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Hot on the heels of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island comes Yoshi's Story, one of Nintendo's most disappointing games. Released on the Nintendo 64 in 1998, Yoshi's Story represents everything that was wrong with that generation of Nintendo games. When this game was released it retailed for a whopping $60 (which in 2007 dollar is close to $75), to make matters even worse the game was incredibly short, you won't even need a full afternoon to make your way through this snorefest. Originally Yoshi's Story was designed as a sophisticated follow-up to the amazing Yoshi's Island, a game that is widely regarded as one of the best Super NES games ever released. Unfortunately this game finds itself in the embarrassing position of being a sort of Yoshi lite. Gone is the sophisticated puzzle aspect of the original, and instead we have an admittedly pretty but ultimately shallow children's game. The biggest problem I have with this game is that it is just too easy; none of the levels will challenge you in the slightest. Nintendo is known for their amazing level designs, yet none of that is on display when it comes to Yoshi's Story. Throw in some truly awful tunes (complete with Yoshi singing) and an adventure that will take you no time to complete and you have one of the worst first-party Nintendo 64 games ever made.

 

The problem with reviewing this game is that Yoshi's Story actually has solid controls; it's easy to move around and complete the levels without much problem. But that's the problem; it's too easy to beat the levels ... and the entire game. There's almost no challenge here and it's over far too quickly. I suspect that young kids may enjoy the game, but anybody who fell in love with Yoshi through Super Mario World or Yoshi's Island will have no problem whatsoever completing this game in no time at all.

 

The biggest problem with the original Nintendo 64 version was that there wasn't a lot of value for your $60. It's hard not to feel ripped off when you plunk down that much money for a game that lasts no more than a couple hours. Ten years later that pill is a little easier to swallow, now that the game is $10 on the Virtual Console you won't have to worry about the value aspect of it. Unfortunately that doesn't change the fact that this game is far too easy and has very little replay. The $10 asking price is definitely more affordable, but when it comes right down to it there are far better games on the Virtual Console. Do yourself a favor and pass on this game and go pick up the recently released Yoshi DS game instead.

 

 

 

Every week I plan on taking a look at the classic games being uploaded on the GameTap service. Regardless of whether it's part of their free or premium service, GameTap offers a wide variety of old school games that is worth checking out. Here are the most recent games uploaded to their server, keep in mind that all of these games are free to play starting today:

 

This week we only have one retro title uploaded to the GameTap service. That game is Vulgus, the 1984 arcade game by Capcom. This vertical shoot-em-up is in the same tradition as other Capcom classics, such as 1941 and Gun Smoke. Even if you haven't played this game before chances are good you're familiar with the set-up, you control a spaceship with a single objective: destroy incoming enemies. And guess what, you are stocked with a standard weapon that never runs out of bullets (handy) and a bomb that you can use only so many times. Sure you've heard it all before, Vuglus manages to hit on just about every shooter cliché. But in 1984 these elements weren't cliché; they were just part of playing a 2D shooter. Despite the fact that we've seen all this before, Vulgus is still a lot of fun for awhile. It's nowhere near as good as some of Capcom's later shooters, but still worth checking out.

 

 

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