Review by Phweemaggot

"A fun, addicting game with a steep learning curve."

With the system not being even six months old, Nintendo is still trying to milk the DS's touch screen and microphone, while the gimmicks are still somewhat fresh. I must admit, they are doing it admirably, as seen in Yoshi Touch and Go, a puzzle-esque sidescroller based on Yoshi's Island.

Touch and Go belongs to a special club with Feel the Magic and Wario Ware, a group of games which barely use the buttons and focus on the touch screen. You use the stylus to draw strings of clouds for Baby Mario to float down, collecting coins and avoiding enemies. When he reaches the ground, he rides on a Yoshi, the color (and subsequently, egg capacity and speed) of which depends on how many coins were gathered. The sidescrolling sections with Yoshi are the main focus of the game, as you will spend more time in them. You draw clouds for Yoshi to walk on (and blow into the microphone to disperse them), and tap him to make him jump over pits. You draw bubbles to encapsulate enemies, and shoot eggs at those pesky airborne Shyguys. There are four different game modes in which to guide Yoshi.

Score Attack depends very heavily on the Baby Mario sequence. The better the Yoshi you receive, the longer you can travel before the level ends, giving you more time to hit the targets. In Score Attack, you focus on getting as many coins and hitting as many enemies as possible before the level is over. You most likely won't play this mode much after you beat it, as there's nowhere to go. Your score will eventually peak.

Time Attack makes you catch up with a group of flying enemies who have kidnapped Baby Luigi. You must stay close to them and throw as many eggs as you can. This mode is fun, but can be a pain if you have trouble aiming your eggs.

Marathon is the mode with the most replay value. In Marathon, you lead Yoshi as far as you can without getting him killed. Every thousand yards, you'll switch to the next better Yoshi, who can hold five more eggs and move slightly faster. Marathon games can go on for hours, and people have gotten scores as high as 41,000 (a score of 3,000 is considered passing.) You can collect coins in Marathon as well, but they do not increase your score. When you get 100 of them, Baby Mario dons a cape and rushes through the level, decimating anything in his path. This is a throwback to Yoshi's Island, which Touch and Go takes its graphical style from.

Challenge is aptly named, as it will cause the most frustration. Basically, it's Marathon with a time limit. Killing enemies and collecting coins adds extra seconds to your timer.

This game is presented as an extension of Yoshi's Island. The graphical style is the same, with the backgrounds that look like a child's drawings. Some of the familiar sounds return, such as Yoshi's grunting as he flutter jumps. The music is unremarkable cheerful whistling.

Despite its addictive gameplay, Touch and Go will turn off many people with its steep learning curve. It took me nearly an hour to beat Score Attack mode for the first time, and I was extremely frustrated the whole time. After that, everything fell into place, but some people may not be able to put up with so much frustration beforehand.

Overall, Yoshi Touch and Go is a fun, creative game which is only suited for those willing to endure a lot of pain before fully enjoying it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10 | Originally Posted: 04/04/05

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