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I was very interested in this hack when I first came across it, as I love the original game. And the additions this hack advertised, like additional Secret levels and more Yoshi colors, intrigued me even more. Thus, I decided to give this hack a try. I thought I knew what to expect going in, but little did I know I would be in for quite an insane experience!

This hack is Yoshi's Island with the difficulty turned WAY up. It's the equivalent of the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 to the first Super Mario Bros. I wouldn't quite call it Kaizo-level, but I definitely could not imagine playing this hack without save states, which I'm not ashamed to admit I used with abandon. And just like with the original game, going for 100% completion is an even greater challenge in itself. This hack throws so many devious tricks and traps at you that the original would never dare touch. Whatever you think is going to happen, be prepared to face something far harder. (And important side tip: The new Secret levels replace the bonus game unlocks on the level select screen, so the only way to play the bonus games now is after beating a level. The secret Bandit bonus games select screen still exists, but the code to access them has been changed, so keep a look out for the level that reveals the new code!)

Fortunately, the levels are incredibly well designed and elegant, despite the increased difficulty. In fact, I'd say the increased difficulty is what allows this hack to shine and feel fresh, as those aforementioned tricks and traps include really unique applications of the base game's mechanics. This includes things such as climbing walls with Yoshi's car transformation, "digging" your way through a legion of ice blocks using strategical Fire Watermelon spitting, and even some level objects that were left unused in the original. Plus, a lot of the levels use cool palettes not seen in the original, like World 1-3, called "Chocolate Garden", using a brown-colored version of the grass tileset, or World 2-2, called "Golden Forest", using a yellow-colored version of the jungle tileset.

The bosses in the game are the same, but they are fought in a different order, and except for Bowser they amusingly now have different names (e.g., Roger the Potted Ghost is now Haunted Pot Paul, Hookbill the Koopa is now Soopa Koopa). And the fights have also been made harder through changes in their arenas. For example, Burt the Bashful (now Byron the Bashful) has spikes added to his room, and Naval Piranha (now Audrey the Piranha) has two Spray Fish in the water to get in your way. (Thanks to level redesigns, you also can't cheese the fight by defeating him before the fight begins anymore.) Again, these changes make the game feel fresh and interesting.

Still, I do have a few complaints. The original game had only one level taking place in a multiple-sided maze-like sewer (Extra 4: The Impossible? Maze). This hack, however, forces you to go through such sewer sections at least four or so times throughout the game. While the mazes are, again, well-designed, these levels honestly wore me out the more of them I played, having to carefully scavenge each slowly to make sure I didn't miss anything. The fact that these sections were usually in darkness didn't help, either. Another irritation is how many times you have to be chased by a giant Tap-Tap. This only happens once in the original, in Bowser's Castle, and it's not potentially required since it's only one of the routes in that level. But in this hack, you have to run away from a giant Tap-Tap at least three or four times. I again got tired of these sections the more I did them, because as with the sewer areas it was basically a variation of the same challenge each time.

Finally, I have to say that while the hack's levels are great overall, the intense challenge across the whole game did start to take their toll on me by the end. Cue my groans as I finally started the final level, Secret 6, and then saw it's called "Yoshi's Master Quest". This level was maddening. Slight spoilers here, but I have to describe just how tough this level was. After the initial super-fast helicopter auto-scrolling section, you enter a HUGE multi-leveled, multi-sectioned castle labyrinth that throws nearly every challenge in Yoshi's Island at you. You have to follow a very specific sequence of steps, crossing many different enemies and obstacles in the right order, to get through all of the rooms in this section. And then you find that's only the level's first half! Cue my groans again when I found the second half includes both a sewer maze section (despite already going through a maze in the first half) AND a Tap-Tap chase section. And to top it off, I had to do the level MULTIPLE times to get all of the collectibles because I missed some the first few go-arounds. I had to look up an online guide for finding these, because I didn't have it in me to spend any more time finding them myself.

But despite all of these struggles, I found myself relived as I eventually persevered to the end, and I will proudly say that with this last level completed I had achieved a perfect 100%, 6000-points completed save file. This hack was a wild ride, and because of its difficulty you probably shouldn't play it if you aren't a Yoshi's Island master. Overall, though, I don't regret playing it one bit, and I really am amazed at the amount of creativity on display. Thus, I heartily recommend it, and I give big kudos to YoshisFan!