo
game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
. It was released on December 21, 1997 in Japan
, March 1, 1998 in North America and April 9, 1998 in Europe. It was re-released on the Wii
's Virtual Console
service in North America on September 17, 2007, in PAL regions on October 26, 2007 and in Japan on October 30, 2007. The game was developed by the Yoshi's Island team, designed by Hideki Konno
, and produced by Takashi Tezuka
. It was one of the first EAD-developed titles that was not produced by Shigeru Miyamoto
, and one of a very few Mario series games that does not feature Mario. Critical reception to Yoshi's Story was mixed; the game received criticism and praise for its controls, levels, music, and childlike atmosphere, but it was commonly criticized for being too much a departure from its predecessor.
The levels are divided into six pages, each containing four stages. The stages are numbered by difficulty (1-4), and the choice of which level to play is made individually for each page. However, the availability of each difficulty level is based to some degree on the player's performance in the last-played stage. Each stage has three collectible hearts, and the number of hearts collected determines the highest level they will be allowed to choose on the next page, adding one to the amount collected. For example, if the player collects two hearts during a stage, they will be allowed to choose from difficulty levels 1, 2 and 3 on the next page.
Yoshi's Story borrows the basic elements of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
. Yoshi can jump, swim, eat things or collect items with his tongue, hold enemies in his mouth, lay eggs from enemies held in his mouth, throw eggs, and hover for a few seconds. However, there is one difference from Yoshi's Island: permadeath. Also, the game cannot be saved to continue with - or rather, story mode save data is erased at Game Over.
In each level, the goal is to eat 30 different fruits to advance. This must be done while avoiding enemies. When Yoshi comes in contact with an enemy, one or more "petals" are lost from the "Flower Meter.", and the game music also slows down and becomes more sad. The flower meter has a total of 8 petals. Eating fruit, while advancing the progress of the game, replenishes Yoshi's health (or "petals"), keeping the player in a comfortable state of platforming. In addition, a "Lucky Fruit" is chosen at the start of the game, and, when this fruit is found and eaten, all petals are restored to the "Flower Meter." Each Yoshi has a favorite fruit, which is determined by the chosen Yoshi's color. Eating this form of fruit restores 3 petals of health.
Many bonuses permeate each stage. For example, Small Hearts will fall from the sky or be found in special areas. These allow Yoshi to achieve a "Super Happy" state. During this time, Yoshi is invincible, has a longer tongue, infinite eggs, and has a longer "Pound Range." (More enemies will be killed when Yoshi slams into the ground from the air.) In addition, Shy Guys will turn into the chosen Yoshi's Lucky Fruit if they are within the Pound Range, and all bubbles will pop.) Coins will also become visible if otherwise invisible, during this time. However, large hearts do not cause Yoshi to become invincible.
There are numerous enemies in the game that can cause damage, the most common of which are Shy Guys. If Yoshi runs out of petals, comes in contact with spikes or other hazards that trigger an instant death, or falls down a bottomless pit, it will be captured by Kamek's minions, or "Toadies". After losing just one life, the same Yoshi cannot be used again although the substitute Yoshi chosen can continue from the original Yoshi's last continue point. As usual all collectible items and enemies will be refreshed. The game will end if all of the Yoshis have been kidnapped.
Yoshis can be restored by finding a White Shy Guy and completing the level without losing it. After completing a level, the White Shy Guy can be selected from the "Select Yoshi" screen (despite not being a Yoshi), and a random previously-lost Yoshi will be restored. Helpers are available to assist the Yoshis in specific areas, as well. Throughout the game, the Yoshis are aided by Poochy
, a character first introduced in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
. Poochy can sniff for hidden items and give the Yoshis extra height for their jumps.
In addition to the six Yoshis that are available at the start of the game, there are black eggs and white eggs that can be found in certain stages in the game. If they are found (individually), the black and the white Yoshis will be available afterward. Unlike the original six Yoshis, the Black and White Yoshis like multiple fruits, making the chances of obtaining a high score even greater. In addition, the Black and White Yoshis like peppers, and Shy Guys also replenish health when eaten by a black/white Yoshi. Besides what these Yoshis like to eat, Black and White Yoshis also shake the ground when doing a ground pound, and their eggs explode when you throw them. If a black or white Yoshi is lost while in story mode they will not return, and can only be obtained by finding the egg again.
song in it.
Yoshi's Story was among the first generation of games to support the Nintendo 64
Rumble Pak
, and was the first Yoshi game to use it.
. This was one of the first EAD-developed titles that was not produced by Shigeru Miyamoto
. It was renamed Yoshi's Story in August 1997. At the same time, the size of the game was changed to 128 megabits from an initially planned 96. Also, Yoshi was going to speak the same noise he did in Super Mario World
and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
but for an unknown reason it was removed and replaced by Kazumi Totaka
's voice over for Yoshi (this new voice would become the standard voice for Yoshi, making its second appearance in the original Super Smash Bros.
, and eventually being used in the various Mario games Yoshi appeared in, a recent exception being New Super Mario Bros. Wii
, which used the 1990 Yoshi voice, partly as an homage to SMW).
magazine, Yoshi's Story sold 53,428 copies on the day of its release in Japan. As a result, it gained the number seven rank in Famitsus top ten best-selling video-games. The game sold an additional 118,502 copies in the region by January 4, 1998, dropping to the number eight spot. By the end of that year, Yoshi's Story sold a total of 618,789 copies in Japan, making it the 27th best-selling video game in the country in 1998.
Nintendo intended to release Yoshi's Story in North America by the 1997 holiday season, but the release was delayed until March 1998. A Nintendo official said that the delay was "based on us demanding A-plus quality." Once the game was completed, Nintendo initially shipped 800,000 units to American retailers from Japan. Retailers were concerned that there would be shortages (like there had been for GoldenEye 007), but a Nintendo official promised that the shipment would satisfy demand.
In an effort to promote the game in the U.S., Nintendo direct-mailed advertisements to recent console buyers, put advertisements in gaming and children's magazines, and aired a 30-second television advertisement on NBC, Fox Kids, Kids' WB and Nickelodeon during children's programming. On March 7, 1998, Nintendo launched the game in Lizard Lick, North Carolina
, a town of 1,300 residents. The event featured tongue-themed contests for children and video terminals that let people try out the game. The game was officially released on March 9, 1998, with a MSRP
of US $59.95. This causing enormous uproar to customers that completed the game an hour later.
An article in Financial Times said that the late release, an inadequate supply, and distribution errors had led to poor sales for Yoshi's Story. Within a month, the game was being discounted by more than 50%. Even so, Yoshi's Story became a Player's Choice
title on August 23, 1998 and its MSRP was reduced to US $39.95. According to The NPD Group, Yoshi's Story was the 16th best selling video game in the U.S. in 1998.
. Upon its initial release, critics were generally displeased with Yoshi's Story. As a spiritual and literal successor to Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
, the game was seen as being comparatively smaller in size and scope. Critics noted many disadvantages with the level design: there were only 24 levels in the game (as compared to the 50+ levels in Yoshi's Island), each of them could be completed in minutes, and only six of them needed to be completed to clear story mode. The critics also disliked many other things about the game such as the graphical details, the music, and the absence of vehicle morphing. Joe Fielder of GameSpot noted that Yoshi's Story "was obviously designed so that younger players could play through quickly and feel some sense of accomplishment" and called it "good for a rental at best." GameSpot gave the game a "5.3" for "Mediocre" while Allgame and Game's Domain both awarded Yoshi's Story a "5.0" out of 10. IGN gave a score of 7.0 for "decent", making it one of the few positive reviews for Yoshi's Story. By contrast, Game Informer
gave the game a "very good" score of 8.5/10. As of May 2010, Yoshi's Story maintains a "Meta Score" of 65 (out of 100) on the MetaCritic
website and a 68 (out of 100) on GameRankings.com., based on 8 and 7 reviews respectively.
Nintendo released Yoshi's Story through the Virtual Console
service on the Wii
console. The game made second place in Virtual Console downloads behind Super Mario Bros.
on the week of its release. However, the critics' reviews of the Virtual Console version of Yoshi's Story were lower than those of the N64 version. GameSpot gave the Virtual Console version of the game a "4.0", lower than GameSpot's score of the original version. The review gave Yoshi's Story five demerits: "Derivative," "Shallow," "Short," "Stripped" and "Too Easy." In IGN Editor Lucas M. Thomas' review for the Virtual Console version, he gave it a 6.0 score for "Passable", saying that the gameplay was "nonsensical" and "unengaging." Thomas commented that the game's "system of grocery-hunting was far and away removed from the style of play presented in the SNES Yoshi's Island, and far and away removed from that game's sense of fun." He also felt that the absence of Baby Mario and 50+ levels made the "premise [feel] disconnected. Boring." and that Yoshi's Story was "not the sequel to Yoshi's Island that it could have been."
in 2000, Nintendo developed an original technical demonstration, or "tech demo," that was based directly on the first level of Yoshi's Story. This tech demo was developed specifically to show off the Game Boy Advance's graphical power. While the gameplay was slower, it looked identical to the Nintendo 64 game. However, a full version of the game was never released for the Game Boy Advance.
Side-scrolling video game
A side-scrolling game or side-scroller is a video game in which the gameplay action is viewed from a side-view camera angle, and the onscreen characters generally move from the left side of the screen to the right. These games make use of scrolling computer display technology...
platform game
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
, published and developed by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
for the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
entertainment system. It is the sequel to the Super Nintendo
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, originally released as in Japan, is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the SNES console. Despite its title, this game serves as a prequel to all other games within the established Mario Bros timeline...
. It was released on December 21, 1997 in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, March 1, 1998 in North America and April 9, 1998 in Europe. It was re-released on the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
's Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
service in North America on September 17, 2007, in PAL regions on October 26, 2007 and in Japan on October 30, 2007. The game was developed by the Yoshi's Island team, designed by Hideki Konno
Hideki Konno
was born May 13, 1965 in Chiba, Japan and graduated from the Electronic Data ProcessingDepartment of Japan Electronics College. Konno joined Nintendo in 1986, realizing his dream after a long adoration of playing Famicom games. Konno began working as a graphic designer on a variety of Nintendo...
, and produced by Takashi Tezuka
Takashi Tezuka
, sometimes credited under his nickname Ten Ten, is a video game designer working for Nintendo. A graduate of the Design Department of Osaka University of Arts, he joined the company in April 1984 and was involved with some of the most critically acclaimed Nintendo series, including Mario and The...
. It was one of the first EAD-developed titles that was not produced by Shigeru Miyamoto
Shigeru Miyamoto
is a Japanese video game designer and producer. Miyamoto was born and raised in Kyoto Prefecture; the natural surroundings of Kyoto inspired much of Miyamoto's later work....
, and one of a very few Mario series games that does not feature Mario. Critical reception to Yoshi's Story was mixed; the game received criticism and praise for its controls, levels, music, and childlike atmosphere, but it was commonly criticized for being too much a departure from its predecessor.
Gameplay
The game begins by allowing players to choose from either Story, Trial or Practice Mode. (An Options menu is available from the main menu, as well.) For the full single-player experience, the Story Mode contains the substance of the game. From there, the player will be able to select the level, Yoshi (there are 8 Yoshis in this game) and which fruit will be "lucky" (see below).The levels are divided into six pages, each containing four stages. The stages are numbered by difficulty (1-4), and the choice of which level to play is made individually for each page. However, the availability of each difficulty level is based to some degree on the player's performance in the last-played stage. Each stage has three collectible hearts, and the number of hearts collected determines the highest level they will be allowed to choose on the next page, adding one to the amount collected. For example, if the player collects two hearts during a stage, they will be allowed to choose from difficulty levels 1, 2 and 3 on the next page.
Yoshi's Story borrows the basic elements of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, originally released as in Japan, is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the SNES console. Despite its title, this game serves as a prequel to all other games within the established Mario Bros timeline...
. Yoshi can jump, swim, eat things or collect items with his tongue, hold enemies in his mouth, lay eggs from enemies held in his mouth, throw eggs, and hover for a few seconds. However, there is one difference from Yoshi's Island: permadeath. Also, the game cannot be saved to continue with - or rather, story mode save data is erased at Game Over.
In each level, the goal is to eat 30 different fruits to advance. This must be done while avoiding enemies. When Yoshi comes in contact with an enemy, one or more "petals" are lost from the "Flower Meter.", and the game music also slows down and becomes more sad. The flower meter has a total of 8 petals. Eating fruit, while advancing the progress of the game, replenishes Yoshi's health (or "petals"), keeping the player in a comfortable state of platforming. In addition, a "Lucky Fruit" is chosen at the start of the game, and, when this fruit is found and eaten, all petals are restored to the "Flower Meter." Each Yoshi has a favorite fruit, which is determined by the chosen Yoshi's color. Eating this form of fruit restores 3 petals of health.
Many bonuses permeate each stage. For example, Small Hearts will fall from the sky or be found in special areas. These allow Yoshi to achieve a "Super Happy" state. During this time, Yoshi is invincible, has a longer tongue, infinite eggs, and has a longer "Pound Range." (More enemies will be killed when Yoshi slams into the ground from the air.) In addition, Shy Guys will turn into the chosen Yoshi's Lucky Fruit if they are within the Pound Range, and all bubbles will pop.) Coins will also become visible if otherwise invisible, during this time. However, large hearts do not cause Yoshi to become invincible.
There are numerous enemies in the game that can cause damage, the most common of which are Shy Guys. If Yoshi runs out of petals, comes in contact with spikes or other hazards that trigger an instant death, or falls down a bottomless pit, it will be captured by Kamek's minions, or "Toadies". After losing just one life, the same Yoshi cannot be used again although the substitute Yoshi chosen can continue from the original Yoshi's last continue point. As usual all collectible items and enemies will be refreshed. The game will end if all of the Yoshis have been kidnapped.
Yoshis can be restored by finding a White Shy Guy and completing the level without losing it. After completing a level, the White Shy Guy can be selected from the "Select Yoshi" screen (despite not being a Yoshi), and a random previously-lost Yoshi will be restored. Helpers are available to assist the Yoshis in specific areas, as well. Throughout the game, the Yoshis are aided by Poochy
Poochy (Nintendo)
is a fictional, canine character that appears in Nintendo's Yoshi series of video games. Poochy's name is sometimes spelled "Poochie" or "Poochey"....
, a character first introduced in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, originally released as in Japan, is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the SNES console. Despite its title, this game serves as a prequel to all other games within the established Mario Bros timeline...
. Poochy can sniff for hidden items and give the Yoshis extra height for their jumps.
In addition to the six Yoshis that are available at the start of the game, there are black eggs and white eggs that can be found in certain stages in the game. If they are found (individually), the black and the white Yoshis will be available afterward. Unlike the original six Yoshis, the Black and White Yoshis like multiple fruits, making the chances of obtaining a high score even greater. In addition, the Black and White Yoshis like peppers, and Shy Guys also replenish health when eaten by a black/white Yoshi. Besides what these Yoshis like to eat, Black and White Yoshis also shake the ground when doing a ground pound, and their eggs explode when you throw them. If a black or white Yoshi is lost while in story mode they will not return, and can only be obtained by finding the egg again.
Trial Mode
Story Mode is accompanied by the Trial Mode, where the player can attempt a high score in each completed stage. There are multiple ways to increase one's high score, the most used being the "Melon Quest." With this goal, the player must eat nothing but Melons throughout the stage, earning a high score and a "Melon" symbol at the end of the level. This goal, however, is considered difficult due the requirement of beating all in-level mini-games perfectly. A "good score" in Trial Mode is considered a point range between 5,000 to 7,000 points. This contrasts heavily with Story Mode, which allows the player to earn up to 40,000 points in a single level.Other
A Practice level is also available from the main menu. This level contains most of the elements of the game. The game also has the 19-note Kazumi TotakaKazumi Totaka
is a Japanese video game composer and voice actor who composed many major Nintendo games, including Mario Paint and Animal Crossing. He occasionally also does voice acting for Nintendo games, including Yoshi from the Mario and Yoshi series. He is also one of the various composers who worked on the...
song in it.
Yoshi's Story was among the first generation of games to support the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
Rumble Pak
Rumble Pak
The is a removable device from Nintendo which provides force feedback while playing video games. Games that support the Rumble Pak cause it to vibrate in select situations, such as when firing a weapon or receiving damage, to immerse the player in the game. Versions of the Rumble Pak are available...
, and was the first Yoshi game to use it.
Plot
The Yoshis live in harmony on their island, Yoshi's Island. Through the Super Happy Tree, a magical tree on the island, the Yoshis are able to maintain a perpetual state of joy. However, Baby Bowser becomes jealous of this happiness and casts a spell to transform the entire island into a storybook. In addition, Baby Bowser steals the Super Happy Tree in an effort to ruin the Yoshis' happiness. Six eggs survived in the dismal environment and hatched. While confused, the Baby Yoshis were aware of the gloomy atmosphere and set out to retrieve the Super Happy Tree and restore happiness to the Yoshis.Development
Originally titled Yoshi's Island 64, the game was developed by the Yoshi's Island team, directed by Hideki Konno and produced by Takashi TezukaTakashi Tezuka
, sometimes credited under his nickname Ten Ten, is a video game designer working for Nintendo. A graduate of the Design Department of Osaka University of Arts, he joined the company in April 1984 and was involved with some of the most critically acclaimed Nintendo series, including Mario and The...
. This was one of the first EAD-developed titles that was not produced by Shigeru Miyamoto
Shigeru Miyamoto
is a Japanese video game designer and producer. Miyamoto was born and raised in Kyoto Prefecture; the natural surroundings of Kyoto inspired much of Miyamoto's later work....
. It was renamed Yoshi's Story in August 1997. At the same time, the size of the game was changed to 128 megabits from an initially planned 96. Also, Yoshi was going to speak the same noise he did in Super Mario World
Super Mario World
, subtitled Super Mario Bros. 4 for its original Japanese release, is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo as a pack-in launch title for the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System , and is the fourth game in the Super Mario series...
and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, originally released as in Japan, is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the SNES console. Despite its title, this game serves as a prequel to all other games within the established Mario Bros timeline...
but for an unknown reason it was removed and replaced by Kazumi Totaka
Kazumi Totaka
is a Japanese video game composer and voice actor who composed many major Nintendo games, including Mario Paint and Animal Crossing. He occasionally also does voice acting for Nintendo games, including Yoshi from the Mario and Yoshi series. He is also one of the various composers who worked on the...
's voice over for Yoshi (this new voice would become the standard voice for Yoshi, making its second appearance in the original Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros., known in Japan as , is a fighting game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan on January 21, 1999, in North America on April 26, 1999, and in Europe on November 19, 1999. Super Smash Bros. is the first game in the Super...
, and eventually being used in the various Mario games Yoshi appeared in, a recent exception being New Super Mario Bros. Wii
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
is a 2009 side-scrolling platform video game published and developed by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The game was released on November 12, 2009 in Australia, November 15, 2009 in North America, November 20, 2009 in Europe and December 3, 2009 in Japan...
, which used the 1990 Yoshi voice, partly as an homage to SMW).
Marketing and sales
According to FamitsuFamitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
magazine, Yoshi's Story sold 53,428 copies on the day of its release in Japan. As a result, it gained the number seven rank in Famitsus top ten best-selling video-games. The game sold an additional 118,502 copies in the region by January 4, 1998, dropping to the number eight spot. By the end of that year, Yoshi's Story sold a total of 618,789 copies in Japan, making it the 27th best-selling video game in the country in 1998.
Nintendo intended to release Yoshi's Story in North America by the 1997 holiday season, but the release was delayed until March 1998. A Nintendo official said that the delay was "based on us demanding A-plus quality." Once the game was completed, Nintendo initially shipped 800,000 units to American retailers from Japan. Retailers were concerned that there would be shortages (like there had been for GoldenEye 007), but a Nintendo official promised that the shipment would satisfy demand.
In an effort to promote the game in the U.S., Nintendo direct-mailed advertisements to recent console buyers, put advertisements in gaming and children's magazines, and aired a 30-second television advertisement on NBC, Fox Kids, Kids' WB and Nickelodeon during children's programming. On March 7, 1998, Nintendo launched the game in Lizard Lick, North Carolina
Lizard Lick, North Carolina
Lizard Lick is an unincorporated community in Wake County, North Carolina, United States. The community is located at the crossroads of Lizard Lick Road and NC 97.The community is approximately east of the state capital of Raleigh...
, a town of 1,300 residents. The event featured tongue-themed contests for children and video terminals that let people try out the game. The game was officially released on March 9, 1998, with a MSRP
Suggested retail price
The manufacturer's suggested retail price , list price or recommended retail price of a product is the price which the manufacturer recommends that the retailer sell the product. The intention was to help to standardise prices among locations...
of US $59.95. This causing enormous uproar to customers that completed the game an hour later.
An article in Financial Times said that the late release, an inadequate supply, and distribution errors had led to poor sales for Yoshi's Story. Within a month, the game was being discounted by more than 50%. Even so, Yoshi's Story became a Player's Choice
Player's Choice
Nintendo Selects is a marketing label used by Nintendo to promote video games on Nintendo game consoles which have sold well; Nintendo Selects titles are sold at a lower price point than other games...
title on August 23, 1998 and its MSRP was reduced to US $39.95. According to The NPD Group, Yoshi's Story was the 16th best selling video game in the U.S. in 1998.
Critical reception
Yoshi's Story received mixed reviews from critics with an average score of 63% on Game RankingsGame Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
. Upon its initial release, critics were generally displeased with Yoshi's Story. As a spiritual and literal successor to Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, originally released as in Japan, is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the SNES console. Despite its title, this game serves as a prequel to all other games within the established Mario Bros timeline...
, the game was seen as being comparatively smaller in size and scope. Critics noted many disadvantages with the level design: there were only 24 levels in the game (as compared to the 50+ levels in Yoshi's Island), each of them could be completed in minutes, and only six of them needed to be completed to clear story mode. The critics also disliked many other things about the game such as the graphical details, the music, and the absence of vehicle morphing. Joe Fielder of GameSpot noted that Yoshi's Story "was obviously designed so that younger players could play through quickly and feel some sense of accomplishment" and called it "good for a rental at best." GameSpot gave the game a "5.3" for "Mediocre" while Allgame and Game's Domain both awarded Yoshi's Story a "5.0" out of 10. IGN gave a score of 7.0 for "decent", making it one of the few positive reviews for Yoshi's Story. By contrast, Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
gave the game a "very good" score of 8.5/10. As of May 2010, Yoshi's Story maintains a "Meta Score" of 65 (out of 100) on the MetaCritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
website and a 68 (out of 100) on GameRankings.com., based on 8 and 7 reviews respectively.
Nintendo released Yoshi's Story through the Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
service on the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
console. The game made second place in Virtual Console downloads behind Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros.
is a 1985 platform video game developed by Nintendo, published for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1983 game Mario Bros. In Super Mario Bros., the player controls Mario as he travels through the Mushroom Kingdom in order to rescue Princess Toadstool from the antagonist...
on the week of its release. However, the critics' reviews of the Virtual Console version of Yoshi's Story were lower than those of the N64 version. GameSpot gave the Virtual Console version of the game a "4.0", lower than GameSpot's score of the original version. The review gave Yoshi's Story five demerits: "Derivative," "Shallow," "Short," "Stripped" and "Too Easy." In IGN Editor Lucas M. Thomas' review for the Virtual Console version, he gave it a 6.0 score for "Passable", saying that the gameplay was "nonsensical" and "unengaging." Thomas commented that the game's "system of grocery-hunting was far and away removed from the style of play presented in the SNES Yoshi's Island, and far and away removed from that game's sense of fun." He also felt that the absence of Baby Mario and 50+ levels made the "premise [feel] disconnected. Boring." and that Yoshi's Story was "not the sequel to Yoshi's Island that it could have been."
Game Boy Advance demo
For the unveiling of the Game Boy AdvanceGame Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
in 2000, Nintendo developed an original technical demonstration, or "tech demo," that was based directly on the first level of Yoshi's Story. This tech demo was developed specifically to show off the Game Boy Advance's graphical power. While the gameplay was slower, it looked identical to the Nintendo 64 game. However, a full version of the game was never released for the Game Boy Advance.
External links
- Official Nintendo Japan Yoshi Story site
- Game Boy Advance tech demo at IGNIGNIGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
: Screenshot and specs - Yoshi's Story: The Mushroom Kingdom