Originally posted on TheSpeedGamers
Wut U Talkin Bout is a quick look at overlooked titles in gaming history, or an overlooked entry in a franchise.
Yoshi hasn’t exactly been at the top of his game in recent years, with most of the traditional platformer titles coming up a bit short. And while they aren’t the worst games in the world, they seem to fall shy of the original Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island for the Super Nintendo. But back in 2005, before Nintendo attempted to recapture the success of Yoshi’s Island with a DS sequel, Nintendo tried something new for the series with Yoshi Touch and Go for the Nintendo DS. And while it is no Yoshi’s Island, it was one of the few games near the DS’s launch that was actually good.
Yoshi Touch and Go is an arcade style title complete with local score boards and quick pick up and play action. It is actually quite similar to the on-rail shooter genre, or really any title that drags you along unwillingly. Yoshi Touch and Go has Yoshi constantly moving to the right on his own (or left depending on your preference). You, the player, help guide Yoshi using your stylus to create clouds on the screen. The clouds can be used to create bridges to get Yoshi over a gaps or enemies, to grab coins and fruit, to defeat enemies, and more. Outside of the use of clouds, two of Yoshi’s old abilities return as well: tapping the screen makes Yoshi throw eggs and tapping Yoshi makes him jump. And while jumping is useless most of the time, eggs are essential to building a highscore. How it helps boost your score depends on the mode.
Yoshi Touch and Go has a handful of modes. It has Score Attack where players score as many points as they can within one level, Time Attack where you attempt to save Baby Luigi as quickly as possible, Marathon which is a game of survival, and Challenge where players are on a timer and must gain extra time through defeating enemies and collecting coins. Each mode has different lengths, but all of them are fairly easy pick up and play, and rarely last longer than ten minutes with the exception of Marathon and Challenge mode. There is also a single cartridge VS. mode where two players race each other to the finish, but I didn’t get to try it out myself (LOL IRL FRIENDS, WAT?). Each mode uses the same basic level structure, but each mode has different enemy placements to better suit that mode.
While the title is definitely fun, especially for just quick bursts of gameplay – Yoshi Touch and Go has a severe lack of content. If it was released this year, instead of 2005, it would pretty much have to be a DSiWare title. Thankfully, the title is now five years old, so the fact that it came out as a retail release isn’t all that bothersome anymore. You can find a cheap copy and get your money’s worth of content, unlike us who bought it for $30 or more back in 2005. If you are looking for a new copy or a used copy in good condition, you might have to toss out some cash. But its hard to recommend buying it for any price over $15. But for those who do pick it up, you may find yourself returning to the title more than you might think.
