Mario & Yohsi ReviewSometimes, a game offers a character just out of the blue. A game pops up, and that character is just there without reason, but later becomes a much loved character of the series. Globox from Rayman 2 is a fine example. After the first game, he just popped up with no explanation and we are supposed to accept this character as if he was always there. I'm still waiting for the return of Mr. Dark, Ubisoft! But I digress. Another example is Mario & Yoshi. This game was the first to feature our adorable dino pal Yoshi. Although I felt he was just put there as a sort of gimmick for that game in particular. Later, however, Mario could ride him and all kinds of stuff in later games. So what does this game offer? Grab your Yoshi and let us ride into this game, shall we?
So the story is.....um....there isn't one. Much like Tetris, it was probably better if it didn't have one.....It just wouldn't go.....I'm not going to make up a story for this game. Period. The game offers a two player mode as well as one player. This game offers a similar menu as Tetris did. There are two types of game play: Type A and Type B. You can choose the level you want to start on, with a selection of 1-5. You can choose the speed you want to play at, either low or high, which would be slow or fast respectfully. And then you get to choose the music. The music is nice, the second one is soothing. Although the music does get a little annoying after a while. The music from Tetris seemed to have fitted the game perfectly, but here.....I'm not sure I like it that much. Not their best work, but it would be cruel to say it was as bad as Friday the 13th on the NES. It's good, but could have been better.
So what is the game play like? Well, the best way to describe it is like this: have you ever played Tetris 2? What? You haven't? In that case, I'll explain it like this: In Type A, there are four "plates" at the bottom in which Mario can swap the position of two of them at the same time. There are four types of "blocks" that fall onto these plates. They are: Boos, Piranha Plants, Bloopers and Goombas. They fall two at a time that is placed randomly in the the column. You can match two of the same to make those two disappear. They can only disappear when they are stacked vertically, not horizontally. You can also get these Yoshi Egg shells, a bottom half and a top half. If a top half meets a bottom half, it hatches a Yoshi.....ahhhhhhhhh ^^
However, if a bottom half gets on tom of a bottom half, they both disappear =O I didn't hatch a Yoshi! I must be a monster =c Also, if the top half doesn't meet with a bottom half, then it too is destroyed. Oh, and if that column had a bottom half shell with some blocks in the way, and you put a top half shell on that particular column, then the top egg shell will gobble up the blocks until it meets its bottom half buddy.....a-nom-a-nom-a-nom-a-nom ^^ The game keeps track of the eggs you have hatched, up to 99 as far as I'm concerned. And much like Tetris, if your blocks get stacked too high up, then it's a game over. Depending on how many eggs you hatched, the game over might just hatch four more eggs. The more you hatch, the better the contend of the eggs are.
Type B is pretty much the same, only you start off with a row of blocks depending on your level, so level 4 would mean you get four rows of blocks at the start. Also it times you. Your goal is to get rid of every block there is. Eggs are rarely seen here. Once you get all the blocks out of the way, you have a short cut scene, and you move to the next level. The cut scene includes Mario Riding Yoshi in a sort of sport field, where he comes across an item depending on how many levels you have done. He'll eat it (nom nom nom ^^) and you'll gain some points. This is quite a challenge when you get to level five, which makes Type B my favorite mode of playing this game. The game play of this game on the hole is much like Tetris 2 in reverse. You don't change the blocks, you change the position of the blocks, and only matching blocks will disappear. You also have to think logically rather fast in order to get the blocks were you want them to go. There's a lot of mirror flipping going on in this game, and it can be quite satisfying getting the blocks where you want them in a short space of time, especially when you think you couldn't make it. Sometimes you have to place a block there you wouldn't normally do, and then the block you require appears on the top, which is much like Tetris. Sometimes, three blocks might fall instead of two.
Overall, I give this game a 8.7/10 This puzzle game is a pretty good one. The graphics are simple, the music isn't half bad, the controls are great and the core game is so fast paced. If you like thinking logically and you gotta do it quick, then this is the game for you. If you like Tetris, then you really should play this game. It's not quite as addictive as Tetris, but is pretty darn close to it. This is one of those classics that not many people have played, but really should. It's a fun game and is unique to other puzzle games. Now if you'll excuses me, I have some Yoshi's to save. I'm coming to hatch ya pals!
Graphics
7 Sound
7 Addictive
10 Depth
6 Difficulty
7
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