Okay here it goes.
I really like Yoshi's New Island. Like a lot. I came into the game having low expectations and how everyone has perceived the game as mediocre, but I actually found myself wanting to play through more, enjoying it a lot myself. I'm in the process of 100%ing it, and I've done it for the first two worlds, including their special levels. I like how the game is generally on the easy side, but it also mixes up with the challenge to find all collectibles and especially 100%ing the special levels, which are designed to be short and sweet while also challenging (since they have no checkpoints to speak of) which I prefer over the overly long and drawn out special levels (hello Yoshi Tower enemy spam from DS hello the ridiculously long and convoluted endless world of yoshis from gba). One of the things I prefer the most was the collect-a-thon system: in the original and DS, you had to get everything in one go and I mean everything (stars, red coins, flowers) and if you missed one, then you're scull-fucked and you have to do the level over again. New Island, however, is more merciful and allows you to either focus on red coins, stars, or flowers and revisiting the level later to get the other ones you didn't get and you also have the option to get everything in one go too.
It is true that the game doesn't innovate much from the original but the quality of life improvements (such as the option for pausing to exit a level and the improved aforementioned collect-a-thon system), as well as an easier time collecting red eggs as opposed to sitting there attempting to bounce eggs off walls multiple times in an attempt to collect them) is something I welcome. I also found those 1-UP minigames in both the original and ds a huge waste of time since the game gift wraps you lives every second, so I also prefer the egg medals over them. One thing I do miss from the original are the items, though, and if it was included, it would be better. The original also feels more fluid, quicker, and more responsive to play too, but it's a minor thing.
The soundtrack is hit and miss, though and easily the worst aspect of the game because it's very polarized
but that's easily fixable by modding with a lot of stinkers
. While character graphics leave a lot to be desired, the environment design is actually very nice, and I like the backgrounds. Like this level for example looks like it took inspiration from traditional Chinese art and I'm a fan of it.
So yeah, this is a type of title where I actually don't mind the by-the-numbers lack of innovation, because I'm busy having too much fun to care. I also guess it was originally released in a time of platformer fatigue where we got a whole slew of them, but playing this in 2020-2021 when I originally had a general lack of interest in the games (collect-a-thon being my biggest annoyance with the original), I can safely say my opinion has changed for the better for the Yoshi's Island series.
