Yoshi Touch and Go Review

January 24, 2007

Ready, Set, Touch and go! Nintendo DS

Graphics 7.4/10
Gameplay 8/10
Sound 7.4/10
Lastability 6/10
Overall 7.3/10

Yoshi Touch and Go is a charming little game based in the Yoshis Island universe. If you’ve ever played any of the Yoshis Island games before then you’ll notice the similar presentation right away. The game looks and sounds like the games of the past. That is 2D sprites and pleasantly cheery tunes.Much like the other games in the series this is a platformer-esque title but what sets it apart from the rest is the different play mechanics and the full touch screen controls. Yoshi(and Baby Mario) constantly walk through the stage, you control Yoshi’s jumping and the environment around him to so that he can keep out of harms way. This is all done via the DS touch screen.You can tap on Yoshi to make him jump and flutter in the air. Tapping anywhere in the environment makes Yoshi throw an egg in that direction. Sliding the stylus around the screen creates temporary cloud platforms which Yoshi can walk over. You can also use these platforms to block of enemies. By drawing circles with the clouds you can create bubbles, if you do this around an enemy they turn into coins and then you can throw the bubble around the screen but preferably at Yoshi. To remove the clouds just blow in the DS microphone. So there’s plenty of variety in how you can play.The levels are also spread across 2 screens, so the top screen displays the sky area and the bottom screen shows the ground area. This works nicely as flying enemies like to dive down and attack you which keeps you on your toes.

Level design is what you’d expect of Nintendo but nothing spectacular. The levels themselves are based around worlds from previous games. This means you’ll be seeing world based enemies as well which makes the game constantly feel fresh. These levels progress at a steady pace and it doesn’t get too hard too quickly.

At the start of each game you don’t actually play as Yoshi(and Baby Mario), you play as Baby Mario falling from the sky. The gameplay here is similar to the main gameplay, except Mario cannot fire eggs and jump. This is all done in a vertical perspective as Baby Mario drops downwards. Fortunately Baby Mario has 3 balloons to help him land safely. Every time you hit an enemy you lose one of these balloons.

Touch and Go has several different play modes, 2 which you need to unlock by getting the high scores in the other modes. To begin with there is Score Attack, where you play for a single level(one Mario and one Yoshi) and try to get the highest score. Marathon where you try to travel as far as you can. Once you finish a level the Yoshis swap over, so its like a medly race. Time attack is where you have to rescue Baby Luigui from the toadies(flying baddies), so you have to move through the level and also try and save Luigui. Challenge mode is a mix time attack and Marathon, you have a set time limit to get as far as you can but scoring points adds to your time. Time attack and challenge mode you need to unlock.

Despite the number of modes available there isn’t a lot to do beyond getting the high scores. This is the biggest letdown as the game is great fun to play but you can beat the high scores after a day or so of playing. I would have like to have seen a full fledged platformer out of this. So picking up this title doesn’t really feel like getting your moneys worth.

Graphically the game looks fine. The sprites are only a small step up above the GBA but still look nice. There’s a bit more depth and shading to them as well which adds a nice touch. The animation is also well done, characters bounce around and everything in the game shows a good amount of character. The sound is what you would expect, typically familiar tunes from the old games and a few new but familiar songs that fit nicely. The sounds effects complements the music nicely, Yoshi and Mario have a few grunts here and there.

Closing Comments

Yoshi Touch and Go is a tidy little game. It makes great use of the DS’ features and is one of the reasons why the DS exists, for fresh new ideas like this. Unfortunately there’s not much beyond getting high scores which makes the game rather short. Despite this its still an enjoyable little romp. Pick it up at a reduced price.

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