stars, coins, and flowers:
mustn't forget to keep tabs
damn! I missed a coin!
Additional Comments:
A novel post for several reason I suspect. Recollections of my post on Super Mario World, I found myself troubled over where to go considering the Mario timeline was completely blown open at this point. Yoshi's Island claims to be representative of the Super Mario World nomenclature, which in turn claims to be the Super Mario Bros. named follow-up if the beta and Japanese variants are to be trusted. So does that make Yoshi's Island Super Mario Bros. 5? Hmm... But then, the protagonist is that stupid horse introduced in the first "World" title and all his multicolored friends. Bleagh. A more appropriate follow up would surely be Super Mario 64...but wait! I don't care what anyone says or believes; I'll be damned if I ever consent to that 3-D "revolution" bullshit to dare ingratiate itself as a proper Mario platformer alongside 2-D Mario royalty. However, canon-wise, it's far more fitting than the tale of wee little Mario and the stork, or how Kamek nearly shattered the Mario family before they even had a chance to be.
As an interesting aside, at long last we are given a quick and interesting glimpse into the history of the Marios. And here I always thought the Mario brothers originally hail from Brooklyn, New York only to be whisked away to the fantasy realm of sentient fungi, yet it seems in childhood they lived in the Mushroom Kingdom. So...at some point they were inadvertently transported to the Big Apple only to eventually be swept back into the furor of their so-called old country? It's all a sizable pill to swallow, but ok, sure. Why not? And as an additional aside, I've always found it odd that they're the Mario brothers yet Mario's name is Mario which means his name is Mario Mario? Again, why not?
Point is, even while side-stepping typical Mario fare, Yoshi's Island won the opportunity to continue what should now be dubbed, Christmas with the Plumbers - or in this case, Plumbers-to-be. Despite it's obvious departure in format, it's clearly labeled as Super Mario World 2, although Nintendo did pull the same idiotic name format with Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land only to continue the series as the Wario Land series. But I digress, Additionally, Yoshi's Island can be considered a bit of a hallmark post as it's the first game to be examined twice here on Beat All Games; briefly critiqued by Sven a few years back. I wouldn't consider it a trend, however, as I doubt I'll venture into any of the other games he remarked upon during his tenure here.
Yoshi's Island, to me, stirs up memories of Zelda II. Clearly these are games that belong in their respective franchises, however having deviated so much from the known format, it feels off-putting to consider it as such when rating them as failures or successes. Instead, their achievements have to be carefully weighed within their respective genre. Following proper canon and abiding by the expected is clearly thrown out the window. Yoshi's Island, however, rewrote the book on 2-D Mario preconceptions. If anything, it's a spin-off. That's the simplest way of describing the game. Mario takes a backseat while his old, but new, er...unknown dinosaur pal takes the spotlight.
When I first learned of Yoshi's Island - another game that cleverly eluded my knowledge of the SNES library for so many years - I was floored just knowing its existence was a thing, My jubilation over the matter was unmatched. If memory serves, I got the game, along with several others, when I picked up a replacement Super Nintendo - something Sven and I have joked about over the years as I essentially bought it from a friend in exchange for breakfast. Now that's a sweet deal! Other than Mario Kart, which also came in the video game-breakfast trade, Yoshi's Island was the first game I threw in. Besides the relief and joy of finally clicking over the power button on an SNES again - something I hadn't enjoyed for several years since my previous one bit the dust - I was filled with ecstatic mysterious waiting to behold the sequel to Super Mario World.
What is this? I don't even..... Super Mario World 2 my ass!
Sure, there's Yoshi and Shy Guys (a welcomed resurrection from another questionable Mario title) and Magikoopas...oop! I mean Kamek. But good god, this is less Mario than Super Mario 2 was Mario, and that game was a clear detraction of canon. Waves of disappointment swept over me as I had to accept that Super Mario World would never see a true sequel outside of Super Mario 64. Ugh. Except, something funny happened. I realized, while misrepresenting its predecessors, Yoshi's Island was a brilliant platformer - possibly the best platformer on the Super Nintendo. Without a doubt, it's one of the most technically advanced games on the Super Nintendo, but the platforming mechanics are nearly unsurpassed, and that's including some of the stupid moves peculiarly inherited by the local fauna like that goddamn flutter jump that's since become a staple move of Mario's reptilian friend. It serves it's purpose, be it here, Super Smash Bros., or elsewhere, but boy do I hate it.
This explains the common bond between Yoshi's Island and Zelda II. They're both games that seemingly failed within their respective franchise, but succeeded with flying colors as something unique to their respective genres as a whole. Looking back at Sven's post, his initial experience appeared to parallel mine. There's a certain expectation that comes with a name, especially a name that had a solid foundation in four games; five if you include the original Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2. To take such incredible liberties with the name is almost blasphemous and I'm certain many other gamers befell the same disillusionment as Sven and I. If the game was solely called Yoshi's Island, I doubt I'd have even raised an eyebrow. It would be clearly defined as an unique platforming title that shares similarities with a popular franchise. Such a move was taken with games like Mario is Missing or Mario's Time Machine so why not here as well? Perhaps Nintendo didn't want consumers to be confused by associating an obvious spin-off title as crap considering the other Mario spin-offs. In that case, I'll consider it marketing brilliance.
Taking a step back, Yoshi's Island nailed it. I may be playing a weak Mario game, but boy howdy, I'm experiencing platforming excellence. Some of the design gadgetry is simply mouth watering, especially some of the enormous layer three shenanigans. However, there are some glaring issues that have proved their annoyance tenfold time and time again. The largest drag affecting my gaming bliss is baby Mario's grating cries for help. I like the premise of why it's there, or at least I'd like to pretend I do, but why is it so fucking loud? The sense of alarm is appreciated, but his sharp, almost caustic bawling detracts all immediate focus to which I usually start fumbling around like the village idiot out of frightened anxiety. Just tone it down. But he's a baby in distress and high end decibels are to be expected. Except it's a game and a certain breakdown of convention is to also be expected.
The next little chigger in my pants is the collection mechanic. I enjoy a good collection mechanic when properly used and there's an obvious investment in collection appreciation. Banjo-Kazooie comes to mind - what I consider one of the best collection-based games. Somehow, I feel, Yoshi's Island relied on the mechanic a little too heavily, even if it's wholly optional. Looking at other Mario titles, for platforming perspective, Super Mario World has five Yoshi Coins or the NSMB series has three star coins in each level. As a result, you never feel like the collection aspect is overpowering the beauty of engaging platforming. Not saying that Yoshi's Island should only have three red coins, but at times, twenty felt too overwhelming. However, the argument can be made that Yoshi's Island is meant to be enjoyed as a 2-D exploration adventure as opposed to a straightforward point A-to-point B adventure, and that's true. Only, it becomes muddled at times and you start to lose focus on why you should be enjoying the game. I think the real root of my issue is the thirty stars since they blur the lines of the collection mechanic. A dynamic collectible, which additionally operates as a health timer, feels horribly wrong. I can easily accept five flowers and twenty red coins and the overall essence of exploration over a run-and-gun mentality but why am I having to ensure what's essentially a health bar be maximized by level's end? It's a lot of mixed signals.
And finally, the inconsistencies with collision boxes bothers me at time. Although, I'll admit that when I first played the game years ago, I doubt I ever took notice of the disparity throughout. Instead, this is a recent complaint that reared its head after taking a crack at YI hacking for a collab hack over at SMWC - which, by the way, is the real reason Yoshi's Island was gifted my holiday post over titles like SM64 or SMB2j. As I became more intimate with the game on a technical level as opposed to a casual level, I became more aware of strange anomalies throughout. I was immediately perturbed by the various oddities among hitboxes, especially the monkeys. Monkey hitboxes are pure anarchy. So, I can't be hurt, but Mario can be nabbed, but wait...the swinging monkeys can hurt me, but I can't swallow them, that is unless I break them apart by being hurt at which point they'll no longer hurt me. Make up your mind you stupid monkeys!
Grievances aside,I doubt there's anything that can make me reconsider my standing on the game. A Mario game it is not, as I've stated multiple times already. However, it's one of the greatest platformers out there and it's a shame the game wasn't heavily pushed when it came out. Like I said, I had no idea such a game existed till years later.
The greatest improvement in Yoshi's Island, if we are to consider it a sequel to SMW, is the boss fights. Twelve unique battles - thirteen if you count both phases of Bowser - and they're all fantastic. Unlike SMW's, which after all these years feel uninspired, YI's bosses have a real sense of purpose and imagination. There's a reason why they behave in such a way, why they're subject to their specific weaknesses, and why their methods of defeat are not the same across the board. There's ingenuity in each boss, and each one offers the player to exploit a unique mechanic of either Yoshi or the game itself instead of simply relying on pounding their adversaries' heads into the ground, or in Yoshi's case, tossing eggs at every living thing. My personal favorite battle has always been Raphael the Raven's. Eh, let me reword that. I've never really enjoyed the actual play of the battle, but the premise and mechanics of the entire sequence is just magical. The same could be said for Bowser's second phase. I don't particularly enjoy playing it, but the whole concept of the battle is fantastic and it comes across as Nintendo pulling out all the stops - from the scenery, to the music, to the battle itself. It all comes together and forms the perfect, epic, end-all beat-all extravaganza.
So what of the music elsewhere in the game? I love the music in the game. It's lighthearted and joyous except when it needs to emote mood or tension, which it does so with flying colors. My personal favorite is Ending, although Room Before Boss, Athletic, and Yoshi's Island are all close contenders. There's just something about that end theme though - a certain quaint relief with a hint of sentimentality that's unfortunately poorly expressed in most of the sappier game music out there. Can only pin that down to the sheer captivation of Kondo's musical prowess.
Nano-Rant:
Sven wasn't kidding. World 2's extra level is balls hard. What's weird though is that it's the most difficult of the six extra levels. Heck, Extra 6 was a walk in the park compared to Extra 2. The amount of deaths suffered in Extra 2 were greater than the entire rest of the game combined and that's before trying to 100% the son of a bitch. The slightest hesitation between the jump-duck section of the rail spelled doom; maybe not immediately, but by the next switch - hello infinite emptiness below! Also, it wasn't until after I finished the game completely and went back and watched a video of the level that I realized there's a pipe to the left of the start. What bullshit is that!? I was so pissed the first time I managed to get all the red coins and flowers only to find out I had completely forgotten about stars. Stars? Where the hell do you get stars in this near-kaizo atrocity? I honestly believed you had to rely on bonus star items in this level which I felt was an additional slap in the face just because, why not? The frustration I felt during the course of the level was high enough, but barely matched the unquenchable rage that coursed through my veins when I learned there was a secret room after the fact. Fuck you, Extra 2!!!
Rating: 5 non-Italian "Italian" plumbers out of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment