Yoshi's Island DS

Yoshi's Island DS is a single-player side-scrolling platform game for Nintendo DS, developed by Artoon and published by Nintendo. It reached North America in November 2006, Europe in December, and Japan in March 2007 as Yoshi Island DS. Built as a follow-up to Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, it sends the Yoshis on another rescue mission after Kamek's schemes leave Baby Luigi and other children in danger. The familiar hand-drawn look and egg-throwing platform action return, while the Nintendo DS hardware gives the journey a vertically extended view across its two screens.

Players guide Yoshi through five worlds of themed courses, each containing eight stages and regular boss encounters. The aim is to reach every goal while navigating enemies, pits, hazards, doors, pipes, secrets, and environmental obstacles. Yoshi runs, jumps, performs a hovering Flutter Jump, swallows many enemies with his tongue, and turns swallowed foes into throwable eggs. Eggs can defeat enemies from a distance, operate switches, uncover hidden objects, and solve route-based puzzles. A ground pound breaks through suitable obstacles, and the player can scroll the field of view upward or downward to inspect the tall dual-screen play area.

Damage follows the series' signature baby-rescue system rather than a conventional health meter. When Yoshi is hit, the baby he is carrying tumbles away and a Star Power timer starts. Recovering the baby restores the adventure, but allowing the timer to expire costs a life; instant hazards such as spikes, lava, and crushing dangers are also threats. Middle Rings act as checkpoints and add Star Power. Stages reward careful exploration with coins, red coins, flowers, stars, and character coins, and the end-of-stage score records Star Power, red coins, and flowers. Cleared courses can be revisited, supporting a more thorough search for collectibles.

The key addition in Yoshi's Island DS is its group of baby partners. Yoshi can change riders at Stork Stops, and the current baby changes the available movement or puzzle-solving tools. Baby Mario gives Yoshi a dash and can use a Super Star to become Superstar Mario for a short time. Baby Peach extends the Flutter Jump and lets Yoshi ride wind currents, while Baby Donkey Kong can use vines and ropes and charge through certain barriers. Baby Wario's magnet attracts nearby metal objects, and Baby Bowser breathes fire to defeat foes and melt ice, although Yoshi cannot create eggs while carrying him. Choosing the useful rider for an obstacle makes character switching central to progression.

The adventure also varies its platforming with temporary Morph Yoshi forms, including a helicopter, mole tank, and submarine, plus vehicles such as carts, stilts, and kangaroos. Keys can open locked doors that lead to brief minigames with extra lives as prizes. The DS Touch Screen is available for menu selection, but the core action uses the system's buttons and control pad. The arrangement lets the game retain the direct, timing-led feel of the original Yoshi's Island while building stages around the taller display and the partners' different abilities.

Nintendo originally showed the project at E3 2006 under the working title Yoshi's Island 2. Its final name made the connection to the Super NES predecessor clear, and its Japanese release used the title Yoshi Island DS. Nintendo later brought the Nintendo DS version to Wii U Virtual Console in 2015. That release preserves the adventure for one player, though Nintendo notes that original wireless features such as Multi-Card Play and DS Download Play are not available there.

For Nintendo DS players looking for a Yoshi platformer, Yoshi's Island DS combines precise jumping and arcing egg shots with collectible-focused stages and a changing set of baby abilities. Its story brings Yoshi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Baby Peach, Baby Donkey Kong, Baby Wario, and Baby Bowser into the same quest against Kamek. The result is a series sequel that keeps the earlier game's core ideas in place while making partner selection and the dual-screen layout part of each world’s challenges.