Yoshi’s Island, what a weird and lovable game ,right? Full of happy flowers, hallucinogenic clouds, shy people with flowers in their hair, dinosaurs that turn into submarines, angry balloons etc. There’s simply an overload of strange and lovable things in this game. And all of this joy is wrapped up in a pretty, oh so pretty pastel colored storybook art style that still today looks as amazing as it did when it first released. Remember the first time you saw one of those water monsters like the ones on the box of the game? It was one of those rare cases when the game actually looked like it did on the box! And don’t even get me started on these amazing comercials shown in the US, woah the GBA one wasn’t that bad either , while I’m at it , check out this really creepy clay animation yoshi commercial for Yoshi’s cookie too, wicked!

Things should be all pankakes and cheese donuts right? ( meaning o.k) But am I alone in feeling a Strong sentimental feeling whenever I boot this title up? I think it has to do with the musical score of the game, which to me is very sad.Perhaps it’s the contrast between the cute and sugar sweet graphics against the moody music , does anyone share my sentimentalism? Here are two great remixes of the audio from the game , the first one is a sad and atmospheric remix of The underground theme the other one is a frantic, trippy as hell drum and bass’y remix of the fantastic castle theme.Give em a listen , if you enjoy the music of the game (why wouldn’t you?) you’ll probably love em!

Anyways I wanted to discuss the gameplay too, much like Kirbys Epic Yarn Yoshi’s Island doesn’t have that reflex , hardcore megaman difficulty but rather it focuses on your desire to score a 100 points on every level which is done by collecting all the red coins, flowers and keeping Yoshi unharmed as he passes the finish line for that 30 sec star count. It’s actually really hard on some levels to manage to get 100 points. But it feels as if Epic Yarn did it right in the -oh you’ve got to be fast to get that coin where as Yoshi’s Islands level design makes it somewhat painful at times. Sometimes you’re presented with a choice , let’s say two doors, no way to know which one is right, if you pick the wrong one you will have to replay the level since there was a red coin waiting for you in the other door. It’s not a bad game at all but It just a bit painful for compulsive collectors as me to see that one missed coin that I really couldn’t get. “Forcing me to replay it once again, where I might fail again! Also egg physics rule, all games should incorporate that!



I have also been playing Rayman Origins with my friends thanks to several recommendations from fellow dtoiders , and man is that game amazing! It plays very much like Super Mario brothers Wii and thanks to the fact that you can slap around your friends it’s also as frantic and competitive as Super Mario Brothers Wii, prepare to destroy some friendships over this game!

At first the controls can feel a bit slippery and making full velocity jumps from small platforms can be tricky. But once you get the hang of it you’ll be running trough stages in full speed, we would constantly enter rooms with 3 players and suddenly all the enemies where gone 2 of us where dead and the other one would be heading out without any of us realizing what just happened, then we would break down in laughter because of the chaotic nature of the game.I would love to see a speedrun with 4 players of that game, bliss i tell you , bliss!

Much as Yoshi’s island and Epic Yarn this game also incorporates the addictive get 100% on every level to unlock new stuff mechanic, but also has some of those - OH shit, I missed the damn thing moments that I both love and hate. Anyways..

The music is fantastic the graphics are crisp and looks nothing short of delicious, surprisingly the humor is top notch too. Those French really know their thing! I can’t describe the confusion and giggling that took place when we first saw that when every characters rode mosquitos in the horizontal shmup levels except for the big blue guy, the freaking mosquito rode him instead instead! When we realized it my friend went - What , I must be a freaking idiot! And boy was he right!

So what about finishing games , what side to you take in that question? Do you have to finish all games, or are you a better/healthier person if you’re strong enough to leave them be? And does it have to be 100%? I know this question is really vague but speak from your own perspective , I’ll certainly find it educating and interesting to read!

Oh I've been listening non stop to the Mighty Switch force album , you should too. It's sooo good!

Also Happy new year Dtoid and Dtoiders! I love you all!


Brb - Gotta finish those fantastic games!