What happens when you mix the greatest platforming engine of all time with an average developer?
GAMEPLAY
The game play hasn't changed. Thats a good thing and a bad thing. Bad thing, platformers have evolved in the past decade, and the just has a slightly aged feeling to it. It still plays good, but its just not the same. Playing the two games side by side, you wouldn't know a difference.
They did add one new mechanic, and took out a few. No more sweet items. WHY ARE THERE NO WATERMELON. Now that I got that off my chest, all of the items are gone, but they added baby switching for some very rudimentary puzzles. Oh, and the game is so easy, that you should have over 100 lives by the third world, if not the second world. Thats it. Throw in some crappy bonus games, with tacked on touch screen support, and you got Yoshi's Island DS.
GRAPHICS
Okay, so Yoshi's Island looks exactly like the old one, minus all of the cool cut scenes. Hell, even all of the cool effects are taken out. If you like 2D platformers with a lack of polish, this one will do you fine.
SOUND
The music is weak. I remember Yoshi's Island's awesome tunes. I could hum them right now. These new tunes are terrible. They just don't live up to the fact that this should be something BETTER than Yoshi's Island. This game wasn't ready yet, and the music just shows it.
Sound is okay, if you don't like babies screaming, then stay away, if you do, you'll love the sound. All of the other sounds have been "changed" a tiny bit that is SO annoying that I can't stand it. Its okay to change sounds, but don't just change them just enough so I notice, while it being nearly the same sound.
VALUE
Yoshi's Island = 6 worlds, Multiplayer, all the extra's of this game
Yoshi's Island DS = 5 worlds (what the...), No multiplayer, still all of the extras.
TILT
By being a ripoff of one of the greatest platformers of all time, you can't help but feel cheated. Sure, if you look past the crappy story ripoff, blatent changing of the engine to be weaker, and lack of touch screen support (I don't count this against the game, though its worth noting) and just being on a more powerful system with WORSE graphics. Oh, tilt is usually the story for me, but this game got so far on the making me angry scale, I decided to put all of the reasons I am disappointed here.
OVERALL
This could have been so much more. Nintendo, every game I play of yours makes me fear the worst for Phantom Hourglass, and thank the gods Din, Nayru and Farore that this wasn't in house developed... Artoon (something like that) needs to be sent to another company, and not to ruin any more of my favorite series.