Yoshi's Story

by Nintendo

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00002STFH
• Item Weight: 5 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: March 1, 1998
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,589 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

GameSpot Review

It's probably unfair to try to compare this title with Super Mario World and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, the company's last - and fantastic - 2D forays into the wonderful realm of Mario. It's likewise also wrongful to expect every successive game that appears from under master designer Shigeru Miyamoto's wing to be even more impressive than the last (especially since he left this one to his right-hand man, Takashi Tezuka, to act as the main producer). With that said and done, taken to heart and judged on its own merits, Nintendo's Yoshi's Story still comes off as a very disappointing experience indeed.

To back up a bit, here's how it works. You begin the game as one of six differently colored Yoshis (for the uninitiated, they're kind of a saccharine version of a velociraptor), which represent the dwindling number of lives you're provided to complete the game. As the cute creature, you use the skills you're given to track down and gobble up 30 pieces of Super Happy Tree Fruit in at least six of 24 levels to win. Luckily, the Yoshis are quite adept at many maneuvers, such as running, jumping, stomping, chomping, egg tossing, and even sniffing out clues leading to the location of hidden items.

But the game's not all about eating the first bits of produce that happen your way, since lining up a string of the same items provides score bonuses and even more if they're special. These more noteworthy bites are the fruits that match up to the color of the Yoshi you're currently playing with; the "special of the day" is whatever item was chosen in the game's slot machine-like opening sequence. Either will give your Yoshi more life and points than gleaned through grabbing just the average bit of fruit.

The gameplay is your average running, jumping, and bopping seen in any number of previous Nintendo 2D side-scrolling games, but the almost trademarked sense of challenge is missing here. Enemies, even bosses, can be dispatched very easily, and there's more a pervading feeling of trying to keep yourself busy (almost like a cat playing with a mouse) than being kept on your toes by your foes. The graphics of the six differently themed pages (water, castle, green, cavern, clouds, and ice) are sometimes very impressive; however, save for a few special effects and eye-candy backgrounds, it appears as if the game could've been created for the SNES.

The value of Yoshi's Story is somewhat of a sticky issue, as the game might at first appear to be very short. But further investigation will reveal that there's more to it. It was obviously designed so that younger players could play through quickly and feel some sense of accomplishment, but there's definitely a little something here for hard-core gamers. This comes in the form of three hidden hearts in each of the 24 levels, which - without the aid of a strategy guide or FAQ - can take almost a solid week comprising eight-hour days to find. Still, Yoshi's Story doesn't provide lots of motivation to make you want to pull this off or really even play the game for more than 20 minutes. After a while, you realize it's the same trick over and over: find a piece of fruit, find a heart, find a piece of fruit, find a heart. Altogether, it's just not a lot of fun.

The slight changes that Nintendo made to the game from the Japanese version (such as an unnoticeable increase in difficulty and the addition of letters that you must collect for the best ending) didn't really seem to improve the title at all. In the end, Yoshi's Story is good for a rental at best. --Joe Fielder
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Product Description

Buy Yoshi's Story for Nintendo 64 (N64) and help the Yoshi family restore peace and happiness to Yoshi Island! In Yoshi's Story the Yoshi family enjoys a constant state of happiness and joy because of the presence of their Super Happy Tree which gives joy to all the Island's inhabitants. When you buy Yoshi's Story for Nintendo 64 (N64) you will find that baby Bowser has become envious of this special tree and has traveled to the island to steal the tree and place an evil curse on the island to become just a part of a storybook! With Yoshi's Story you will need to help the newly hatched Yoshi dinosaurs find their Happy Tree and bring it back to their island home. The Yoshi family needs you! Buy Yoshi's Story for Nintendo 64 (N64) today and help them bring back happiness and joy to their world!  

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun for me., July 8, 2006

A Kid's Review

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Yoshi's Story (Video Game)

I was happy that a Yoshi game came out so I bought it. Most people don't like the music or gameplay but I do. I think it was kind of neat for the to make the enviorment look like cardboard. It's also nice that you can choose what color Yoshi you want. That's my opinion.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Yoshi's Story is great for Kids!, January 6, 2000

By A Customer

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Yoshi's Story (Video Game)

This is a great game for small children. I was looking for something aimed at younger kids and this is perfect. My daughter has trouble with more difficult games and loses interest, but she loves Yoshi's story! I definately recommend it for younger children, but it is a bit boring for older kids and adults.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great kid's game, February 29, 2000

By A Customer

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Yoshi's Story (Video Game)

We rented this game one weekend for our 5-year-old and she loved it so much we bought it. It's a game she can actually play and not get killed or kicked out within the first 30 seconds. She likes to have her father and I play the higher levels over and over again so she can watch and learn what to do. A nice feature is being able to play any level you choose without having to go through the lower levels first.