I'm sure the folks at Nintendo have a reason for naming it as they have--such as, they want consumers to think of this as some sort of series reboot à la New Super Mario Bros.--but to me the result is awkward, boring and completely lacking in creativity.
That aside, who really cares what the game's called as long as it's fun, right? Of course, the jury's still out in that regard, too, but I'm holding out hope that, in the end, Yoshi's New Island will overcome its lazy title and its seemingly iffy aesthetics and prove to be a worthy--and wonderfully enjoyable--entry in this hit-or-miss series.
All of the aforementioned negativity aside, the North American version's box art is a step in the right direction, don't you think? I sure do. Or at least I think I do. Yoshi himself kind of creeps me out, as he often does (unless we're talking about the ones that appear in Yoshi's Story, in which case we're all good), but the rest of it's pretty ace.
What do all of you think? Do you consider the cover art above to be delicious, or a disaster? Also, are any of you planning to pick up this portable platformer? (I am; in fact, I pre-ordered it last week.)
28 comments:
I'm ambivalent. I'm one of the rare gamers who preferred Super Mario World to Yoshi's Island, The latter game may have twee in spades, but Super Mario World feels a bit more solid and is certainly more intuitive.
As for this new game in the series, I'll reserve judgment until it's on shelves, but I'm not chomping at the bit for it. The upcoming 3DS Kirby release (complete with the pink puffball getting smashed into the camera by giant disembodied hands) looks really, REALLY nice, though.
It's ok, I'm not wild about it. But (Art-ruining Optical Illusion warning!) the combination of varied line weight and shading makes it look to me as if Yoshi is not actually holding that egg at all, and is doing some kind of dance a great distance in front of it.
I can't unsee it! Arrghgh!!
Personally, I love both Yoshi's Island and Super Mario World. I probably talk about YI more than I do SMW, and I'd probably put YI above SMW if I were to concoct a list of my all-time favorite games, but, really, I love them both.
Also, I'm in the same boat as you RE: New Island. I'm not excited about it or overly looking forward to it, but I'm curious about it, and that's all I need at the moment.
I'm of course looking forward to Kirby, too. Really wish NOA would announce that game's NA release date. Oh, well, I'll buy it regardless, so I'm not sure why I care...
Ah, yes, I noticed the same thing, Michael. The varied line shading, I mean. I hate stuff like that :| I also just hate the mixing of art styles, etc., in general--which is one of the big reasons I'm not hot to trot about New Island so far. It's like the game's designers couldn't agree on a style and so just decided to go for a few. Argh!
THE TITLE! OH, GOD...THE TITLE! Someone at Nintendo needs to be smacked. Hard. With a chainsaw.
Seriously. We get it. New. Okay. It was good the first time. But STOP. Yoshi's New Island is an atrocity as bad as Super Mario 3D Land. Stop jamming modifiers where they CLEARLY DON'T FIT!
#rantover
I'm probably going to skip this one, as I felt the mechanics of the last one were...just okay. More of the same, even with gigantic eggs, I don't think is going to appeal to me. And that's NEW Justin's 3D Opinion 64.
What's more disturbing to me is Yoshi laying eggs three times his size. Good grief, Nintendo, have pity on a poor dinosaur's butthole!
Ha ha! Tell me/us how you really feel, why don't you? ;)
Seriously, though, I agree with you. Like I just told someone on Twitter, at least Nintendo didn't name A Link Between Worlds "NEW Legend of Zelda."
I'm not skipping it myself, as I'm just too curious to see how it turns out. I'm fairly worried I'm going to regret spending the $40 in the end, though :|
YES! Me, too. That can't feel good. Well, unless Yoshi's a masochist extraordinaire.
Agreed, far from inspiring name. Still, as you say, if it's a good game I'm sure it'll be forgotten by most :P
Yoshi's regular eggs are also quite large compared to his body. Clearly there's a lot about dinosaur physiology that we don't yet understand.
Well, he does let a fat plumber sit on him. And he keeps appearing in games designed by Artoon...
True :)
I'd add "that we don't WANT to understand" here, too, Michael. I don't want to know where the eggs come from or how he's able to pop them out so quickly and efficiently!
Yes, that really is what it all comes down to, isn't it, Simon? Or maybe I should say that's what it SHOULD come down to :)
New Ultra Mega Super Yoshi Island 3DS
You know, I think I might prefer that title to the one we're getting, Bodo. At least in this case they'd really be going for it, you know what I mean?
I think it's cute but it probably would work better as a promo poster or something instead of being the cover of the game's box.
I can't disagree with that, Sam. I guess the folks at Nintendo really want to play up this game's huge eggs!
It's a cute, kid-friendly box... although it kinda looks like Yoshi is humping that egg instead of carrying it. I liked the SNES game, so I'll probably pick this up eventually. It's coming out the same week as Final Fantasy X/X-2, so Yoshi will have to wait his turn.
it's boring and unengaging. bland kid fare; a bit depressing but sadly standard for box art nowadays.....shame
I think I'd prefer it if Yoshi were humping the egg, Terry :) Also, I had no idea you were a big fan of either FF X or FF X-2. Of course, why would I know that?
True, but at least Nintendo gets it right sometimes, as do others in the industry!
It's not so much that I'm a fan of the games -- they're pretty good -- but mostly I consider them a gateway to convincing Square Enix to make a Vita version of Final Fantasy 12. lol
Ah, yes, I've heard many others say the same thing.
Yes, I know :-)
Well, it looks a lot less offensive than the game, I'll give it that much. The art itself anyway - the composition has me scratching my head like that conspicuously photoshopped-in monkey in the background. Yoshi's walking on... cotton candy with flowers sprouting out of it, surrounded by bulbous glazed donuts? And the sky is bright yellow for some reason? It's a weird juxtaposition of something generally abstract-looking with elements that imply that it's a depiction of an actual scene.
Frankly I can't really think of any Yoshi covers that blew me away or anything, so I don't think this game has some special pedigree to live up to, but regardless I kinda feel "inoffensive" is the word that sums this cover up.
You know, Josef, I think your description of this piece of box art is completely spot-on.
Also, I can't disagree with you that most previous pieces of Yoshi cover art are pretty forgettable. That said, I like the JP cover art produced for Yoshi's Island (Super Famicom) and Yoshi Story (N64). Also, I thought the JP cover art for Yoshi's Island DS was pretty nice, too.
Regardless, I consider this one to simply be acceptable.
So, why haven't they hired you at Nintendo yet? And why haven't they hired me, too? :P
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