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Yoshi Touch & Go (JP) (translated as Touch Yoshi: Strolling in Clouds in Simplified Chinese) is a 2005 Nintendo DS video game released within the handheld's launch window. The game is noteworthy as being controlled entirely by the DS's unique features including the touch screen and mic. It was developed by the people behind the Super Mario Advance series, and was relatively successful. The game was succeeded by Yoshi's Island DS a year later and was later re-released for the Virtual Console for the Wii U in 2015/2016.
Plot[]
Directly from the instruction booklet:
"A lone Stork flies hastily through the darkened pre-dawn skies. Held firmly in its beak is a very special package; a pair of newborn twins, which the Stork is hurrying to deliver to their parents!
Just as the Stork races through the skies over Yoshi's Island, something terrible happens! A dark shadow rushes toward the stork with tremendous speed and crashes into it! The startled Stork drops the twin babies..."
Characters[]
Playable[]
- Yoshi - Yoshi will come to the rescue and save Baby Mario from falling during the second half of the gameplay. The Yoshi will be able to jump, flutter kick, throw eggs, and more.
- Green Yoshi: 20 Eggs, Extremely Slow
- Light Blue Yoshi: 25 Eggs, Very Slow
- Pink Yoshi: 30 Eggs, Slow
- Blue Yoshi: 35 Eggs, Medium
- Yellow Yoshi: 40 Eggs, Fast
- Red Yoshi: 45 Eggs, Very Fast
- Black Yoshi: 50 Eggs, Extremely Fast
- Orange Yoshi* 50 Eggs, Even Faster
- Purple Yoshi** 50 Eggs, Fastest
- White Yoshi!+ 50 Eggs, Extremely Slow, Can throw eggs for free
(*)Orange Yoshi appears after traveling 10000m on Marathon.
(**)Purple Yoshi appears after traveling 20000m on Marathon.
(+)White Yoshi is very rare and only appears for one kilometre.
- Baby Mario - Baby Mario will start to float down the sky in the first half, when Yoshi will then catch you.
- Super Baby - Baby Mario turns into Super Baby when Yoshi collects a Super Star.
- Baby Luigi (Through Multi-Player) - Baby Luigi will be playable through Multi-player, and will also appear in some of the modes as you have to go and save him from the Toadies.
Non-Playable[]
- Kamek - Kamek will try multiple times to steal the babies from the stork, or from Yoshi.
- The Stork - The stork will be caring the two babies when he drops baby Mario.
Cameos[]
There will be many cameo appearances from classic Mario characters.
- Mario - Mario will appear as a reward Icon
- Luigi - Luigi will appear as a reward Icon.
- Peach - Peach will appear as a reward icon.
- Bowser - Bowser will appear as a reward icon.
- Toad - Toad will appear as a reward icon.
- Koopa Troopa - Koopa Troopa will appear as a reward icon.
Development[]
Yoshi's Touch & Go initially began as a tech demo that showcased the Nintendo DS's abilities at E3. It was then titled Balloon Trip and would involve only Baby Mario as he dropped from the sky. Balloons would be on his back, and the player would have to guide him to safety using the stylus to draw clouds to make sure that he didn't run into any obstacles. When the title became very popular, Nintendo gave the green light to make this out into a full title, which would eventually bring the introduction of Yoshi. According to game designer Keizo Ohta, the game was influenced by the original Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.
While the overall game originated from Balloon Trip, the developers were originally thinking of concepts for a Yoshi platformer on the GameCube. As in the original game, the goal was to control Yoshi and protect Baby Mario. It was, as he described, a puzzle platformer that made use of the GameCube's controller. Shigeru Miyamoto, however, felt that the game would make a bigger impact if it were released on the forthcoming Nintendo DS, and thus they abandoned the GameCube idea and focused on a new title for the handheld. While the GameCube idea was intriguing, they knew that after the E3 2004 demo was created, they would have to create a Yoshi game for the Nintendo DS.
According to the game's developers, there were no major problems in the development of the game in terms of developing on new hardware. The team, who had previously worked on the Super Mario Advance series, were all very excited to work on the new platform and implement features that could only be done on the DS such as touch screen control and blowing into the mic. Hiroyuki Kimura explained that after the core concept of the game was set in stone, they faced no major problems or set backs as you would occasionally encounter in creating a video game.
Credits[]
Trivia[]
- This game's title comes from the phrase "touch and go", which is more or less synonymous with "risky". Many other things, such as films, plays, and magazines also hold the "touch and go" phrase as their namesake, making them possible namesakes, too.
- This game contains the famous "Totaka song", a little tune included in almost every game where Kazumi Totaka is a member of the music staff in addition to voicing the star character. Here, pausing in the windy area explored in Marathon Mode to allow the background music to loop long enough will yield a short section with the Totaka song's notes.
- There is an Easter egg in the game. When Baby Mario lands on Yoshi's saddle, during the cutscene the player can touch Baby Mario with the stylus to tickle him and make him laugh.
External links[]
- Yoshi Touch & Go at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Yoshi Touch & Go at GameFAQs
| Yoshi series | |
|---|---|
| Main series | Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (Advance) • Yoshi's Story • Yoshi Topsy-Turvy • Touch & Go Yoshi's Island DS • Yoshi's New Island • Woolly World (Poochy) • Yoshi's Crafted World |
| Spin-offs | Yoshi • Yoshi's Cookie • Yoshi's Safari • Kuruppon Oven de Cookie • Tetris Attack |