Yoshi's New Island lays a giant egg on the 3DS
The next Yoshi game might stick to the formula a little too closely
Yoshi is a babysitter once more
You don't have to convince us that the SNES title Yoshi's Island is one of the best games ever made that featured the plumber. The crayon-colored sidescroller made 16-bit visuals look like they popped out of a story book. Now a sequel is teaming up Yoshi with series costar Baby Mario, as the dinosaur transports the crying baby from one of the island to another.
But while the title might say "New," the levels we played felt like we played them before. The opening section was covered in flowers, and Yoshi was being chased by many of the same enemies. Though we will admit that we didn't''t expect to face the oversized Shy Guys, let alone see Yoshi lay an egg of similar after devouring said Shy Guy in one bit.
The stages also task players with collecting hidden Red Coins and Flowers that the original Yoshi's Island used to calculate how you did in a stage. Yoshi's jumping remains as dependably accurate as Baby Mario's crying remains incredibly annoying. However, our demo was limited to the earlier stages, so we'll have to wait and see if the developers are saving the crazier stuff for later. The series in particular is known for its crazy boss fights, so here's hoping the game is saving it's best ideas for those.
Check out the following slides for additional images and more information.
Big Shy Guys equal big eggs.
Be careful how you aim that massive egg. It can do some real damage.
Here's one of the first oversized enemies Kamek transforms into a boss battle.
The graphics look like a combination of the visuals in the original Yoshi's Island and its follow-up, Yoshi's Story.
Clearly Yoshi went the wrong way and missed that hidden flower.
Take out those ferocious plants and you'll find a hidden item.
Those coins will never steer you wrong.
Ducking like that won't protect you from that, Yoshi.
Those little guys will increase your Mario timer, which means the baby can be separated from Yoshi for longer before it's game over.
Henry Gilbert is a former 12DOVE Editor, having spent seven years at the site helping to navigate our readers through the PS3 and Xbox 360 generation. Henry is now following another passion of his besides video games, working as the producer and podcast cohost of the popular Talking Simpsons and What a Cartoon podcasts.