Review Information
Game Reviewed Yoshi Deluxe, by Angel Mata
Review Author Vitiman
Created Aug 9 2016, 3:35 PM

General Commentary and Game Overview
Today on yet another episode of "Fangames That Could Have Been", we take a look at a one level demo of a Yoshi fangame from all the way back in... 2003? Probably before that. As a reminder for anyone who doesn't know, MFGG's upload dates stop at September 2003, even though a lot of the content is from before that date.

Angel Mata sure cooked up a surprisingly nice Yoshi engine using the default platform movement here! So the question is... is it worth it all?
 
Pros Well made engine
Nicely done custom graphics (HUD, Sonic-esque monitors)
Quite playable, in spite of being a one level demo!
 
Cons ...but it IS still merely a one level demo
Glaring graphic clash (well-made customs aside)
Engine isn't perfect and can still prove frustrating
 
Impressions
Gameplay
5 / 10
I'll make this one brief: Yoshi Deluxe is a nifty little romp through some kind of indoor setting (one that looks like a shelf? Is Yoshi a tiny figurine in this game?) where you battle the usual Shy-Guys... as well the odd hideous CGI monster or two. I'm not entirely sure for their presence, but maybe the developer was running out of enemies to use (in spite of YI having plenty to choose from) and threw in some of those "sprite pack" characters you'd find back in the day, usually containing an overabundance of realistic textures and mediocre-to-decent CGI graphics - but more on that later.

As for the engine itself, it's surprisingly well made! Apparently you can throw eggs (and even gain more eggs from Sonic-inspired monitors) but I wasn't able to figure out what actually triggered the egg throwing - no amount of pressing effectively my entire keyboard managed to do the trick, nor did this come with any sort of manual or anything. Oh well!

The flutter jump and tongue work well enough, although for some reason you can't use the tongue while you're jumping. To clarify: you can use it in MID-AIR, just not while you're specifically jumping. Basically, you can use it while falling, but that's it. It's very odd and weird, but what can you do? Probably a platform movement quirk.

Speaking of those, the engine isn't PERFECT and upon using a flutter jump or hopping off of an enemy, you'll gain the vertical reach... and then promptly go flying down at mach speed. It's hilarious in some ways, but since this is a vertical climbing level... eugh, it can get annoying quick.
 
Graphics
4 / 10
Not bad, not bad! The custom graphics in this game (namely, the game's unique HUD and the little Sonic monitor displays) are rather well done for their time and have aged surprisingly well!

Unfortunately... that's discounting every other graphic in the game. The CGI monsters clash HORRIBLY, to a point where I wonder why Angel Mata thought they'd be a good idea even back then. They just scream "filler sprite until I could make something better".

The tileset used is alright, but again: it clashes. Not nearly as bad as the CGI spookies though, so I'll give it an "OK" pass. It's nothing offensively bad, after all.
 
Sound
6 / 10
SFX are passable, and the song throughout is actually a kind of nifty little tune. It sounds like the music you'd hear in the background of an old anime, and according to a comment on the game's page, this might be an entirely accurate assumption! It also makes use of a Final Fantasy victory theme when you beat the level, so that's neat.
 
Replay
2 / 10
Eh, not really. Aside from being a one level unfinished demo, the game doesn't really do much once you beat it. You're stuck on the "LEVEL COMPLETE" screen with no indication that the demo's over to speak of. Yet again, trying to find out if I could get past this screen proved useless as there doesn't seem to be a way to do so.

Soooo maybe play it once for the curiosity of it? It's a nifty little "what could have been" in the relics of fangaming, as many of these older scrapped types tend to be.
 
Final Words
4 / 10
An interesting, well meaning demo for a Yoshi game that never was. Aside from some issues, it's a nice curiosity as to what could have been, but since it never saw the light of day in a completed or even semi-completed form, that's all it is: a curiosity.

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