Tuesday 9 January, 2007

Round two with Yoshi.

I got to my first boss battle in this game. Two giant very round enemies. I had to collect eggs coming from a little plant and then fire at the giant guys. Each time I hit them their pants shrunk. After maybe 5 or so hits their pants disappeared and they turned red and vanished off screen.

This is a little questionable I think. Hitting people so their pants shrink and fall off. Odd imagination these developers have. Otherwise the boss battle was fairly difficult. I imagine the next one will step it up a bit.

The following few levels gained in complexity. They are now longer and now house more paths and even more odd puzzles and side-minigames.

Yoshi also turned into a helicopter for a little scene. The player had to maneuver around various obstacles in a set period of time in order to complete the screen. It was confusing and rather frustrating at first mainly because I did not understand where to go or what exactly was happening.

Similarly, when (as Yoshi) you must jump on different wind streams in order to float across a gap I found myself cursing in frustration. Only after repeated trial and practice did I learn that the key was in making a high initial jump and then continuing to hammer the "A" button while floating across the gap.

I am actually having quite a bit of fun with this game. I think I'll stick with it for a while.

Games always seem to have that question of how many engine varieties to incorporate. In one hand, a helicopter level could be something that helps Yoshi's Island stand out from other platformers, and on the other hand it might make the game stand out by being frustratingly suck. It's in the same vein as mini-games. How worth it do you think incorporating alternate engines in this game was? Would you have prefered it to just stick with the regular gameplay all the way through?

You mention the odd imaginations of game developers. Isn't that our best quality? Otherwise they'd hire someone else to do the job. So, make up an enemy. Anything. It could be amusing, humurous, completely serious, hopelessly dull, doesn't matter, go!