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The
Total Recall |
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| Artist touch: Colourful but I'm going to vomit. Cover art rating: 5/10 |
Month
it lost: Febuary 2007
(Nintendo, March 1998) |
Special note: This
was one of the few 2D games for the N64.
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| Introduction and Story: |
| I remember this game
here being hyped nearly to death by magazines and game shows before it
was finally released in 1998. With the ambitious Yoshi's Story video game
Nintendo tried to create a good old fashion 2D action title since players
around the world still love those traditional style platformers like amazing
games Super Mario World or the original Yoshi's Island.
Everyone loved those games and I know I was looking forward to the game
too because most of the Nintendo 64 games focused highly on 3D instead
and they can be very difficult to control at times, eh? If anyone could
pull off an unbelievable 2D game it would definitely be the geniuses at
Nintendo, but like the movie Pearl Harbour Yoshi's Story just misses the
mark big time. Witness one of the biggest duds in N64 history! The pain starts with the game's lame story and some of the lamest music you will ever heard in a game. The evil Baby Bowser has stolen a special tree from the colourful dinosaur race known as the Yoshis (which is definitely named after some Japanese guy) and now the entire island is under a strange spell and it's turning everyone confused and mean. Fortunately, there were 6 Yoshi eggs unaffected by the spell and now these young Yoshis are on a dangerous quest to get the tree back. Ya, that bored me too. Remember when Britney Spears and Madonna kissed on TV? OK, I did that to make sure you're still awake. Anyway, this game seems to be a prequel to the original Yoshi's Island because Mario is not around this time but he probably didn't want to ruin his career by appearing in this piece of crap. |
| Controls and Game Play: | |
| In the
game you get to pick from one of six multicolored Yoshi's on a mission
to collect 32 fruits on each stage and that's how you actually complete it. Each Yoshi is good
at eating junk and throwing eggs but certain ones like the yellow Yoshi
will prefer bananas for example over most other fruit but the best overall
fruit to get for all the Yoshi's is the light green Melon. It's a interesting
concept but since the Melons are the best ones to get overall the whole
different colour Yoshi thing just seems pointless. Sadly it gets much worse. The game's biggest problem here is that it can be finished in less then a hour since you just need to go through only 6 stages (the ending is very anti-climatic by the way), fight Baby Bowser, and get that stupid tree back so everyone will be happy...yay. Where is the challenge in that? Sure, you can't find everything in that hour and you can replay the game to unlock different levels and get higher scores but in all honesty you probably won't care either way after being sorely disappointed with everything else here. Another thing wrong with game is the loose controls. Unlike most 2D games you are forced to use the N64's analog stick to move Yoshi around. This is great to help the Yoshi's use their tongues in multiple directions but it sucks for precise jumping and you'll be doing a lot of that here. |
| Graphics and Sounds: |
 If
there is one good thing about the game Yoshi's Story here is that the
graphics are pretty average. The computer generated backgrounds and characters
are very detailed and realistic plus the unique story book cinemas are
cool here too. Sadly the 2D visuals still look very flat compared to other
N64 games plus the older 16-bit Donkey Kong Country games still
looked better overall in my opinion. Although the graphics are not that
great, the sound is even more lack luster. Each stage comes with this
weak low key quiet theme in the background. Some call it cute, I call
it annoying. The Yoshi's like to sing a highly childish melody when they
are idle and it makes you want to smack them and tell them to grow a pair.
If that wasn't bad enough in between levels there is a sickeningly cute
soundtrack whenever a stage is done where it sounds like the Yoshi's are
calling me an As*hole here. I can't get over that, those little buggers
just singed 'You As*hole' right to me here! Believe me that's what I heard
them say and I can't skip it either. This game just keeps on piling on
the crap. |
| The Bottomline: |
| OK, what the hell were they on here? It's still a some what playable title with some what decent controls and that very cute look may appeal to a few younger gamers I guess but it's no must have especially if you like more long term game play for your hard earn cash. Remember, this wasn't a budget title when it was first introduced (even though it didn't take too long to go in the discount bins) so we had to pay full price for this. The game play isn't even as deep as the highly acclaimed but older Yoshi's Island for the SNES thanks to the lack of levels (24 compared to 48+), and innovative game play in general. Just close the book on this lame old story! |
| Conclusion: | |
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*Battery back up game
*Rumble Pak compatible YOSHI'S STORY overall rating: 28/100 Find this game on eBay here! For 1 player only Rated (E) for Everyone graphics: 5/10 sound: 2/10 gameplay: 4/10 replay: 3/10 -StarSoldier (Ryan Genno) 2007 See other Total Recall duds of the month |
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