Yoshi's Story---

---Yoshi's Story---

So in honor of my birthday, I decided to write a video game blog on one of my all-time favorite games.

Yes, it may seem a bit childish...but I have been playing Yoshi's story since I was at least 11-12 years-old.

Yoshi's story was developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 (N64) gaming system. It told a side-story of one of the most loveable characters from the Mario games...his trusty side-kick named Yoshi (who is considered a Dinosaur...NOT a Dragon FYI)<3

• Storyline:

The story begins, telling the story about an island of Yoshi's, where everything was always super happy and all-around perfect, all because of the Super Happy Tree (pictured above). Well, Baby Bowser hated the Puny Yoshi's and wanted the tree all for himself...so he stole the Super Happy Tree, and used an evil spell to turn the whole island into a storybook!

Obviously the yoshi's that were caught under the spell were full of despair, and they could not do anything about their stolen treasure.

Now as the story would have it...6 young Yoshi's that were just hatching had escaped the curse, and when they came into the world, they were very confused. The place that they had come into was not as happy as they thought it was supposed to be. That's when they discovered that the Super Happy Tree had been stolen, and they start thinking of ways to get it back.

Finally, they settle on the idea of: "if they become super happy, then that will lead them to the Super Happy Tree"!

• Gameplay:

The gameplay for Yoshi's Story is actually quite simple...(which is why it is a childrens game).

Instead of having 'lives' you have 6 Yoshi's to play from...when a Yoshi dies (runs out of health and/or all the petals fall on the flower), it gets captured by Bowser's minions and is taken away to Bowser's Castle. That is equivalent to losing one life.

The only way to get an 'extra life' is to find the 'White Shy Guy(s)' which are hidden in different levels. He is usually hiding in a surprise switch or trapped in a rock somewhere...so you will usually have to 'sniff' him out (using the R button).  Once obtaining a White Shy Guy, you can then choose him before beginning a level and he will go and 'rescue' one of your lost Yoshi's. The White Shy guy can only be used once...so be careful!

The object of each level in the game is simple...the goal is to eat 30 fruits to become Super Happy and progress to the next 'area' and/or 'storybook page'. See? So you just lick up 30 fruits and you beat that level.

But it's not as easy as it sounds.

Some fruits are in bubbles that you must pop using Yoshi's eggs (that can only be obtained through egg blocks or by eating enemies---). But Yoshi cannot eat everything...in fact, spiked fruits, blue fairy's, black shy guys, hot peppers, and other things are considered 'yucky', and Yoshi will lose health (or in the case of the game---flower petals) if he/she eats those things. Also, there are enemies to watch out for:

---Shy Guys: these little fellows are in every level of the game (well mostly all). They come in the color of Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green...and their colors can be changed by pounding the ground ( a mixture of motions which involves using A to jump, then pressing down all while pressing the Z button on the back of your controller.).

They also come in a variety of styles ad can either be running, holding limbo sticks, jumping on srings, flying, or even walking on stilts (which make them immune to being eaten).

Depending on the color of Shy Guy...if you eat them, that same color egg will appear.

---Black Shy Guys are meanies that drop heavy-spiked weights on Yoshi if you are not careful. Eating him will do no good because it will only make your Yoshi sick and make you lose health.

---White Shy Guys are the good guys that help save lost yoshi's from Bowsers Castle, but you have to find them!

---Fairy's are creatures that switch from Pink to Blue. If you eat them while they are pink...they taste sweet, and Yoshi will gain health. Eat them while they are blue and your Yoshi will lose health.

---There are Bone Dragons

---Lava Monsters

---Lava Ghosts

---Boo's

---Water Droplets that fall on you and taste yucky.

---Giant Fish that want to eat you...

---Pirahnna Plants

---Saw Blades

---Giant Swords

---Random holes in the ground...

---and much, much, more!

There are 6-7 pages total (depending on if you count the final level as a page or not), and there are 4 different levels per page to choose from. You only have to beat one level on each page to advance to the next page...and there is no going back to previous pages.

All-in-all the game can be beaten in less than thirty minutes and moves rather fast...also, for extra competition among friends, scores are kept on the levels and added up for a final score to put on a Top 5 scoreboard. (my current top-score is over 15,000).

also in the game, to increase your points-per-level, they start you off by giving you a 'lucky fruit' which you ingest for extra points. Also there are heart tokens, coins, and melons, all which have a higher value than regular fruits...

There are mini-bosses throughout the game, some showing up AFTER levels, others you have to find through special events. It all just depends on how you play the game.Also, there are a number of mini games within each level to help your Yoshi win extra melons and etc. So make sure you look around!

So there you have it...a wonderful game for friends and family that all-ages can enjoy. (its one of my and Taz's favorites, so I give it 5 stars!)---