Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3 Review
We will be reviewing every single one of the 3DS Game Boy Advance Ambassador Program games individually but they won’t be fully in depth reviews. Instead, we will focus on if the games still hold up and whether or not they are worth your time.
After re-playing the original Yoshi’s Island GBA remake on the 3DS Virtual Console, I just have one question for Nintendo: why are there only two Yoshi’s Island games? Seriously, the premise of the game is so great. You control a multitude of Yoshi’s, with Baby Mario on your back, going through levels that rival those of 2D Mario games, all while taking advantage of Yoshi’s unique moves. Why don’t we get one of these every couple of years?
In the game, you travel through the levels with Baby Mario riding on your back, dealing with enemies by either stomping on them or swallowing them. If you choose to swallow them, you can create eggs that you use to shoot down enemies high above you or to knock down extra lives and other goodies. This means that you’ll want to always have as many eggs with you as possible because you never know when you might have to throw an egg at something that will help you get all the coins in every level.
Being that you have Baby Mario on your back throughout the entire game, enemies will of course attack you. If they manage to succeed, Baby Mario will go into a bubble and start to float away. You only have a few seconds to rescue him and aside from the occasional time he gets stuck somewhere, it’s a great gameplay mechanic. Instead of just a one hit and your dead, the game always gives you that second chance to rescue Baby Mario and it can get pretty hectic tracking him down in time.
Although you control Yoshi and have different moves and controls, it does still feel like a 2D Mario game because the levels are all extremely well made. They all have their unique elements and you never know what the game will be throwing at you next. Not only that, the amount of levels in the game is astounding. Being able to get to the end of the game will take about 5 or so hours and that is without revisiting every level to get all those red coins. 
Adding to the stellar gameplay and level design are the equally impressive graphics. The game is so bright and colourful that you can’t help but get lost in the world that Nintendo has created. Looking back on the game, it really is hard to believe that it was created on the Game Boy Advance and out of all the Ambassador Games, it is only outmatched by The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap.
Yoshi’s Island really is one of the great series that Nintendo needs to create a sequel to. This SNES/GBA is a great game and the DS sequel is awesome. Hopefully Nintendo gets wise and creates a 3DS sequel sometime in the near future because if Pit can get a 3DS game in the new Kid Icarus: Uprising, Yoshi more than deserves one.
