I thought I would do a review on one of my favorite SNES video games. I will be reviewing and critiquing Yoshi's Island. 

Story: 9
Yoshi's Island goes back in time to when the Mario Brothers were infants. A stork is to deliver baby Mario and baby Luigi to the mushroom kingdom. Kamek, who takes care of baby Bowser, sees all the trouble the Mario Brothers will cause the Koopa Kingdom. Kamek, decides he will steal the babies from the stork to stop the future from happening. So, in a night Kamek snatches the stork and baby Luigi, but he misses baby Mario. Baby Mario  along with the map the stork was using falls on Yoshi's Island landing on Yoshi. Yoshi talks to his friends and they decide to reunite the brothers and set the stork free. Meanwhile, Kamex is highly upset that he missed baby Mario, so he sends his troops to Yoshi's Island to try to get baby Mario. Yoshi must know reunite the Mario Brothers, set the stork free, and defeat the koopa troop. 

Okay, I really liked the plot to this game. It was highly creative they way Nintendo went back in time. The in the timeline this game takes place introduces us to Bower and the koopa's. We know who the bad guys are. So, overall I give the plot in this game a good rating of 9 out of 10.  

Graphics and Controls: 10
The graphics in this game were very awesome. It really showed how good the SNES was. All of the backgrounds are nicely done and are very colorful. The way the clouds move in the background and to the music was a nice touch. The waterfalls look like actual waterfalls. The caves remind me of what an actual cave looks like, the water levels remind me of a nice resort on the lake. The graphics do not get much better than this. Also not one time does the game lag at all. 

The controls are very smooth. I can only think of a few games with controls as smooth as this one. Mega Man 7, X2 and X3 all had smooth controls. This game's controls are up there with those games. Not one time do the controls seem sluggish. The player is controlling Yoshi in this game and it is just special. I give the graphics and controls a perfect rating of 10/10

Sound: 9 
The music in this game rivals the music of Mega Man games, it is that good. I like how different stages have different themes. Some of the stages have slow tunes especially the cave stages. I find that to fit the cave or underground stages quite nicely. The enemy fortress stages have the creepy and gloomy music to them which is quite nice. The sound Yoshi makes when eating an enemy i find to be a nice touch as well. The sounds the enemies make are nice too. I also like it when Yoshi throws an egg at an enemy it makes a pow sound to let the player know they have hit the target. There are no tingles in this game either. However, there is one thing that keeps the rating from being a perfect 10 out of 10. When Yoshi gets hit baby Mario will scream to the top of his lungs. I find that to be annoying, but maybe it is because I do not like screaming at all. So it is best not to get hit to many times in this game are you will hear screaming. Still, at the end of the day I give the sound to this game a good solid 9 out of 10. 

Addictiveness (replay value) 10
The replay value in this game is amazing. I find this game to be very fun to play. I played this game a lot when I was younger and here I am still playing this game today. This game has a lot of depth to it. No matter how many times I beat the game I want to go back and do it again. The game is just that good and special. I give the replay value a 10/10

Depth: 10
This game has a huge amount of depth to it. Every stage there are flowers, red coins and stars to collect. The player will need to search every area to get these items. Not to mention every stage has secret areas to explore as well. The player can also collect items to help them during the game. In addition, when the player gets enough points in a world bonus levels will be unlocked. Every world a bonus game to earn items or lives can be unlocked. In addition, new stages can be unlocked when the player gets 800 points on a world. Depth in games do not get much better than this. I give the depth a perfect 10 out of 10 rating. 

Difficulty: 6
If Yoshi's Island suffers in any way its the difficulty. The game does have its difficult spots as you will get hit in this game. Sometimes you can get a lot of enemies on the screen. The items can be hard to get and will require skill and creative ways to get them. In a few of the stages it is so easy to miss you jump and fall into the pits especially when the screen scrolls. I also found the last boss in this game to be difficult as well. However, the game does a lot to help you out. Items can be earned in the bonus games. Some of the items will clear the screen of enemies, refill your star count and show you were items are hidden. So that brings the difficulty rating down some. Another thing that brings the difficulty down is that this game gives you several chances and seems to give you more than 100 lives. I want to think one time I played this game and when I beat it I had something like 175 lives. Even though Yoshi's Island did have its difficult moments the game really goes out of its way to help you out. So, that brings the difficulty rating down somewhat. I give the difficulty rating a good 6 out of 10. 

Overall: 9.6 
I remember getting this game along with Mega Man 7 and Mega Man X3 for Christmas in 1996. I was so thrilled that I played this game right away. I remember playing this game in stores and was hoping I would get it as a Christmas gift which I did. I played this game several times and it quickly became one of my favorites. This game was released right when the SNES was at its peak. Everything a great game has this game has. The rocking music, the cool graphics, and the depth in this game make this game so special. 

The only drawback to this game was the difficulty. The difficulty I was hoping would be harder. I like games that challenge you and seem like a challenge. As I mentioned in the difficulty section the game does have its difficult moments. But, the game gives you so many ways to get around that via items or extra lives. So that brings the rating down a just a little. Still despite the difficulty in this game, the way this game is special makes up for its minor flaws. 

This game is one of my favorites in the Mario series. I really like this game a lot. I still play this game to this day and I enjoy it as much as I did when I got it for Christmas. If you are looking for a great game, then I recommend you play this game, you won't be disappointed. I give Yoshi's Island a great score of 9.6  

Yoshi's island always seems to be a popular game. but I've never tried it. (in part because I don't have a snes >.<)

tornadocam : this is a fantastic review I agree this game is spectacular!