Yoshi's Island DS is the latest addition to the critically acclaimed Yoshi's Island series. Starring the lovable green dinosaur Yoshi, the original Yoshi's Island is still regarded as one of the best Mario adventures eleven years after its release date. While the subsequent Yoshi's Story on Nintendo 64 did little to help the brand, Nintendo is now releasing this brand new adventure in the hopes of rekindling the spirit of the Super Nintendo classic.

It looks like Kamek, the villainous wizard of the original, is up to his old tricks again as he starts kidnapping children from their sleep, including Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, and Baby Princess Peach. During transit, heroic storks jostled the young Mario and Princess from their captors, but Baby Luigi wasn't as lucky. The freed toddlers touched down on Yoshi's Island and the Yoshis, never afraid of a fight, commit to saving Mario's hapless brother.

Five worlds with eight stages each lay before the Yoshis as they each take turns escorting a baby through Yoshi's Island. While the different Yoshis don't have unique powers, the babies on their back do. Baby Mario helps out with a dash maneuver and the ability to use superstars, while Baby Princess Peach comes equipped with a handy parasol to catch gusts of wind with ease, propelling the adventurers to new heights.

Other babies join in the action to make this a more varied affair than the original Yoshi's Island. Baby DK's climbs vines and swings on ropes using his uncannily strong arms. It seems he's also entered the dreaded "terrible twos" phase, using a fierce shoulder charge to take out enemies. Meanwhile, Baby Wario attracts metal with his magnet and Baby Bowser adds a scorching fireball to the Yoshis arsenal.

For those new to Yoshi's Island, gameplay is very similar to a standard Mario game. The directional pad is used to move Yoshi back and forth and pressing the B button jumps. Holding down that button allows for a flutter jump, giving Yoshi just a couple more seconds of airtime, allowing for a better chance of landing atop enemies.

Something very unique to the series is the Yoshi ability to eat enemies and make eggs out of them. Up to six eggs at a time will follow Yoshi with silent intent, waiting for an opportunity to be thrown at an enemy. The eggs are useful in getting to hard-to-reach coins, as hitting these items with an egg is usually the same as touching them. Eggs also have different attributes depending on which kid is on your back. Baby Mario's eggs bounce of walls and produce a ricochet effect, while Baby DK's explode on contact.

Yoshi may encounter a bubble with a helicopter, submarine, or digging-machine icon that will morph Yoshi into some sort of machine/lizard hybrid. (Think a helicopter with a huge nose and Yoshi's eyes.) These abilities can be used to reach different parts of the level that were otherwise inaccessible. Need to get though that tight maze of sand traps? Digging-machine-Yoshi to the rescue!

At the halfway point and at the very end of the worlds, boss characters pop up for a fight. These bosses are sometimes huge, with an example being the Bart Brothers, rotund twins with a penchant for standing on each other and jumping on Yoshis. Thankfully, an eggplant chucks ammo that Yoshi can use to defeat this particular foe, and there are conveniently placed pits that allow a quick, safe escape from the weight of the bros.

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