Yoshi’s New Island Review
Originality: The natural progression of this series was to reinvent itself, as they did in Wooly World (a beautiful and charm filled game), not continue the same thing they have done in the past. There is not one thing in this game (other than 3d) that stands out as unique to this series and, who even bothers with 3d these days? This was a lazy attempt by Nintendo (much like Star Fox zero or the other spinoff games on Wii U in the last year).
3/20
Graphics: This also doesn’t feel like it advanced much from the old days. Granted, the 3ds hardware is pretty dated now (especially that I have a switch now).
4/10
Art Style: The art style uniqueness that made the first game so awesome and original is the same one used all these years later, now overdone (this is like the 3rd or 4th game in the same style?), passed up by something better (Wooly World), and just lazy looking.
5/15
Story: The same complaint I always have with the 2d Nintendo games. Tropical Freeze could have been perfection if it had a good story, NSMBU would have been so much better, and so would this game. Why can’t Nintendo see the value in games like Trine, where there is a well done story being explored WHILE you play simple 2d side scrolling? This is beyond me.
1/30
Game Interface: No issues.
5/5
Controls easy and fluid or difficult and rigid? I did like that they allowed you to switch between old school and modern controls.
5/5
Is it fun? Until you realize it’s the same thing made for the past 20 years. Then it felt like a grind. I literally sped through levels (which made the game go by so quickly) after the third world, when I was convinced this game wasn’t enjoyable. Don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t “Project X Zone” level of boring, but it was pretty close.
4/15
Total –
27 / 100
Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition – 100 + 5 = 105
Shovel Knight – 95 + 10 = 105
Paper Mario – 90 +10 = 100
Shadow of Mordor = 95 + 5 = 100
Zelda Skyward Sword-98
Hyrule Warriors – 93 + 5 = 98
Overwatch – 90 + 5 = 95
Batman: Arkham Asylum - 93
Zelda Minish Cap – 92
Portal 2 – 87 + 5 = 92
Portal – 87 + 5 = 92
Assassin’s Creed 4 Wii U – 86 +5 = 91
Zelda Windwaker HD – 86 + 5 = 91
Bayonetta 2 = 91 NR
Bayonetta (Wii U) – 91 NR
Zelda Oracle of Ages – 91
Metroid Fusion – 91
Mario and Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story – 86 + 5 = 91
Zelda Twilight Princess – 90
Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon - 90
Guildwars 2 – 89
Mario and Luigi: Dream Team – 89
Animal Crossing New Leaf – 84 + 5 = 89
Pokemon X – 88
Zelda: A Link to the Past – 78 + 10 = 88
Kid Icarus Uprising – 88
Darksiders 2 - 88
Fire Emblem Awakening – 88
Mass Effect - 84
Super Mario Maker = 84*
Dishonored - 84
Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark - 84
Paper Mario Sticker Star – 83
Rome 2: Total War - 83
Zelda: A Link Between Worlds-83
Mario and Luigi Paper Jam - 82
Super Mario 3d land – 72 + 10 = 82
Diablo 3 – 72 + 10 = 82
Batman Arkham Knight - 81
Batman: Arkham Origins – 81
Mario and Luigi: Super Star Saga – 80
Trine – 80
Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze* - 68 + 10 = 78
Mass Effect 3 - 77
Mass Effect 2 - 76
Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – 74
Black Ops 2 - 74
Rome: Total War-74
Yoshie’s Wolly World – 73*
Just Cause - 71
Paper Monster Uncut (Wii U) - 70
Red Alert 3 - 70
New Super Mario Bros. U – 66
New Super Mario Bros.Wii – 57 *
Assassins Creed 3 – 57 NR
Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition – 53*
Puzzles and Dragons Z: Mario Edition - 46
Kirby Squeak Squad – 43
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3d – 42
Yoshi’s New Island - 27
Project X Zone - 18
* Means it was more fun than the score indicates. Scores judge the overall quality of the game (how fun it is only counts for 15% in my reviews)
NR means Not Recommended based on inappropriateness.
^Charm is rewarded to games that have an undefinable quality to them that makes them amazing and have high replayability value.
