Since 2015, I have dedicated the year to playing through all video games of a single video game franchise, and and since 2017, I have devoted that year to playing all video games of a single Nintendo series. I have also made it a habit to blog about by the end of the year on this blog, my video gaming blog. Starting out in 2017, I would just write a big, single post, telling my story of how the year progressed in playing these video games. As the years progressed, and as the blog posts got longer, I realized my posts merely combined my mini-review Facebook posts/status updates into one giant blog post, not really telling a story like in former years. Therefore, since 2022, near the end of year, I would publish onto this blog full-blown reviews of each of the games played this year. This year, 2024, has created a challenge to continuing this recent tradition. Between researching for a dissertation (yes, still) and adopting two children under the age of two (yes, now two), I no longer have the abundance of time to play and review games, especially when the series has more than 6 games. Still, I can't go back to my old format of telling the story of how the year went. After all, I'm just playing the games in order of release date. Therefore, for this year, I will try a new format. In past years, I would rank my favorite games of the series in a simple Facebook post/status update. For this year, the yearly blog will consist of an expanded ranking of favorite games. To make this expanded ranking, yet prevent it from becoming a long compilation of reviews, this blog will use bullet points to praise positives and criticize negatives. Each game will also mention a favorite part, as well as rank the game on a scale ranging from 0 stars to 5 stars, allowing for half-star ratings. Please note that the star rating reflects how good or bad the game is for a Yoshi game within the Yoshi series, not necessarily how good or bad the game is for a video game. Also please notice that number of positives and negatives does not solely reflect the game's ranking or rating, for the list of positives and negatives does not account for the amount of times I encountered the positives and negatives. The order of the games will go from most favorite to least favorite.
1) Yoshi's Island DS (DS)
+Positives+:
+Feels more like a direct sequel to the original Yoshi's Island than other sequels
+More of the original Yoshi's Island and yet better than the original Yoshi's Island
+Captures the same art style as the original Yoshi's Island, yet sharper
+Utilizes both top screen and bottom screen of the DS naturally with "look up/down" feature
+Addition of different babies with different powers adds a layer of complexity
+Ditto on all positives of original Yoshi's Island (see below)
-Negatives-:
-"Look up/down" feature not as responsive as it should be
-No way to change baby between levels
-Levels do not provide enough hints on which baby to use, resulting in a lot of backtracking
-Baby Wario and Baby Bowser available for only 1 world
-2 maze levels are way too easily to get lost
~Favorite Part~: Figuring out which baby to use to get the most effective results, which itself can result in quite the feeling of a power trip
*Rating*: 5 stars
2) Yoshi's Island (Super Nintendo)
+Positives+:
+Collectives give the player more to do than just reach the end of the level
+Clear objectives on what full completion of a level looks like
+Transportation transformations changes up gameplay to prevent staleness
+Removal of time clock encourages exploration
+Exchanging life meter/points for baby Mario separation countdown innovates on gameplay
+Color drawings art style proves that aesthetic does not equate to graphics
-Negatives-:
-Some collectables are too hidden
-Some collectables are too hard to get
-Mini-bosses and bosses are just giant forms of common enemies
-Little variation on how to beat mini-bosses and bosses
-Unclear on how to beat Big Baby Bowser
~Favorite Part~: THAT MENU MUSIC!!!
*Rating*: 4 1/2 stars
3) Yoshi's New Island (3DS)
+Positives+
+Bottom screen keeps track of collectables, not taking up space on the top screen or constantly pausing
+Stuck with standard controls, instead of trying to force touch screen controls
+Eggdozer is pretty much the equivalent of the Mega Mushroom on New Super Mario Bros. but better
+Final boss battle controls function as they should
+Extra final boss for those who resist using Flutter Wings cheat/help
+Extra end credits cutscene for those who resist using Flutter Wings cheat/help, which provides lore
+Game automatically provides a checkpoint between final boss and extra final boss
+3DS entry into the series not the worst game of the series, as with so many other Nintendo franchises
-Negatives-
-Bottom screen just keeping track of collectables restricts innovative gameplay
-Gameplay returns to vanilla Yoshi's Island, which feels like a downgrade next to Yoshi's Island DS
-Instead of collectables earning points, collectables are kept track of separately, ruining motivation
-All transportation transformations come down to steering with tilt controls and shooting with a button
-No real, big difference between Eggdozer and Metal Eggdozer
-Too easy to accidentally pick up the Flutter Wings cheat/help, which automatically gives the bad ending
-Extra final boss is just final boss but faster
-Music orchestrated with children's toy instruments sounds awful!
~Favorite Part~: Power trip and satisfying feeling for correctly projecting an Eggdozer
*Rating*: 4 stars
4) Yoshi's Crafted World (Switch)
+Positives+:
+Plays well on joycons, pro controller, and third party controllers
+Plays well in TV mode, tabletop mode and handheld mode
+Collecting smiley flowers have a benefit to gameplay, not just collecting for the sake of collecting
+Costumes have gameplay purpose, not just for looks
+Amiibo support has gameplay purpose, not just for looks
+Return of game overs (kind of sort of), which the previous game lacked
+Badges do not return from previous game, which made the prior game too easy
+Levels with alternative gameplay styles have plenty of variety from each other
+Original bosses
+Flip slide allowing the gamer to see the back side of the crafted world is creative
+Scavenger hunts smart enough to allow the player to end the level upon finding the souvenirs
+Most doable game in the Yoshi series to 100% fully complete
-Negatives-:
-No fixed number on smiley flowers per level makes keeping track of smiley flowers hard
-Too many coins make coin smiley flower, extra lives and unlockable costumes meaningless
-Costumes could make game too easy
-Amiibo support only for characters in the Mario franchise
-No baby Mario means a life bar/meter again
-Slight change to egg throwing controls may throw off longtime Yoshi gamers
-Game can't always tell if player aims eggs up, down, left, right, forward or backwards
-Front side + flip side + souvenirs scavenger hunt = artificial padding
-Flip side levels give either too much time or not enough time
-Collectables kept track separately instead of contributing to a high score, ruining motivation
-Only 1 save file per profile
-While easiest game to 100% fully complete, most tedious game to 100% fully complete
~Favorite Part~: Playing the flip side level just to see all the creative was the developers used raw materials to create the crafted world
*Rating*: 3 1/2 stars
5) Yoshi's Woolly World (Wii U)
+Positives+:
+Plays well on Wii U Game Pad, Pro Controller, Classical Controller and sideways Wiimote
+Wonder Wool collectable gives more to do, especially if bored with smiley flowers and red coins
+Wonder Wool collectable goes along with the story
+Yoshi unlocked in the level goes along with the theme of the level
+Amiibo support for most Amiibos, even those outside the Mario and Yoshi series
-Negatives-:
-No use of Game Pad's microphone, gyroscope or touchscreen underutilizes Wii U hardware
-Keeps tracks of collectable separately, instead of creating a high score, ruining motivation
-Amiibo support just for looks, does nothing for gameplay
-No Pokemon amiibo support!
-No baby Mario; game uses life bar/meter/points instead
-No game over makes veteran gamers feel babied
-Badges make game too easy
-Boss battles overused/too repetitive
-Baby Bowser as the main antagonist makes no sense without return of baby Mario
-Too easy to just finish, too hard to fully complete
~Favorite Part~: The creative ways the Amiibos turned into yarn Yoshis
*Rating*: 3 stars
6) Yoshi's Story (Nintendo 64)
+Positives+:
+Pre-rendered sprites look better than the jagged characters typical for Nintendo 64 games
+Playing only 1 level per world prevents gamers from getting stuck
+Originality in boss design
+Collecting 30 fruit instead of crossing a gate as the end goal for each level new and innovative
+Since most (if not all) levels come with more than 30 fruit, player can decide how to beat the level
+Different colored Yoshis each represent a life; running out of Yoshis equates to running out of lives
+Yoshi's color indicates Yoshi's favorite fruit
+More control on aiming and firing eggs than the previous entry
-Negatives-:
-Graphics did not improve on a more powerful hardware
-Less content, especially for more powerful hardware
-Playing only 1 level per world feels like being robbed of gameplay
-Collectables necessary to unlock other levels of main story
-Bosses too easy to beat, especially final boss battle
-Doing multiple laps of a level just to get the required 30 fruit to end the level
-100% full completion requires multiple playthroughs of the game
~Favorite Part~: The satisfaction of finding a fruit or Shy Guy matching Yoshi's color
*Rating*: 2 1/2 stars
7) Yoshi Topsy-Turvy (Game Boy Advance)
+Positives+
+Game's motion controls adjust for OG GBA, GBA SP and DS
+Yoshi controls with D-pad, not motion controls
+Motion controls control the world, which is new and innovative
+Different spirits requiring different objectives
-Negatives-
-Too easy in the first half, too hard in the second half
-Final boss battle way too hard, to the point of unfair
-Game sometimes require a very precise tilt, down to exact degree
-Gold Medal expects way too high of a score
~Favorite Part~: Figuring out the most effective way to accomplish the objective(s) before reaching the end of the course feels satisfying
*Rating*: 2 stars
8) Yoshi Touch & Go (DS)
+Positives+:
+An attempt to give an "arcade game" a story
+Seeing all the Yoshi colors motivates the gamer to keep playing
+Areas randomly generate in response to how the player is doing
+Highly replayable
-Negatives-:
-Touch controls can't always tell the difference between controlling movement and shooting eggs
-More like an "arcade game," in which the only goal is to increase the high score
-Randomly generated areas prevents preparing in advance
-Not enough content for the hardware capabilities of the DS
~Favorite Part~: Seeing all the Yoshi colors gives a feeling of accomplishing something
*Rating*: 1 1/2 stars
9) Yoshi's Cookie (Nintendo/Game Boy/Super Nintendo)
+Positives+:
+Game Boy version has color support for Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance & Super Game Boy
+Super Nintendo version provides extra content in the forms of puzzle mode
+Cutscenes give a story to a puzzle game
+Cutscenes encourage advancing to harder rounds
+A secret cheat code unlocks an additional 89 round, for a grand total of 99 rounds available
+A tile-match game that slides whole rows/columns instead of just swapping tiles
+Every stage of every round in every speed is doable
+Music Type A is the best!
-Negatives-:
-Game Boy color support falls short of colors in both Nintendo and Super Nintendo versions
-Game Boy version missing animations
-Game Boy version can get squished, making it hard to see cookies
-Game Boy version needs backlight, a detriment to a puzzle game
-Game Boy version and Nintendo version missing puzzle mode
-Round 1 is too easy, even for a tutorial
-Second half of the stages in the second half of the rounds too easy to get stuck
-Changing speed does not have that big of an impact on gameplay
-Still ultimately just another tile-match game, just with a Yoshi aesthetic
-Music Type B is the worst!
~Favorite Part~: Music Type A
*Rating*: 1 star
10) Yoshi (Nintendo/Game Boy)
+Positives+
+2 game types and 2 speeds allows changing up for variety
+Swapping the stacks is a change for a falling block game
+Game Type B has cutscenes
+Game never felt unfair
+Mushroom music is the best!
-Negatives-
-2 game types x 2 speeds = only 4 different ways to play the game
-Game Type B requires almost impossible immediate reactions once past level 7
-Game Type B's cutscenes barely qualify as cutscenes
-Beating high scores is the only motivation to keep playing
-Too many Tetris comparisons ultimately make this game just another Tetris clone
-Yoshi kept to a minimum for a game named after Yoshi
-Japan got the better name of Yoshi no Tamago, or "Yoshi's Egg"
-Flower music is the worst!
~Favorite Part~: Mushroom music
*Rating*: 1/2 star
