Yoshi's Touch & Go

By Kristan Reed Published 12 April, 2005

Doesn't dragon enough. But let's not cloud the issue with puns.

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Sometimes the simplest game concepts are the most beautiful. Down the years some of the true classics have been almost embarrassingly simple to the point of being able to sum the gameplay mechanics in a sentence. Think of the true benchmark innovations: Pong, Space Invaders, Pac Man, Marble Madness, Tetris, Street Fighter, Wolfenstein, Dune II. All games with a purity of vision and a design influence that lingers one well past their sell by date.

And yet something as simple and well conceived as the Nintendo DS touch-screen has given game designers a new lease of life to try new things. Simple things. Things that non-gamers can pick up and play without having to be told the rules; just like games used to be before it became fashionable to layer games with intimidating complexity that hinders gaming from ever reaching the levels of true mass marketability.

The first hints of the things to come came with the genius mini-games hidden within Super Mario 64 DS (some of which are among the most compelling games we've played all year, if truth be told), while Wario Ware Touched! was similarly rammed with flourishes of head smacking genius that left a mile-wide smile on the face of anyone who played it. Throw in the likes of Meteos and EG favourite Zoo Keeper, and it's like the games industry has rediscovered fun again.

Touched by the hand of genius

'Yoshi's Touch & Go' Screenshot 2

And if you're familiar with any of the Super Mario 64 DS mini games, Yoshi's Touch & Go follows on from many of the basic ideas within, expanding it to a full game that - in basic terms - involves guiding Baby Mario to safety while falling from the sky, and then having landed on Yoshi's back, guiding Yoshi through an obstacle-laden scrolling 2D environment to a goal. And that's about it. Told you it was simple.

Of course, there's much more to it that that. The premise is little more than to rack up the biggest score you can during these two predetermined sections. But scoring isn't as easy as you might think. There are various game modes available to you, but the same basic gameplay principles apply whether you're playing the initially available Score Attack, Marathon or Versus modes, or the unlockable Time Attack or Challenge modes.

Unlike some of the other DS games currently available, Yoshi's Touch & Go is designed specifically for the system and is controlled entirely by the touch screen - there's simply no other way you could play the game any other way even if you wanted to. Loosely connected to the Super Mario 64 DS mini-game that tasks the players with keeping workmen from falling to their doom, a similar principle applies in the first section of Yoshi's Touch & Go in that you must draw clouds on the lower portion of the screen to usher Baby Mario to safety. In this instance however, the clouds you draw serve as a means to gently guide Baby away from spiky traps and the proliferation of enemies floating around while simultaneously attempting to gather up as much booty as possible - coins, unsurprisingly.

Cloudbusting

'Yoshi's Touch & Go' Screenshot 3

Drawing clouds is one thing, though, but they will only get you so far and you must take into account Baby's position in the top screen at all times; there's a certain amount of forward-thinking to be done. If you do happen to fail to protect Baby, it's not the end of the world. Baby clings onto three balloons, which effectively act as lives for the purpose of the game. Lose all three and it's Game Over.

Mastery of this section of the game is all about how well you fare in working out how to scoop up the booty, and there are a few methods other than merely guiding Baby into its path. Drawing cloud circles around enemies turns them into a coin in a bubble which can then be guided manually into Baby's path, while circling coins also has the same effect, allowing you to double up coins and use the bubble to push coins into Baby's downward path. Amusingly, if you're unhappy with the clouds you've drawn you can literally blow them away by blowing into the DS' thus far underused microphone. On other modes, should you manage to scoop up a star, Baby will morph briefly into Super Baby Mario and become temporarily invincible while also falling faster.

Assuming you manage to make the (roughly two-minute) journey to the bottom of the screen safely you then start the second part of your journey. At this stage Yoshi appears in time to cushion Baby Mario's fall and sets off on another danger strewn journey, hopping over chasms, dodging and firing eggs at a selection of familiar Nintendo baddies while scooping up as many coins as possible along the way. As before, clouds are your friend, and drawing them creates temporary platforms for Yoshi to cross otherwise impassable gaps, while drawing cloud circles around enemies again turns them into bubbles with coins inside which can be dragged straight over to Yoshi.

Bubble Bobble

'Yoshi's Touch & Go' Screenshot 4

Where possible, bubbling trapping is the best tactic, as it helps save your much-needed stock of eggs (which can be replenished by, oddly, eating fruit), which allows you to shoot coins and enemies with a tap anywhere on the touch screen. As many of the eggs and enemies are on the upper screen, aiming is crucial, and getting the trajectory right is all part of the learning curve. On top of this, Yoshi also has the curious ability to jump repeatedly in mid-air if you tap him - often getting you out of a tight scrape if you've not managed to bubble-trap an enemy in time, or missed while attempting to shoot them.

Although the whole thing is almost alarmingly short-lived and simple, there are a number of different modes to hone your skills. The initially most attractive option is the basic Score Attack, which is all about how many coins you can gather. It's simply a case of practising a lot, memorising the layout and getting good enough to top the high score table to unlock Time Attack. This mode adds bumpers to the sky to hinder your downward progress, with the ground portion less a case of worrying about enemies and more about keeping Yoshi running on clouds.

Marathon mode, meanwhile, is just that. An endless - and randomly generated - mode where scoring is based on how far you get; first with Baby Mario, and from there on riding Yoshi. Every few hundred yards you enter a bonus mode, while 1000 yards you get to ride a better version of Yoshi with a higher egg capacity.

Marathons was a better name than Snickers

'Yoshi's Touch & Go' Screenshot 5

Beating the top score on Marathon unlocks Challenge, which after the initial sky section becomes a timed mode with the general idea to kill enemies to gain more time, and to eventually reach 3000 yards before the clock times out.

Happily, the versus mode is a single-pak multiplayer game, with the goal being to reach 1000 yards first while hitting obstacles with your eggs in order to send them over to your opponent's screen - great, if rather short-lived and limited fun.

In a sense, you could level that last sentence at the whole game; it's admittedly great fun, but feels rather too much of an extended mini-game to warrant rushing out to purchase. We say this having arguably had more fun playing SM 64 DS mini games; games which offered way more in terms of variety while merely being bonus mini games. It also must be noted that while we don't rate DS games on how good they look, this is a cute but functional game - nothing more.

Endearing, cute, fun, but not worth the money

While it's fair to say Yoshi's Touch & Go is an endearingly simple and addictive concept that is fun while it lasts, you really do expect more variety than is on offer. If the game had featured more sections then it would be irresistible, but with just two short portions of gameplay repeated over largely similar modes it's the kind of repetition that can't hope to tempt money out of your wallet. Whereas we could happily keep playing repetitive DS games like Zoo Keeper, Meteos, Polarium and the SM 64 DS mini-games until the cows come home, Yoshi's Touch & Go is a short, sharp burst of immediate fun that reminds you of the genius of the DS' control interface, but after a few hours evidently doesn't have the kind of unlimited replay value that it so badly needs to justify shelling out hard cash for.

Order yours now from Simply Games.

Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (22) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Blerk #1 7 years ago

    He was writing about Yoshi, but his heart was pining for Doom 3. :-D

  • kalel #2 7 years ago

    Why not just whak a score at the end and call it a review?

  • jellyhead #3 7 years ago

    Now let's see if Kirby can do better...

  • Derblington #4 7 years ago

    I still want it.

  • andrewfromdoncaster #5 7 years ago

    Nintendo should take note and make it 20quid

  • Kiigan #6 7 years ago

    It's good fun for a while, but would be better suited to a price of 20 quid or even 15. Same goes for Pac-Pix, to be honest. If they go on sale in the UK for 30 quid apiece, it's a rip-off.

  • therev #7 7 years ago

    LIES!

    ::coughs::

    Sorry.

    But this is a far, far better than, say, Pac-Pix and one of the few DS 'must haves' - along with Mr Driller and, um, Meteos, possibly.

  • binky #8 7 years ago

    Well I'm really enjoying it although I have to say this would have been much better if it had a Yoshi's Island style STORY MODE.

    Was really suprised when I found it didnt have one :/

  • Rob #9 7 years ago

    I've put hours into the marathon mode already - the urge to get just a few more yards is strong in this one.

    Small, but almost perfectly formed IMO.

  • Rob #10 7 years ago

    I have to agree with Kristan here: definitely not worth spending money on.
    Excuse my ignorance binky (I've not played the game)

    So, R.E.M, you've not played the game but you know that it's definitely not worth spending money on. Incredible - a talent like that must come in very useful.

    And to answer your question, the game does not have 'levels' as such. It's not a platformer, doesn't pretend to be a platformer, doesn't want to be a platformer. It's only people putting two and two together and getting five that think it is/should be.

    It certianly won't be for everyone, but for those that like high-score chases it's a genuine gem.

  • asphaltcowboy #11 7 years ago

    One to get in a sale/price-drop then?
    It certainly sounds fun enough and looks frantic in videos...

  • Phattso #12 7 years ago

    Imported this for £25 including delivery. Got almost exactly what I expected to from it. In much the same way as something like Outrun 2. the joy is in the playing of the game - its mechanics - and getting a little further each time as your skills improve.

    £20 would be about right, but even though I paid more I'm very happy with the game.

  • Kiigan #13 7 years ago

    > But this is a far, far better than, say, Pac-Pix and one of the few
    > DS 'must haves' - along with Mr Driller and, um, Meteos, possibly.

    A matter of opinion obviously, but I strongly disagree. Meteos is the best thing on the DS right now, bar none. And like it or not, Yoshi's Touch and Go is likely to get lumped with Pac-Pix for being a nice little idea, done reasonably well, that is better suited to a lower pricepoint.

    Really, I had hoped the DS was going to bring better spread-out pricing but that certainly hasn't in the UK so far. 30 quid for Zoo Keeper? I think not.

  • #14 7 years ago

    Pac-Pix is great, quite varied and DEADLY HARD..

    ..which is good.

  • Rob #15 7 years ago

    30 quid for Zoo Keeper? I think not.
    Why not? I've put more hours into Zoo Keeper than I have many other much more 'glamourous' looking games. I find the insinuation that because it has simple graphics and a simple play mechanic it must be only worth a budget price a bit ghastly. I'd personally rather pay £30 for a title like Zoo Keeper than one like The Getaway anyway....

  • #16 7 years ago

    HEY, THE GETAWAY COST A LOT OF MONEY TO MAKE. Besides, it was a british developer.. you must buy the game. You can't let these cheap bastards get away with making games that are fun to play BUT ONLY TAKE THEM A FEW MONTHS TO MAKE. WTF. That's insanity. I want to see a marketing effort, a license tie-in and I want to see how much money the company spent making the god damned game. If it is too little I am NOT buying.

    By God!

  • sephy #17 7 years ago

    um, isnt the ds port of zookeeper uk reveloped too? My issue with it is that as well as also being a free flash game, Zookeper is essentially just a skinned clone of a game that has been free for the last half a decade....

    And yes, why not just stick a score on it and call it a review?

  • #18 7 years ago

    "um, isnt the ds port of zookeeper uk reveloped too? My issue with it is that as well as also being a free flash game, Zookeper is essentially just a skinned clone of a game that has been free for the last half a decade...."

    No, buddiez are japanese. And it isn't a game that's been free for the last half a decade, you must be mistaking it with something else.

  • sephy #19 7 years ago

    yes, the games with the EXACT SAME GAMEPLAY

    If you read my post again, you will see I clearly stated it was a skinned clone. , rather then the zookeeper flash

    Obviously the origin of zookeeper i read was complete bollocks. ah well

  • #20 7 years ago

    skinned clone? doesn't matter what it looks like if the gameplay mechanics are different.

  • sephy #21 7 years ago

    The core gameplay mechanics arent any different though

  • Kiigan #22 7 years ago

    Sheesh. "Core gameplay mechanics" - I guess you mean "how the game plays" then? Why can't we just say what we mean, instead of intentionally obfuscating language with unhelpful phrases?

    Zoo Keeper is nice. Sure there are a million games just like it out in the wild, most of them free, but ZK is a really nicely presented version and it is very accessible. The DS version isn't quite as nice as the Shockwave version in some respects (notably the missing sound effects played during token removal, and new background music) but the stylus controls just feel so natural. Is ZK fun? Yes. Is it good? Yes. Is it good value at 29.99? Fuck no. Let's keep things in perspective. It's not a good deal at 30 quid, and it would never have been released here at that price if it wasn't a launch title. Of course, if you have lots of money then it'll still be "worth it" to you, but if you were a kid saving your pocket money for months to get a new game it's a shit deal.

    Similarly, "Catch! Touch! Yoshi! and "Pac Pix" are both great fun. They are well presented and accessible. They focus on a few nice little ideas and do them well. If you'd spent 15 quid each, you wouldn't feel ripped off. At 30 quid, it's not a good deal for everyone. Pac Pix is over so quickly, blink and you'll miss it. The Yoshi game is pretty shallow and limited - chasing high scores is fun for a bit but I don't think it is unreasonable to expect a bit more substance for 30 quid, considering how much entertainment you can get for that amount of money if you were buying games for other platforms, or indeed DVDs or CD music.

  • #23 7 years ago

    "Sheesh. "Core gameplay mechanics" - I guess you mean "how the game plays" then? Why can't we just say what we mean, instead of intentionally obfuscating language with unhelpful phrases?"

    What's the fun in that? I'm not here to help anyone. What makes Zoo Keeper DS different and insanely superior to the shockwave version is not as much the stylus control in itself but the combination of stylus control and the ability to move blocks while blocks are being eliminated.
    Edited by 1 at 13/04/05 @ 09:39

  • Rob #24 7 years ago

    Is ZK fun? Yes. Is it good? Yes. Is it good value at 29.99? Fuck no.

    This, I just don't get. The game is fun, it's gonna provide hours and houes of entertainment, and yet it's somehow not worth £30? Would 3D graphics have made it worth more? A sampled soundtrack perhaps? What exactly does a game need to be other than 'good' and 'fun' to be worth £30?To me, on a pound per hour spent basis it's a lot more value for it's £30 than many other titles I can think of.

    If I spend £30 quid on a game and play it for 30+ hours then to me that is great VFM. I really don't see how that could be argued otherwise to be honest.

  • #25 7 years ago

    "Mario 64DS: huge story mode, great varied 4 player, loads of fantastic mini games and 3 new playable characters. Definately worth the £30"

    It can have as much content as it wants, I still wouldn't think it was worth the price. And it's probably the only DS game so far I'm not happy about buying.

  • dk_rare #26 7 years ago

    No wise cracks from Blerk yet?

    This game is very good, it goes back to when games were about scores and gameplay, like donkey kong. Games these days tend to be about story and stuff, but it right when you get the the "last cut scene" and credits, it goes back to the menu. What now? Your last save progress is always 98 percent, there is no sense of satisfaction. But a game about scores and gameplay (and not about cutscenes) is something the industry really needs, so this game is more of a Revolution than one of those mass market same games that are running the industry into the ground, (like in the 80s).

  • Eraser #27 7 years ago

    "This, I just don't get. The game is fun, it's gonna provide hours and houes of entertainment, and yet it's somehow not worth £30? [...] What exactly does a game need to be other than 'good' and 'fun' to be worth £30?"

    Content. Yoshi Touch & Go won't supply me with hours of fun. It's the same repetitive 3 minute level over and over again. You've seen everything there is to see in the game after playing 4 modes for 3 minutes each.

    Compare this to your average racing game, where you'll be doing nothing more than beating the clock and get the fastest times or highest scores as well, but a racing game with only 4 tracks and two cars will get hugely flamed for not having enough content, even though the handling, sense of speed and graphics are unmatched.

    And Yoshi T&G does have a lot of potential. I've truely enjoyed the gameplay for the 30 minutes or so it took me to beat all high scores, but now it's the same routine over and over again. That gets boring. If this game had a solid story mode (and hey, who needs "story", I just want varied levels with a diverse set of enemies rather than the same green spikey blob all the time) and these score attack/time attack/marathon/challenge modes as additional "quick-fix" modes (like Mario 64DS' minigames) then this game would be well worth the €45 that I payed.

  • st3ph3n #28 7 years ago

    BLASPHEMER!

    Well maybe not. It isn't really worth £25, not even the £22.99 I paid for my import. BUT, it is absolutely fantastic. I've been playing it 3 or 4 times a day for the last month now, and I still find myself wanting to come back for more.

    Infact, for the hours of fun its given me it probably was WELL worth the money.