Heh heh, my favorite line from the Yoshi's Island DS commercial. Anyway, now that I finally got this game back from Ben since he so discretely took it from me Thanksgiving break, I can review the game. If you haven't played Yoshi's Island for the SNES, you need to stop reading this and play it now. It's one of the best 2D platform games ever made, and not to mention very entertaining because it is filled with Yoshis and crying babies. The DS version is more of the same, and I'm not complaining here. The levels are fun, the graphics are still beautiful, and the music is upbeat. What's new this time around is that instead of simply having Baby Mario in tow, you get Baby Peach, Baby DK, Baby Bowser, and Baby Wario as well! They all have different skills - Mario for speed, Peach for floating, DK for strength, Bowser for fire, and Wario for... magnetism. Because he has a large center of gravity, or something ^_^ Because of this new element, you have baby changing stations where you switch out which baby Yoshi is carrying to reach specific parts of the level. There are also specific baby coins to collect in every level, along with the usual flowers and red coins.

One reason it works on the DS is because the dual screens let you scan more of the level. So there are times you can peek up and find hidden items or look lower to see what enemies are under you. However, the space between the two screens (the hinge) also counts as viewing space, so unfortunately you will miss some things if you don't continually scan up or down. It is a minor flaw, but so far I haven't found this to be too big of an issue. You're usually scanning so often to find items that you get the whole picture.

taken from sickr

I've had so much fun playing this game; it's puzzling but not exhausting, and I can put it down and pick it up later (which is the most important aspect of portable games, in my opinion). The only problem - it's not that challenging. Yes, sometimes I am stupid and fall into a bottomless pit, but most stages are a breeze to go through. I suppose deciding which baby to use requires a little brainpower, but usually it's pretty obvious if, say, vines are right next to the baby changing station. But you know what, I can't say that the first Yoshi's Island was that challenging either, and it was still one of my favorite games. So thank goodness they didn't change the sequel so much that it didn't work; I'm sure this will be one of my favorite DS games of all time.

edit: I'm a liar. I've played this game a lot more now, and it's definitely NOT a breeze. Especially if you're trying to get 100 on each level. Whew, and I'm only halfway through the game!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10