Yoshi's Story (Wii)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.0 stars Mediocre
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 4.0 (2.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Frank Provo
• Reviewed on: 09/24/2007
• Released on: 09/17/2007
• Originally published on GameSpot: Yoshi's Story (Wii) Review

If you download Yoshi's Story from the Virtual Console shop assuming that it's the Nintendo 64 equivalent of Yoshi's Island, you're in for the mother of all disappointments. Sure, Yoshi can eat enemies and hurl eggs like he did in Yoshi's Island. And yes, the side-scrolling environments occasionally pull off a handcrafted look that some people might deem charming. However, beyond those similarities, Yoshi's Story is lacking all of the creativity, depth, and challenge that were abundant in Yoshi's earlier adventures.

The story unfolds like a chapter in a children's book, with goofy pop-up decorations and simple dialogue filling you in on a tale that basically involves a group of baby dinosaurs hunting down the crook that stole their missing Super Happy Tree. Playing as one of those dwarfish dinos, your job in each level is to find and eat 30 pieces of fruit. To do so, you'll jump over pits, use Yoshi's tongue like a grappling hook, and manhandle enemies by eating or butt-stomping them. The graphics and audio don't come close to pushing the N64's limits. But you'll probably appreciate the cheery music, as well as the way the game juxtaposes computer-rendered characters with a mixture of hand-drawn and clothlike backgrounds.

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