How long the game lasts is really up to you. Each of the game's five worlds has eight main levels. If you just want to rush through and beat Kamek, the whole process can be done in about eight hours or so. You may find yourself wanting to replay some of the more enjoyable levels and discover that each world also has a bonus level, which becomes available after you finish the game the first time. Completists will no doubt want to collect all of the stars, coins, and flowers in each world to unlock the secret 10th level and witness the extended ending sequence. That endeavor can easily consume 20 or 30 hours of time. You can also check out all of the creatures that you've encountered in an island museum. And there's a minigame menu, which lets you play the five minigames from the normal game in easy and hard variations. About the only thing that is not included is any sort of multiplayer mode. That's a mild shame, but there's certainly more than enough single player stuff here to keep you occupied for a long time.
No matter how long you play Yoshi's Island DS, your eyes and ears will probably be satisfied the entire time. Many people fell in love with the original game's unique audio-visual style. The levels and characters looked like they were drawn with crayons and felt markers. The music and sound effects also tickled the listener's ear with flutes, xylophones, animal noises, and other whimsical jangles that were not typically heard in video games. Yoshi's Island DS basically looks and sounds just like the first game, although the system's horsepower has been used to beef up certain technical aspects. You'll run into larger versions of some enemies; the transparency effect used to animate the water looks much nicer; and cute little environmental touches, such as bouncing plants and passing clouds, are more plentiful. The game doesn't make use of the system's touch-sensitive features or do anything special regarding the two screens. Outside of a cool transition effect and a couple of boss encounters, the extra screen is primarily just used to let you see more of the surrounding environment.
Some sticklers may complain that the charcoal and crayon-style graphics in Yoshi's Island DS look a little cleaner than they did in the original game. Specifically, the backgrounds aren't as cluttered, and the black outlines aren't as thick. Depending on your personal preference, this is a stylistic change that you'll either love or hate. The same can be said about the kindler, gentler music that is featured in the game's soundtrack. It's the same tropical sort of stuff that was in the original, but certain melodies and instruments are understated this time around.
Aside from the technical aspects, it's just a joy to take in the game. All of the levels are tropical and happy. They are so happy that the characters even seem pleased to be in them. Yoshi taps his feet while he walks and makes cute noises when he jumps or bumps into things. Some enemies wink or make faces as they walk along. As it is, many of those enemies are familiar faces that we know and love from the various Mario games. The shy guys from Super Mario Bros. 2 and the crabs from Donkey Kong Jr. feature prominently, as well as the Koopa Troopas, piranha plants, and giant Bullet Bills that have been present in every classic Mario game. Boss battles increase the eye candy even further. Each world serves up two different bosses, which are gigantic and often quite inventive. In one battle, for instance, the lower screen is a mirror that reflects what's going on in the upper screen. You're on the upper screen, but the boss is a large ghost that's only visible in the mirror on the lower screen. Each boss is a whole new, fun experience. This is more than can be said for the flimsy bosses that Nintendo came up with for New Super Mario Bros. earlier this year.
It's hard to top a masterpiece, but that's just what Nintendo and Artoon have done with Yoshi's Island DS. By incorporating one major new feature and leaving everything else alone, they've produced a sequel that seems fresh and new while remaining every bit as awesome as the original. If you enjoy side-scrolling platformers, you have to play this one.
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