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The Lowdown
Pros: Has some interesting ideas using the tilt sensor in conjunction with
standard platform mechanics.
Cons: Bad pre rendered graphics and shallow level design.
 Purchase
at Play-Asia
 Purchase
at Lik-Sang
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Does the little green dinosaur ever get a break? If he's not helping Mario
out he's saving Yoshi Island in the Yoshi Island spin off series. Yoshi
no Banyuuin Ryoku or the English title Yoshi Universal Gravitation is
the latest title in the Yoshi Island series of games. Instead of using
standard platforming antics seen in other Yoshi games Nintendo had the
idea of using the tilt sensor featured in Mawaru Made in Wario. Right at
the start of the game Yoshi's world is turned into a giant storybook. If
Yoshi wants to return his world back to normal he'll have to open up the
book and read it. Since he's given the storybook world Yoshi has control
over the world's physics and thus he can tilt the world at his liking.
Most of the levels are standard run, jump and now tilt affairs of just
making it to the goal. Yoshi has all of the moves he's had in previous
games including the hover jump where he yells "chu". The hover jump,
which is done by holding A down, helps you move further in mid air. The
tilting mechanic comes in handy when you need Yoshi to run up a wall. If
you need to do this al you have to do is tilt the Game Boy towards the
wall and Yoshi will latch on the wall. Yoshi will also need to tilt the
world when he's balancing on a giant metal ball to move it over the
musical notes. Other times you'll need to tilt the world to roll out a
carpet to jump on or to move a swinging platform. The whole game could
have been done without a tilt sensor, it might have been better that
way. You'll be more focused on jumping from area to area and
occasionally eating Shy Guys than tilting the GBA. If you want to
complete the in level challenges that's a whole other thing. Similar to
how the first Yoshi's Island game had Yoshi collect red coins and find
flowers there are optional goals for every level. Some levels have Yoshi
eat cherries, other levels collect a number of coins and others expect
Yoshi to eat enemies. Whatever the challenge is they're normally pretty
easy to beat. Completing these extra goals will require you to tilt your
Game Boy so you can collect mid air coins from a spinning pirate ship or
to have tilt the GBA ever so slightly so Yoshi can run up a wall.
Every once in awhile instead having a side scrolling level Yoshi will
magically change into another object like a balloon or a ship. In these
mid level breaks the focus is normally on using the tilt mechanic to
collect as many coins as possible. In the balloon stages tilting will
slightly move Yoshi left or right depending on which way you tilt it.
You'll have to gently tilt the GBA to avoid spike filled walls and to
collect coins. In another more creative stage tilting the GBA moves the
water level to one side or the other. Moving the water level positions
Yoshi to grab coins or avoid getting hit. These sub stages are nice
diversions from the basic level design in the game.
With all of Nintendo's background in platform design and Artoon's
innovation you would expect good level design. Yoshi's Universal
Gravitation doesn't have that. It's pretty basic run to the right hand
side of the stage stuff. There are jumps here and there, but nothing
that will really tax even the most casual gamers. Another thing is there
are few enemies in most of the screens. Shy guys and piranha plants are
peppered within the game, but there really aren't that many things
running around. This makes the game's focus really about running and
jumping. Even in one of the boss battles with Bowser Yoshi has to
continually move through the world. The idea in concept is pretty cool.
It demands that gamers think fast to avoid Bowser's attacks while trying
to make it to the end of the stage. It's a change of pace from your
basic boss battles, but the execution doesn't work when you're trying to
aim while tilting.
Yoshi Island had a really unique coloring book art style. While Yoshi
Story had robust environments. The two styles differ and Yoshi's
Universal Gravitation falls somewhere in the middle. The game has bright
backgrounds and a colorful cutscenes. Although these are not as well
thought out as in Yoshi's Story. There are elements of the childlike
style from Yoshi's Island seen in the hand sketched sun and in the
backgrounds. Yet, these don't look as great as they do in Yoshi's
Island. The pre rendered
Yoshi doesn't look great. Taking inspiration from the Donkey Kong
Country series Nintendo used the technique of taking pre rendered
graphics for each frame of animation. The result ends up in a blurry
dinosaur and a pixilated shyguys. Even interactive background elements
like the pirate ship and moveable platforms are pixilated. The result is
a badly animated picture book.
Yoshi's Universal Gravitation has some interesting ideas that separate
it from being just any old platformer. On the other hand this game has
lost the charm and smooth level design that makes the Yoshi Island
series a hit. The game also suffers from being too simplistic, it can actually
be beat in one or two sittings. At the most it will entertain you for a
weekend, but beyond that there isn't much reason to pick it up again.
The tilt mechanic just isn't as innovative as it could have been. As a
whole the game feels clunky with specific sections where you need to
tilt and other times when you need to use the control pad. The gameplay
just isn't all together. If
you're looking for something unique on the GBA try it out, but if you've
loved the Yoshi games this will probably disappoint.
There is some Japanese dialogue, but the game can be completed without
understanding it. Also most of the gameplay is simple enough that you
can figure out how to play on your own.
US Bound?
Nintendo has finally announced Yoshi Universal Gravitation for a US
release with a new name, Yoshi Topsy Turvy. You can pick it up at your
favorite game retailer on June 13, 2005.
Overall
It's has some innovative ideas for the platforming genre, but as a
whole game these ideas don't come together.
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