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[Mike]

Damn. I also thought this was a story-based platformer, with bosses and the like. Oh well...

EDIT: Forgot to thank John for the impressions! Thanks a million!

 

[Hero]

Did they really need Yoshi to make an action puzzle game?

What was great about Yoshi's Island was that it was a nice deep twist on the 2D platformer. The likes of which, apparently, we'll never see again.

Princess Peach? No thanks.

Not to get on your back or anything, but you admit Yoshi's Island was a nice twist on 2D platfomers, how do you know Princess Peach couldn't be the same?

 

[Virgin Wii]

In his defense, it's hard to get excited about anything described as Super Mario Bros. 2-ish.

Thanks for the impressions, john. Yoshi sounds cool.

 

[GDJustin]

In his defense, it's hard to get excited about anything described as Super Mario Bros. 2-ish.

You take that back right now.

 

[Kobun Heat]

In his defense, it's hard to get excited about anything described as Super Mario Bros. 2-ish.

Die. In the face.

Che, you're a sexist. That's all there is to it. You're perpetuating the male-dominated power structure of our culture. Go watch The Vagina Monologues, then come back here and we'll just see how you feel about Super Princess Peach then.

 

[Amir0x]

Die. In the face.

Che, you're a sexist. That's all there is to it. You're perpetuating the male-dominated power structure of our culture. Go watch The Vagina Monologues, then come back here and we'll just see how you feel about Super Princess Peach then.

You know, off topic... I actually did see Vagina Monologues.

That shit sucked.

 

[Virgin Wii]

I'm rubber you're glue; whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you.

 

[seismologist]

I'm up for action puzzler if it's anything like Warioland 4. I loved those games.

 

[Jonnyram]

Man, this game is hard. I have no idea how John passed 3000 points so soon. I'm stuck around the 2600 mark, even after playing a lot. The first 1000m is the balloon ride - you have three balloons and if they all pop it's game over. But after that, you ride on Yoshi and it's instant death for any mistake. It seems like every 500m is a new terrain, with a brief pause at each 1000m to transfer to a new Yoshi. The difficulty is in the amount of stuff going on though. This will be good brain exercise, I imagine.

To address a few of the questions / thoughts that people have mentioned.

music
Music is typical cutesy Mario/Yoshi style. It's very good though.

random stages
The random stages works out better than you think - playing the same stages in the same order each game would be pretty dull. It seems there are still stages that you can't see until you get to a certain distance, so it's not like you can see everything without improving your skills anyway.

dual screen
On the first part, Mario is on the top screen and you draw clouds on the bottom screen. So the clouds you draw scroll up and control Mario's position.
On the Yoshi sections, the top screen is home to lots of enemies, and often coins and fruits which you can hit with a deftly thrown shell. Occasionally, if you are suicidal, you can draw clouds that take Yoshi to the top of the bottom screen and his head will appear on the top screen. DON'T do this if there are low-flying enemies.

 

[chespace]

Not to get on your back or anything, but you admit Yoshi's Island was a nice twist on 2D platfomers, how do you know Princess Peach couldn't be the same?

Dude! It's Princess fucking Peach!

It could be good, but you have to admit, a good game with a shit character is still a good game with a shit character.

 

[Unison]

How are they going to draw in casuals if they make games this hard!??!?!

 

[Jonnyram]

How are they going to draw in casuals if they make games this hard!??!?!

Because hard games can be fun too. It's hard to pass 3000m, but it's not impossible for casuals - mainly because the first 1000m you get 3 "lives" so it's easier to pass. Also, hardcore gamers are on the same level as casual gamers because of the new input system. I'm sure John and I will subject a few non-gamers to it. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Monk]

Thank you. This is an experiment i want to see.

 

[Jonnyram]

Another neat touch in the game:
If there is a Pictochat session happening in your vicinity, an icon appears on the game screen - you can touch it to leave the game and enter the Pictochat session (although it does power off your DS :lol)

 

[Unison]

It sounds awesome, don't get me wrong, but a more traditional (e.g. Super Mario World) level design sounds more approachable than what they've cooked up.

I guess I don't really care if casuals like it or not when you get right down to it. :lol I'm just curious how it fits into Nintendo's grand scheme (I guess the controls are the answer...).

 

[Unison]

Another neat touch in the game:
If there is a Pictochat session happening in your vicinity, an icon appears on the game screen - you can touch it to leave the game and enter the Pictochat session (although it does power off your DS :lol)

Haha, this is great! I was just posting a month ago how they should have this specific feature in all DS games. Go Nintendo!

 

[novery]

I know these Iwata quotes are old, but reading about Yoshi reminded me about his innovation speech back in June.

The video game market (in Japan) has been shrinking since 1997. There have been a number of reasons given for it, such as the low birthrate, emergence of the used game market, and the growing use of mobile phones. But that's not enough to explain everything. Games have really gone through an amazing evolution since the Famicom era, and with it, games have gotten more complex and high tech in order to meet the demands of gamers.

So what we needed was to find a way to make everyone start off from the same point, like back when the Famicom made its launch and everyone touched the controller pad for the first time.

That's the concept behind the Nintendo DS. Its touch-sensitive panel and voice recognition capability will offer a wide range of experiences that will be new for both beginners and hardcore gamers.

The concept of Catch! Touch! Yoshi! looks like it was formed around these ideals. Oh yeah, and check out the Japanese TV commercial (http://nintendo.co.jp/ds/ayij/cm.wmv). I think Nintendo is really pushing this idea that anybody can play DS games, especially girls.

-rp

 

[Odnetnin]

YOU CAN BLOW ON THE GAME AND MAKE IT DO SOMETHING?!!?

?! the ad seems to suggest this. JonnyRam + JTV.. blow on your ds stat.

 

[john tv]

I'm surprised this one's impression etc are out - maybe I read the famitsu scores wrong but isn't kirby the one that's out?

Kirby isn't out until March 24. Yoshi comes out this Thursday -- I just happened to stumble upon a shop that was selling copies early.

Thanks for the impressions John. Ended up reading the rest of your LJ posts, and then those of your friends. Keep up the good work.

Awesome. Thanks for reading!

john tv i just read your blog and all i got to say is do you really buy/enjoy/like all those fucking games you have?

Buy/obtain: yes. Enjoy/like: not all of them. But I do try to only buy games I think I'm going to like...

I played some more last night and this morning. Two things to point out:

1) There doesn't seem to be any main quest mode, a la Yoshi's Island. It's just four different arcade/puzzle-esque modes where you're basically competing for high scores: Score Attack, Endless, Time Attack and Challenge.

I have to say, I actually like the way the game is setup. I'm a fan of old-school-styled action games. The gameplay is VERY challenging (surprisingly so for a Nintendo game), and it's a lot of fun. I tried Challenge mode this morning and got my ass kicked -- not only are you trying to obtain a high score, but there are tons of enemies and obstacles, AND you have to keep getting coins and killing enemies to add points to your timer. If the timer reaches zero, Kamek comes and whisks Mario away, and it's game over. DIFFICULT.

Anyway, fun game. Hopefully it's got staying power. There's only one way to find out...

Jonny -- you gonna be around Thurs. night? We should try out multiplayer sometime.

 

[Jonnyram]

You blow on the mic to clear all the clouds you've drawn. If you're on the first part with Mario and the balloons, it has the added effect of slowing his descent too.

 

[john tv]

YOU CAN BLOW ON THE GAME AND MAKE IT DO SOMETHING?!!?

?! the ad seems to suggest this. JonnyRam + JTV.. blow on your ds stat.

Yeah, if you want to get rid of the clouds on the screen that you just made, you can blow them away with the mic.

 

[Mama Smurf]

The commercial makes it pretty clear that you blow away the clouds you've drawn when you blow into the microphone. Don't know if you can do other things too.

EDIT: ...what they said. Slowing down his descent thing is pretty cool.

 

[Mr. Lemming]

Does this have single cart multiplayer?

 

[Jonnyram]

Jonny -- you gonna be around Thurs. night? We should try out multiplayer sometime.

Maybe... I really have to get DQVIII out of the way though, so I'm trying to put as much time as possible into that.

 

[john tv]

Maybe... I really have to get DQVIII out of the way though, so I'm trying to put as much time as possible into that.

Hehe. You make it sound like a work deadline or something.

 

[Odnetnin]

thanks for the quick responses. that chick in the ad is way hotter than utada.

 

[novery]

The commercial makes it pretty clear that you blow away the clouds you've drawn when you blow into the microphone. Don't know if you can do other things too.

EDIT: ...what they said. Slowing down his descent thing is pretty cool.

It's an interesting feature, but looks like I won't be playing this on the train or in public. I already get enough stares being a hairy foreigner and all.

Gaijin blowing into his Nintendo DS = long stares X 100!!

-rp

 

[Mama Smurf]

I'm sure if you do a sort of...breathy cough into it, it'd work the same. And you can raise it to your face as it's natural to try and cover your mouth when you cough.

And I believe it does support single cart multiplayer.

 

[Unison]

I've blown at my DS plenty of times in public / on the train & no one's really seemed to notice or care (then again, people in New York try not to notice or care about any of the hundreds of freaks they run into over the course of a day :lol ).

 

[Oichi]

I gotta thank john for tipping me off! I got Yoshi a couple of days ago... here are my impressions. Basically the game generates the levels based on how well you do in the Mario level. If you score a lot of points, then Yoshi will have more eggs to throw, and the stages will be much harder. If you do poorly, then he'll only have the basic stock of 20 and it'll be an easier stage. His colour also changes too!

Formerly known as Balloon Trip, Catch! Touch! Yoshi! (known as Yoshi's Touch & Go in US) was one of those games that I had a real love and hate relationship with. One could easily consider it the spiritual successorl to Yoshi's Island. It even has the same look, and you can shoot eggs! But somehow, I had this sinking feeling that Nintendo would mess it up badly.

Fortunately for everyone who's been anticipating this title, Catch! Touch! Yoshi! has turned out to be alright, although it's completely different from what anyone is imagining. Those who are hoping that the game will be similar to the SNES cult hit will be majorly disappointed; the game isn't a platformer at all. In fact, it's more like an arcade side-scroller mixed with some puzzle elements than anything else. It's a weird combination, but it's pretty easy to explain.

Using your stylus, you must help Yoshi and Mario through enemy-filled territory as they get wherever the hell they're supposed to be going. The first part of every game starts off with Baby Mario tumbling through the sky. This part of the game sets the tone for the rest of your session, believe it or not. You can use the stylus to create clouds that can block enemies or encase them with bubbles that will transform them into coins. Then, you can 'throw' the bubbles to the top screen so that Mario can get them. The descent is filled with tons of enemies, although Mario can withstand up to three hits during this section. Once you have cleared that section, Yoshi will show up to save Mario from sure death, and then you will start Yoshi's section of the game.

You can still create clouds that act as bridges, roadblocks and whatnot, but you can do a whole lot more with Yoshi compared to Mario. Tap anywhere on the screen to make Yoshi fire an egg, and tap Yoshi himself to make him jump. Do it again to make him perform his hover. There are pieces of fruit scattered around the area that will allow you to replenish your egg stock. You can't use enemies to do that, unfortunately. What will please fans of Yoshi's Island is that the egg mechanics are relatively the same. You can still make them ricochet off solid surfaces to get hard to reach items and coins, and special blocks like the redirection glove from Yoshi's Island also makes an appearance.

Here's where it gets a little random. Depending on how many coins you were able to get during Mario's freefall, you'll get a different coloured Yoshi, with a different amount of eggs. Perform poorly and your Yoshi will be a stock green, with 20 eggs. Get around 90 or 100 coins, and you'll get a brightly coloured dino with a stock of 30 or more eggs. Mario's section also alters the level design as well. An easy, basic level will be before you if you get below a certain amount of coins, while more enemies (and consequently more coins) will be had if you do good.

This does make a hell of a difference in the gameplay, too. The two default modes that you can play are Score Attack and Endless. During the former, you have to get a certain amount of points, where one enemy usually gives you 1 or 2 points. In Endless mode, you have to progress through the game while it tracks how many meters you have walked. Get 300 points in Score Attack and you'll unlock Time Attack, while 3000 meters will get you Challenge mode. Of the two, Score Attack seems to be the hardest one to finish up. 300 points may seem like peanuts, but you'll be left scratching your head when you're 30 points shy of the mark.

One more thing that you should know about the game that will either infuriate you or pique your curiousity. The game has no levels. Really, it doesn't. Score Attack's levels are generated randomly, based on your score during Mario's freefall. This is also true during Endless and Challenge mode. You'll get a different level just about every time you play. I've only played through Endless and Challenge three times each, but every time I've had a different stage before me. Weird.

Despite the odd design, the game is unbelievably addictive. The primary focus of the game is solely on your score, and nothing else. It harkens back to the time of Tempest, when beating someone's record by just one point was enough satisfaction for a gamer. The game isn't without it's problems, but most of it has to do with the fact that your characters are always controlled by the AI. Sometimes Yoshi or Mario will get stuck within a cloud, making it difficult to predict what they will do next. What's also annoying to me is the lack of any commands for the buttons or directional pad on the DS. I know that the game is supposed to show off the powers of the touch screen, but mapping a jump and eat button would have helped immensely. There are times when the fruit that Yoshi needs to eat are on his sprite, and he refuses to eat it.

Leaving the gameplay for a bit, the graphics in the game are reminiscent of Yoshi's Island, but all of the sprites have been redrawn. You hear that Capcom? Redrawn. The sprites are a bit on the small site, but the screen gets filled up pretty quickly, so it's for the best. At least the animation is still above average, and the game doesn't slow down!

After five hours of solid play, it's safe to say that the game is pretty strange, but it works really well. I can't say anything about the longevity of the game right now (or the versus mode, since the game will officially come out tomorrow), but it seems that it could last most people a good two or three weeks, possibly longer if you have someone to play against. If you're looking for a good platform/adventure game, you'll still have to stick with Mario 64 DS, but if you want something to sidetrack you until the next big thing hits, definitely consider getting this game.

http://www.got-next.com/previews_read.php?id=84&pno=1

Edit: Oh, and for Endless, I've reached the 3500m mark, and for Score Attack... I can't break 300. I've gotten to 275, but that's it.

 

[Jonnyram]

I finally opened challenge mode last night. It's hard!
I think "randomly generated" levels isn't strictly accurate. It's more like there are a bunch of levels and they are randomly selected from stock. I've had the exact same 1000-1500m run three times in a row before.

I didn't realise that performance on the fall actually affects the difficulty though! Scary, I've had 100 points on the fall before!

 

[SantaC]

I finally opened challenge mode last night. It's hard!
I think "randomly generated" levels isn't strictly accurate. It's more like there are a bunch of levels and they are randomly selected from stock. I've had the exact same 1000-1500m run three times in a row before.

I didn't realise that performance on the fall actually affects the difficulty though! Scary, I've had 100 points on the fall before!

so is the game worth getting?

 

[Jonnyram]

so is the game worth getting?

YES! It's addictive and infuriating. I'm eager to try out versus mode. I think we'll get chance to try it out tonight so some impressions should be here tomorrow.

 

[john tv]

I finally opened challenge mode last night. It's hard!
I think "randomly generated" levels isn't strictly accurate. It's more like there are a bunch of levels and they are randomly selected from stock. I've had the exact same 1000-1500m run three times in a row before.

I didn't realise that performance on the fall actually affects the difficulty though! Scary, I've had 100 points on the fall before!

Yep yep! Also, your performance from checkpoint to checkpoint affects the next area. So like if you get 30 eggs after the fall, and then do well in the first 1000 on the ground, you'll move up to 35 eggs for the next area.

Very addictive!!

 

[Mama Smurf]

Is there much variety in enemies and terrain (both appearance and features)?

 

[Odnetnin]

Very addictive!!

Excellent. So you're liking it John? so the DS is getting playtime or is the GF playing this

 

[DCharlie]

picked this up a few days ago - easily the best DS game to date IMO.

VERY difficult to play, but like Lumines, you can see that you are getting better with time.
I've been concentrating on the 300 level, and got around 218 last night.

The game pulls together all the functions of the DS in a new and interesting way. Fantastic stuff.

 

[Jonnyram]

A small niggle that I noticed with some testing.
If you move Yoshi to the top of the bottom screen by climbing up clouds, he actually sits in the gap between the top and bottom - there is a blind spot! That can cause trouble, but I guess it is done so you can accurately gauge the angle for shooting eggs up to the top screen.

 

[0wn3d]

When does this hit America? Sounds really fun.

 

[Mofo]

March 21st.

 

[john tv]

I'm having a lot of fun with Score Attack. It's the easiest of the modes, and the stage doesn't change as far as I can tell -- but getting the highest possible score seems very challenging. You basically need to hit every coin and enemy, and find ways to combo them up in groups for bonus points and such... it seems hard. I got a 312 in my last play through, which is only 12 points over the default high score, and still it was very tough.

Great game. I love old-school stuff like this.

 

[othersteve]

Thanks for the impressions John, you're making me really want this game. If I didn't have other stuff on my plate to review right now I'd probably look into getting an import copy. I really love games like this too, especially challenging ones, so I just hope this game has the lasting appeal.

~os

 

[cvxfreak]

john tv or jonnyram, are any extras unlocked when Yoshi no Banyuu Inryoku is plugged into the GBA slot? (As with Mawaru and Sawaru Made in Wario)

 

[Chibbi Brady]

Good to see you guys playing the DS again.

I'm really liking the sound of Yoshi, wasn't quite sure what kind of a game to expect. Assumed it was going to be a mix between Lemmings and Yoshi's Island and of course that it'd be structured like the later. Was very releaved to hear that it plays well and that it's actually a bit different. Sounds very much like a perfect game to pick up for 15 minutes or so, just one more go at the high-score kind of thing. Hopefully my copy will show up on Monday.

 

[Tiktaalik]

This sounds like it would have been the perfect game for the DS launch, what with the DS features like the mic usage. Nintendo has to get their act together for their Revolution launch. Their N64 launch was lacking, their Gamecube launch was lacking and their DS launch was lacking. I am really, really glad games like Yoshi and the new Kirby are in the pipeline, but sheesh, nintendo has gotta learn to get started on these games earlier. My DS has been sitting around for over a month waiting for these titles.

 

[Enigma]

Wow. Great impresssions! I'll have to pick up a DS once the PSP launches (Current line-up does nothing for me and I'm hoping Nintendo does a price drop/Mario 64 bundle to compete)! But this is what I was expecting when I 1st heard of the DS. Old-school, arcade simplicity that I seem to be regressing to lately. Wario, Yoshi, Kirby, Castlevania... it seems the system is developing a worthy line-up afterall.

 

[john tv]

john tv or jonnyram, are any extras unlocked when Yoshi no Banyuu Inryoku is plugged into the GBA slot? (As with Mawaru and Sawaru Made in Wario)

Dunno... I'll never, ever own that piece of crap so I probably won't ever be able to tell you.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Multiplayer?