Yoshi's Island Wii (?)

[Yosher]

No no, it's not announced, in case you thought that. But I read in an interview with Toyokazu Nonaka, someone who worked on Yoshi's Island DS. One of the final questions went something like this:

Nintendo of Europe: The element in which Yoshi can stick out his tongue and throw eggs to different places on screen is something that could be well done with the Wiimote. Are there any plans for a Yoshi's Island Wii?

Toyokazu Nonaka: Plans for a Yoshi's Island Wii? Well, I think I'll keep that a secret for now!

This could be a hint at a possible Yoshi's Island Wii. Think of it, a fully 3D Yoshi's Island, in cell-shaded style, you're controlling Yoshi, and you can move his tongue or eggs in any direction you want to. To me, this sounds really good.

I'm not getting my hopes up too high yet, but I still hope they'll consider to go through with this!

(Btw, this is from a translated article from the dutch Nintendo website. 21-11-2006)

Edit; this might've been a reason for Nintendo to create that survey. Maybe not, just a thought.

[Blitzzoshi]

I dunno, I've been kind of thinking of Yoshi's Island as being 2D only, I'm not entirely sure how he would translate over to 3D just yet. Whenever a series makes a jump from 2D to 3D, there always has to be some major change in gameplay mechanics and level design. Just that I'm not sure what that change would look like. I can definitely see cell-shading though - seems as that goes hand-in-hand with Yoshi.

[teh yoshi]

Gah, I really hope something like that would happen, hehehe. That'd be a dream come true for me, really.
I just hope they don't change the shape of Yoshi too much.

[Bry]

I dunno, I've been kind of thinking of Yoshi's Island as being 2D only, I'm not entirely sure how he would translate over to 3D just yet. Whenever a series makes a jump from 2D to 3D, there always has to be some major change in gameplay mechanics and level design. Just that I'm not sure what that change would look like. I can definitely see cell-shading though - seems as that goes hand-in-hand with Yoshi.

Not quite so much as you might think. You'd have thought Zelda changed considerably going to 3D but having replayed A Link to the Past lately, its remarkable how similar they actually are.

Could Yoshi's Island make the leap? I think so. The main thing which has probably kept it from transitioning to 3D is a system to aim eggs in a 3D space in a precise way that didn't interrupt the flow of the game.
As Zelda: TP has demonstrated, the Wii remote should be able to do that quite nicely.

[Blitzzoshi]

Well, the egg-throwing is obvious how it works in 3D. That's not what I'm getting at. I'm mostly concerned about actual level design and progression. Super Mario 64 was radically different in the way it did this. Maybe Yoshi would follow this path? Either that, or the game would have to be linear.

[Lord of the Dance]

I just don't want to carry babies around in a 3-D world any more, not just 2-D :<

But seriously, I've been dreaming of this sort of game ever since I can remember. It would also be good for Nintendo, since they'd have yet another Mario title out for the Wii, right?

The Sonic series seems to be fine with switching from 3-D to 2-D without an extreme amount of change to the levels and stuff, so we know it can be done.

[Blitzzoshi]

From 3D to 2D? You mean from 2D to 3D? Personally, I didn't really think Sonic made the transition too well. Sure, you still have Sonic collecting rings, and destroying robots, but the problems lie in the actual game structure. I won't get into that now, however.

I do agree about the babies though. Seems that whenever you have to carry them around, the plot's focus seems to shift to the babies and not the Yoshis themselves. Of course, without them, that means an overdose of cuteness, but I don't really mind.

[Lord of the Dance]

blitzzoshi said:

From 3D to 2D? You mean from 2D to 3D?

No, I mean from 3-D to 2-D and back with all the handheld games switching to the Xbox, Wii, and Playstation and back.

[Blitzzoshi]

Well, no. What I'm referring to is when Sonic started on the Genesis, in 2D form (which I think was much better designed). When he came to the Dreamcast and went 3D, problems began to arise, and Sonic just wasn't the same anymore. His games were fun for a little bit, but they've lost their value to me, ever since Sonic Heroes (Hey, I enjoyed SA2 though). Personally, I hope that if Yoshi does go 3D, that he still retains the same qualities that he had in 2D.

[Yosher]

Sonic in 3D is ok overall, but it was poorly organized if you ask me. And hey, I can't really think of many 3D games from Nintendo's side that were bad. And I don't see why Yoshi would suddenly be bad when he goes 3D. All 3D games I have ever played that came straight from Nintendo were good, so if they decide to 3D-fy Yoshi's Island, I trust they'll make a good game out of it.

And I don't really care about the baby system, but I'd rather not have them anymore. Maybe just in some kind of kindergarten or something, I dunno.

[Fluory]

Oh God, not the baby system. I really, really, really hope they get rid of that baby system in any new Yoshi games. They were like everything that was wrong with Yoshi's Island (2 in particular.) And I don't get why they have to keep marring Yoshi with babies anyway -- Yoshi's Story was a great game. And they killed like what chance there was of having a plot I wouldn't just cry looking at. It was like not focused on Yoshi, but rather those stupid kids. Burn the babies!

Anyway, a Yoshi's Island-type thing for the Wii would be awesome. Since there really weren't any 3D games of Yoshi so far, I'd really look forward to it. I want to see what they could do with that type of gameplay (sans the little tots). But I think making it cell shady would kind of ruin it. I think smooth, bright shading suits a Yoshi game better; dunno why, I just do. I just hope the game's focus would be more in the actual gameplay and being up to the challenge of being able to get through creative and diverse levels rather than anything else, though. With comfortable controls, anyway.

And there you go. I personally liked Sonic's 3D games, including Heroes. SA2 was my favorite, though. The 2D were better, sure, but I liked the 3D ones as well. And I really loved the Chao raising thing; but, then again, I'm someone who can sit down and play Creatures 3 for over twelve hours in one sitting.

[Chilaquiles]

This kinda reminds me of those wooden block levels from Super Mario Sunshine. Those levels were so much fun that if they were packaged into a game I'd totally buy it, and that's kinda the way I see Yoshi's Island on the Wii being like.

[Blitzzoshi]

Actually, I could probably picture something like that in a 3D Yoshi's Island. The only issue I see with that would be the gigantic deathpit, what with there being so little room to walk on (and believe me, I fell to my death countless times when I was playing those levels from Sunshine). Maybe they could widen the platforms and stick tall walls on the sides, and only have deathpits in select areas. That would allow for some sort of classic level design without the game snatching all your lives so quickly.

[chessyoshi]

<i>Nintendo would be a bunch of fools if they didn't make a Wii game where you can chuck eggs at stuff and stick your tongue out. It'd be TONS of fun, and people will buy it!</i>

[Chilaquiles]

blitzzoshi said:

Actually, I could probably picture something like that in a 3D Yoshi's Island. The only issue I see with that would be the gigantic deathpit, what with there being so little room to walk on (and believe me, I fell to my death countless times when I was playing those levels from Sunshine). Maybe they could widen the platforms and stick tall walls on the sides, and only have deathpits in select areas. That would allow for some sort of classic level design without the game snatching all your lives so quickly.

I actually like games that snatch my lives quickly. :\ It gives you more incentive to go for those insanely placed 1-Ups, unlike in New Super Mario Bros., where once I had 99 lives 1-Ups weren't a concern ever again.

They shouldn't be TOO generous with the green mushrooms.

[Shoe]

Man I can't tell you how many times I've brought this idea up. Now I'm even more anticipated. If they did make it, it would be nice if it was free-roam. Just exploring the island. Wow that would be so amazing. And for the sake of all things holy, it should just be yoshies...no babies. But that's up to them. It would be cool if it was multiplayer, though I can't see how they could use that in a co-op. Oh well, if that day does come, I'll be the happiest guy on the planet. Unless they screw it up...God forbid.

[Chilaquiles]

Free-roam would be nice, but there'd have to be SOME kind of objective...

[Lord of the Dance]

Yoshi's Island Crossing, haha.

But some objective would definitely be preferred.

[Yosher]

I like the idea of Yoshi's Island Crossing. =P
I don't know about objectives though... they only thing I can think of is making it somewhat similar to Mario 64/sunshine, but instead you get so-called Neon eggs (like the ones in Mario&Luigi 1), instead of stars? And you have to do more, and (maybe) harder stuff to obtain them? I dunno, just an idea.

[Masakuni]

Yeah, I think it'd sound like a pretty cool idea, yeah. Kinda would like to see a few of the same elements the Yoshi's Island games would have though LEVEL UP ! ! like transformations for example...