Yoshi's New Island Reviews

Yoshi's New Island is ranked in the 30th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
4 / 10
Mar 14, 2014

He should've stayed on his old island...

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4 / 10
Mar 13, 2014

About as new as a fossilised dinosaur egg and just about as fast and exciting, this is a depressingly poor degradation of a once great original.

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5 / 10
Mar 13, 2014

The biggest problem with Yoshi’s New Island is that it feels stripped of the style, substance, and ingenuity that once made the series such treasured property. By watering down the game design and failing to incorporate new ideas that enhance the established mechanics in any meaningful way, you're left with an egg that's not necessarily bad, just dull and unimpressive. It’s completely functional and could serve as filler while waiting for the next big 3DS or Wii U release, but there’s little denying that it’s an underwhelming outing for Yoshi.

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5 / 10
Mar 13, 2014

The Yoshi's Island series is one of my favorite gaming series ever, which is why it's so painful to see Yoshi's New Island fall short in so many ways. It's not a bad game and certainly a serviceable one for younger audiences and new players. Unfortunately, for those that have followed Yoshi since his first starring role nearly 20 years ago, this game is a tremendous disappointment.

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GameSpot
Top Critic
5 / 10
Mar 13, 2014

Yoshi's New Island lacks the imagination that made its progenitor beloved, instead offering a slow-paced adventure that's too easy for its own good.

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5.5 / 10.0
Mar 21, 2014

Nintendo's latest 3DS platformer, while generally competent and sometimes fun, mostly just makes you wish you were playing a better game.

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Mar 31, 2014

So for me, veteran platformer (including Nintendo's many offerings), 'Yoshi's New Island' doesn't deliver. I'm forced then to conclude that I'm not the audience for this game, and that it would be much more suitable as an inexperienced gamer's first platformer. 'Yoshi's New Island' may actually fill a void in the world of gaming right now as the 3DS is as often in the hands of veteran Nintendo diehards like myself as it is in young, impressionable new gamers. I imagine a solid chunk of youngsters can enjoy this game as a step towards the bigger, the better and the more challenging.

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Adam Riley
Top Critic
6 / 10
Mar 15, 2014

Whilst not a travesty in the platform stakes, unfortunately Yoshi's New Island is rather bland and nowhere near the quality of Yoshi's Island on the SNES, and probably not even as interesting as the oft-criticised Yoshi's Island DS. Arzest - made up of ex-Artoon staff - seems to have taken the DS title, removed the difficulty and tacked on some rather average extras to create what is nothing more than a 'decent platform title' rather than a worthy successor to the old classic. All eyes are now on Good Feel to see how Yarn Yoshi turns out…

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6 / 10.0
Mar 13, 2014

Yoshi’s New Island looks great and plays like a Yoshi’s Island game, but that might not be enough for some people. The levels are bland, the bosses are blander, and the difficulty is too low and too static. It has bursts of creativity and maintains competency, but Yoshi’s Island deserves better than competency.

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6 / 10.0
Mar 15, 2014

Yoshi's New Island follows a similar formula as previous Nintendo remakes/reboots but ultimately falls short of recreating the magic we expect from Nintendo platformers. It is a shame that Yoshi's New Island could not provide enough new content to warrant its "new" name. Even if you enjoy the gameplay pulled directly out of the original title, it's hard to recommend playing this game over its predecessor (even if you've already played Yoshi's Island). Yoshi's Island DS has a little more variety and difficulty but ultimately, Nintendo just hasn't been able to reproduce the greatness of the original title.

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Mar 30, 2014

It's a shame Arzest routinely steps out of line when it comes to the visual and aural artistry of Yoshi's New Island, because the gameplay ushers the little spin-off that could into the current century.

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Ray Carsillo
Top Critic
6 / 10.0
Mar 13, 2014

It may say “new” in the title, but there’s simply not enough to get excited about in Yoshi’s New Island. Fans of the original will probably be turned off by this inferior and all-too-familiar retread.

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Mar 13, 2014

Yoshi's New Island is a solid little platformer, but it struggles to be much more than that. It will, at least, kill a few hours of time, even if that time will hardly be remembered afterwards.

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Mar 13, 2014

It's just not as thrilling as some of its 2D platforming counterparts, or as innovative, especially at a time when the genre is going through something of a renaissance period.

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Apr 8, 2014

Sweet hand-drawn aesthetic and cute Yoshi sounds, but lacks any challenge.

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Mar 17, 2014

Read our review of 'Yoshi's New Island' to see why the iconic green dinosaur's latest outing is better left with a babysitter.

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6 / 10.0
Mar 13, 2014

Nintendo are famous for reinventing the wheel with their games, and throwing new ideas into old series that should have long become tired and repetitive but, sadly, Yoshi’s New Island just isn’t one of these titles. It’s enjoyable enough and has its own sense of atmosphere as well as a few unique ideas, but overall this actually feels like one of the decent but highly-iterative sequels that Nintendo is usually unfairly criticized for making. It is still fun, though, and while it may not innovate or be a classic, its joyous aesthetic and “pick up and play” nature make it at the very least a good choice for getting through the daily commute.

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Mar 13, 2014

Nintendo's struggled to make a memorable Yoshi game since Yoshi's Island, and this new 3DS platformer isn't going to change that.

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GamesRadar+
Kathryn_Bailey
Top Critic
Mar 13, 2014

Yoshi's New Island borrows heavily from the original game, but it fails to match its flair or originality

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3.1 / 5.0
Mar 14, 2014

I was more than a little disappointed in the lack of challenge and overall content in Yoshi's New Island. The features that are included lack cohesion, and the bare bones multiplayer is laughable. Nintendo could argue that the design of the series is meant for a younger audience, yet I was twenty-seven when I played Yoshi's Island DS and thoroughly enjoyed it. Yoshi has had some grand adventures of his own, but sadly this is not one of them.

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