Yoshi's Story (N64 review)

Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: 1998

Yoshi's Story is a platform game and the follow-up to Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995, SNES).

The Super Happy Tree has been stolen by Baby Bowser and your mission is to reclaim it to return Yoshi's Island to normal. There's six stages per game (although a total of 24 are available once unlocked) and rather than reaching a specific destination the objective in each is to collect 30 pieces of fruit. Personally, I found this idea to be awkward and the sole need to wander for fruit just isn't a strong enough hook. It could be passable if the level design was up to snuff, but it's basic with very few interesting, let alone memorable, moments. Secondly, only allowing six stages per game makes the adventure seem smaller than it is and it would have been much better if players had to complete all 24 levels to complete the story. Despite these glaring issues, the action definitely has some merit as a score attack game and if you're anal enough to collect all 30 melons (avoiding other fruits) in each level there's some fun to be had with this increased challenge. The bosses are insultingly easy though with very basic patterns that are inexplicably told to the player just before battle commences, ruining much of the intensity! Considering the game's title you'd expect that a greater emphasis was placed on the plot; however, the bare-bones story only plays out in brief text-based cut-scenes that do little to invest or excite the player. Even the art style fails to impress, as it lacks identity due to its slapdash approach of merging paper cut-outs, hand-drawn graphics and pre-rendered sprites together. Also, the music is horrific and the gibberish Yoshi vocals sound like rejects from the U.K. TV series Teletubbies!

Whereas Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (2000, N64) raised the bar with its intriguing power-up combinations, Yoshi's Story lacks innovation and chooses to focus on a weak fruit collecting mechanic that's an ill-advised hook for the entire game. Overall, it's an utterly forgettable experience and one that grows tiresome after just a few stages.

Random trivia: Various test stages can be played if you enter certain codes with a Gameshark.

Chameleon Twist (N64 review)

Developer: Japan System Supply
Publisher: Sunsoft
Released: 1997

Chameleon Twist is a platformer by Japan System Supply who also worked on the unreleased Virtual Boy game Bound High!

It has six worlds that take place in the Jungle Land, Ant Land, Bomb Land, Desert Castle, Kids Land and Ghost Castle. The B button allows you to unroll your tongue towards enemies and once captured you can throw them back at other opponents or switches. Its direction can be altered while it's extending so you can loop it to pick up several things at once or even grab onto poles to swing yourself to otherwise inaccessible areas. Pressing Z makes you stand on your tongue and if you time it right with the A button you can launch yourself into the air to reach higher platforms. These are all nice mechanics and while it does take a few minutes to become accustomed to them they work really well. The levels usually consist of destroying a room full of enemies and finding your way to the next area. Bomb Land is the most interesting as you need to blow things up to create pathways. The worst is Kids Land as you need to swing around posts and land on moving platforms to reach the next area. It's here that the camera causes issues as it can't be freely moved around. Instead you can only slide it left or right or zoom in and out and it's tricky lining up a jump. Once you get to the end of a level you'll face a boss; they're nothing special and have simple attack patterns that can quickly be memorised. There's unlimited lives and if you die you start right back in the same area you were just on. This is good if you want to see everything but the game is already short and it encourages you to be reckless. The music is awful and features generic gameshow tunes with some dreadful jazz tracks.

Chameleon Twist is a unique platformer with lots of charm and interesting mechanics. It does have some flaws and it's probably starting to show its age but there's still an enjoyable game here once you get used to the controls.

Random trivia: A sequel called Chameleon Twist 2 was released on the Nintendo 64 a year later.