Yoshi's Story is a charming, adorable, very fun game that no one else likes and we never really understood why. The most damming complaint seems to be that it wasn't Super Mario World 3, but it was never meant to be that and just goes to show that people were just as dumb and unreasonable 20-years ago as they are now. Well, we always liked Yoshi's Story and play it for you on day 89 of Eric Vs. 365. Click to read and watch.
I bought Yoshi's Story some time in early 1998 (it launched late December 1997) despite the objections of my friends. They were all "cool" now playing shooters like GoldenEye and buying something as childish looking as Yoshi's Story was totally out of the question. Screw them. I played it. I enjoyed it.
Then I went on the Internet and discovered that everyone else thought it was terrible. It was too cute. It was too simple. It was too short. It wasn't a real follow-up to Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. People were twisting themselves in knots trying to figure out reasons not to play it. It was the first time I can remember where my opinion and my experience with a game was just the total opposite of the mainstream consensus. Of course, that happens with pretty much every game now ...
About Yoshi's Story, however, people were just weird about it. It wasn't "short", it has 24 levels with loads of secrets. Perhaps the gameplay was simple as it wasn't a hardcore platformer, but the joy in the gameplay comes from eating specific fruits in order to earn high scores, not simply getting to the end of each level. And being "too cute", well it's freaking adorable and that's a good thing. And I have a confession - I freaking hate Yoshi's Island, so the fact Yoshi's Story was totally different was a good thing in my eyes.
So don't expect to see Yoshi's Island anywhere during this year-long project. It ain't gonna happen.
A funny end of my Yoshi's Story ... story ... is that I ended up selling my copy to a local rental store sometime later in '98. They bought it from me for $30 and then I don't think anyone ever rented it.
