Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3

Even though I like the more "modern" Nintendo games (for the DS in particular), Yoshi's Island stands out in the crowd as one game that you can play & enjoy. The colorful graphics & catchy music will have you playing "just one more" game before powering down 4 the evening. I had the opportunity 2 pick this game up again, & I am now glad that I did. It has all the pastel colors that lured me 2 it in the first place, & very responsive controls as well. Here's a breakdown below:

Graphics: 10/10
Control: 10/10
Music: 10/10
Sound Effects: 10/10
General Score: 10/10

I could find no real faults 4 this game, as it can be picked up by anyone & played. The bonus Mario Bros. game is a welcome addition 2 those that have played this before, & might attract new gamers as well. It's reasonably priced, & could round out your DS library nicely. Enjoy an old classic today.

This game was the sequel 2 the most popular Super Mario World in the 1990's 4 the SNES, & is a platformer as is its predecessor, & not only that, it explains how Mario came 2 be. When the kind stork was carrying two baby orphans, Mario & Luigi, 2 their parents, flying across Yoshi's island, home 2 all Yoshis, it was assaulted by Kamek, the Koopa/Witch who worked 4 a little dragon named Bowser. She managed 2 snatch one baby, but the other, fell straight down onto Yoshis Island, & fell on one Yoshi's back, along with a map that the stork was using of Yoshi's island. It was decided that several yoshis of different colors were 2 see where the map led, maybe 2 find Luigi, Mario's brother, & stop Bowser's plan. So came super Mario world 2: Yoshi's island 4 the SNES. The game sold well, & got the right 2 be remade 4 the GBA, with several advancements. Now that you know the game's history & the plot, we should probably move on 2 the gameplay of Yoshi's island. You play as yoshi, with baby Mario riding on your back. Baby Mario hardly serves any purpose at all; in fact, it would probably make more sense on Yoshi's part 2 leave baby Mario behind with the Yoshi's that stayed behind. Now then, Yoshi's moves consist of: A: Jumping. Useful 4 defeating certain enemies you may land on & jumping over hills & obstacles. Also, if you press A in the air, yoshi will elevate slightly higher. B: Makes yoshi stick his long, stick-like tongue out. His tongue can put certain enemies in his mouth, & you can press B again 2 spit them out. D-pad controls: D-Pad Up: Makes yoshi look up, & makes the screen camera move slightly up 2 see what's above you. Also, when yoshi is looking up, if you stick his tongue out, it will go up instead of right/left. D-Pad down: makes yoshi duck, making the camera move slightly down, & occasionally avoiding enemies. If you have an enemy in your mouth, you can swallow it with this button. Also, while in the air, by pressing down, Yoshi will do a flip & point his butt at the ground, then very quickly slamming the ground; this attack is more powerful then jumping. D-Pad Left/Right: Using left will make you run 2 the left, & right will make you move 2 the right. Applying a gentle push will make Yoshi walk, & pushing on them harder will make him almost immediately run. To make him immediately run, you must hold down B. R: Most enemies will turn into eggs & follow yoshi wherever he goes when yoshi swallows an enemy. By pressing R, yoshi will pick up the egg, & a red X will be going up & down. You can choose the way you want yoshi 2 throw the egg; the first way is just by pressing R & than pressing it again 2 throw the egg; the second way is 2 hold down R, & once it is released, yoshi will throw the egg in the direction of the red X. As you can see, this targeting system takes good timing, but it's actually quite easy 2 get used to. Now there are many enemies in Yoshi's island, of many shapes & sizes, that, if touched, will make Yoshi flinch back, & cause baby Mario 2 go off of Yoshi's back. Mario will be enveloped by a small bubble, & a meter of 10 seconds will appear. If yoshi does not touch the bubble in 10 seconds, Kamek's minions will fly down & take baby Mario away. Across levels, there will be glittering rings that yoshi can continue from if this happens or if he falls down a pit. Many enemies in this game include shy guys, which are basically red boxes with, white, circular masks with black, circular holes 4 the eyes & mouth. Others include small, blue, bats with orange wings that swoop down on yoshi, or bandits that try 2 grab Mario & steal him away. Now that you know a little bit about the gameplay, it's time 2 move onto the graphics, which I was truly impressed by. The background is almost full 3D, & the land that yoshi can walk on is beautiful & full of colors; some of these look like giant, 3D, clouds that were painted all sorts of pretty colors & placed flowers upon, others look like hundreds & hundreds of black & blue shiny gems, these floors & platforms are in underground caves. There are many floors beside that, I just named a few. Also, stones in castles look very nice & realistic. Yoshi & enemies have bright, colors, & many more things will also look very beautiful. All in all 4 the graphics, Yoshi's island is defiantly on of the best-looking GBA & SNES games around. The music in the game is...simply amazing. It 100% captures the feel & setting 4 each level in such a good way, that it seems indescribable. Some levels will have the calm tune, where many will have his jazzy one which I will never forget. The cave & castle music are just so awesome unforgettable. This game has some of the best music you'll ever find 4 its era. Many small clouds with wings will also be floating around levels, & if hit by an egg, may give you stars, which increase your seconds until Mario is taken away (the glittery rings I mentioned before will also do this), circular coins, & if 100 are obtained, an extra life will be gotten until game over, game over really doesn't do anything except reset those glittery rings, because whenever you defeat a level anew or replayed, the game saves automatically. These clouds may also contain other surprises like making a staircase in a level. There are also several minigames 2 be played in which prizes will be obtained throughout levels, a good example is giving you the maximum eggs that can follow you. You can access these items by pressing select. Now, one thing I forgot 2 mention was the world map. A map will appear whenever you start your file (there are 3 in all & can be erased or copied) that shows yoshi, awesome graphics & landscapes, & 6 numbers 4 six worlds. You may use the D-Pad 2 select a word & press A 2 go into it, in which two castles which inhabit bosses at the end, & several other levels will appear. Unfortunately, unlike super Mario world, there will be boxes & a pointer 2 enter levels, instead of a map that you can walk all over. When on the box select screen, you can easily switch 2 other boxes from the other world without going back 2 the map screen. One of the best things about this game is the replay value. Every single level in the game is repayable, & I find myself constantly playing these levels, over again, just 4 the fun & thrill of it. All in all, this game deserves my 10 4 such a game that...that...Well it's just such a masterpiece... A must buy 4 any Nintendo fan. Not 2 mention it comes with the arcade Mario Bros., upgraded 2 sprites from the original super Mario advance, or super Mario bros. 2. So it's a masterpiece, a must-buy.

Since this game is FUNNER than super mario bros.3 as you see in my title I played it more times too. And so if you get both you might play it more too. So try not 2 get super mario bros.3 okay? (-:

Cant go wrong with this game. Yoshi is one of our favorite Nintendo characters & the game has alot of action. An adult may actually enjoy this game.

We purchased this game 4 my son(who is 10) & he really likes it. I asked him 2 tell me what he enjoys about it since I have never played the game myself. I figured the opinion of the 10-year-old player would be more useful. He gave it the 5-star rating. He says "It is cool that you can morph into different things & it has lots of different levels 2 play on." He also likes the "storyline" or "plot" of the adventure since Yoshi is one of his favorite characters. I can tell you that it IS NOT a game he played 4 10 minutes & got bored with. He has continued 2 enjoy it very often.

Yoshi's Island: Super Mario 3 puts you in control of Yoshi 4 his wildest new adventure! You can even connect with three friends in a multi-player game of Mario Bros.

Oh no! It looks like your granddad was right--things really were better in the old days. At least they were if you liked 2-D platform games, & Yoshi’s Island is indisputably one of the best ever made.

Yoshi’s Island goes back in time 2 recount the touching story of the various Yoshis' attempts 2 unite Baby Mario with his parents. You don’t actually control the Italian plumber-to-be but instead his dinosaur pal, who has the curious ability 2 eat his enemies & then immediately turn them into eggs, which he can then fling at more enemies.

Since Yoshi isn’t particularly fast & can float in midair 4 a few seconds after making a jump, the whole dynamics of the normal Mario gameplay have changed, but the same incredible attention 2 detail & endless imagination that mark all of Nintendo’s best efforts are still here in full effect. In fact they’re joined this time, after the rather plain-looking prequel, by some wonderful pastel-shaded graphics that were jaw-dropping when the game was originally released in 1995 & still manage 2 impress now.

As with the other Super Mario Advance titles, this game also contains a four-player version of the original Mario Bros. arcade game, making it even more of a bargain than it already was. --David Jenkins, Amazon.co.uk