Gaming Yoshi Touch & Go

[Semjaza]

I picked this up today and I was wondering who else has gotten it so far. I know Shinmaru mentioned that he had it.

Anyway, the game more or less based off of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Mario/Luigi falls from the sky. You draw lines of clouds to guide them through the sky, avoiding obstacles and collecting as many coins as possible. After a while, he lands on Yoshi's back, leading to the second aspect of the game. Here you can draw clouds for Yoshi to walk on, tap Yoshi for him to jump and tap the screen to have him toss an egg in that direction. He walks automatically; the game is kind of on "rails" in that sense.

I was playing this game in the most basic sense at first because I didn't bother to read the manual. Eventually I remembered seeing enemies being circled in an old video I saw, so I tried that. If you circle an enemy properly, they turn into a bubble with a coin inside of it. These float up and away, but you can hit them with an egg to catch them or drag them to your character... Once I realized that I was doing a lot better.

There is no story beyond this. The levels aren't really set in a normal sense. In one mode, you go through an area trying to get the highest score you can in a set travel distance. In another, you try to finish the area as fast as possible. Another mode is endless, allowing you to try and get the longest distance you can without being defeated.

It's more of an arcade style game. High scores and mulitplayer kind of stuff. I'm having a lot of fun with it.

I was wondering, has anyone tried this "Pictochat Announcement" thing that it shows? No one is around for me to play with, but this makes it seem that it alerts you as to whether or not another DS is nearby in Pictochat mode that might be willing to play with you. If so, that's pretty awesome and I'm glad they've started doing that.

[Shinmaru]

Ha, I was going to start a thread on the game, but I never got around to it. Laziness is supreme!

Anyway, I like the game a lot. To me, it fits in perfectly with the whole mentality of what a handheld game should be. The game is very easy to just pick up and play, so anyone could play a short game on a bus ride to work, or school, or wherever else. However, if you're just sitting around the house and playing the game, the game is addicting enough to sap away a few hours of your time. Like a lot of great arcade-type games, Yoshi's Touch and Go is really repetitive, at heart, but it's so fun to play that you just toss that notion by the wayside.

The only problem that I have with it is that it took me a while to get used to using both screens effectively. My brother and sister are both either as good, or better, than I am at the game, so maybe I just suck at it lol. Oh well, at least I'm having a lot of fun stinking things up.

[Semjaza]

I am surprised no one else here is talking about this game. It's probably the best use of the DS's capabilities thus far. I mean, I really enjoyed Wario Ware Touched!, but this game just really is doing something unique and innovative. Just guiding things with the clouds is an interesting idea, but combining it with circling things, dragging them around in bubbles without popping them, tossing things up to bouncw your character up out of harms way, etc... there's just a lot more to it than I initially thought.

I read up on that Pictochat Search. Apparently it just alerts you if someone is in Pictochat nearby and let's you leave the game to join the chat. I guess at that point you can talk about playing some game in multiplayer via wireless, but I wish it could be done entirely in game. Maybe in the future with this online thing Nintendo is doing with GameSpy.

[Samsara]

Hmm, I was wondering about this game. I just may have to pick it up. I am just happy to hear the DS has a decent title on it. Hopefully this will somewhat justify my purchase of the DS.