I remember my issues with Yoshi's Story not having anything to do with how easy the game was. I remember the game not really making it clear how you were supposed to succeed, as IIRC there's a multiplyer effect with the fruit you select that determines your score. I also remember the soundtrack being incredibly obnoxious and progression being agonizingly slow, even by the low standards of the Yoshi series.

It's a game I try to pick up every once in a while and just end up putting down again after a few levels. To be fair, though, I'm not a fan of the original Yoshi's Island, either. I didn't really like the Yoshi games until Woolly World.

Same as the above post, my main issue was not the difficulty.  The biggest issue is that it is overwhelmingly bland.  That might sound like a matter of opinion but Yoshi's Story is in fact bland as a result of game design choices.  30 or so fruit pieces are needed to complete each stage, however, most stages are packed with many many more pieces than just 30.  What this means is that a player could conceivably beat a stage long before having seen the entire stage.  This is a problem for game designers, because you don't want to spend time creating an awesome hand-crafted platforming set-piece in each stage that players could potentially never see.  Think of any other Mario game, the Donkey Kong Country Returns games, heck even Uncharted - any sort of game that locks you on a certain path forcing you to experience exactly what the creators intended.  Ideas are introduced in the beginning of a stage, and then iterated upon until the stage eventually advances into something truly special and memorable.  In Yoshi's story, the level design is purposely lacking in those unique challenges and set pieces because a player could be done with a stage long before ever reaching the halfway point.

I was so excited for Yoshi's Story before release. The graphics looked great, and I loved Yoshi's Island. Essentially I was hungry for a sequel similar to Donkey Kong Country 2: something that was more of the same but improved upon.

However, Yoshi's Story was a big deviation. It didn't feel similar at all to Yoshi's Island. The lack of challenge was, yes, a bummer... but Yoshi's Island was a HUGE game. Yoshi's Story was not. This was back in middle school, when I could devote more time to games, but recall beating it in a day or two. I ended up going back to get nothing but melons... not because the game captivated me, but at that stage I was just trying to get my money's worth.

It's not a bad game, but didn't feel worth the price tag, as N64 games were not cheap.

One of the brilliant things about the original Yoshi's Island was the reward for getting 100% in each stage unlocked a new stage for that world.  It really gave players a reason to 100% each level which increased the challenge and length of the game.  So if someone complained about Yoshi's Island being too easy, you could tell them to play it a certain way that would fix this issue and reward them with even harder levels as a result.

The problem with Yoshi's Story is not only are the normal levels lacking in any type of difficulty but the reward for getting all the melons in each level is NOTHING.  Now going for all the melons does improve the experience by a lot since you'll actually see the entire level this way and does introduce some level of difficulty the main game lacks.  But the problem is without a reward for doing this it's hard to motivate people to get all the melons so many will never even experience the full game since the game gives them no reason to.

John, you liked the game because you were 6.

I was 12 and very excited to purchase this game after playing Yoshi's Island at a friend's house years earlier. I felt cheated by how short and easy the game was.

$60 is a lot of money, especially in 1998, especially when you're 12. The gaming press had nothing to do with this game's reception - it's just a thin title.

My wife was enjoying my copy of Yoshi's Wooly World for 3DS last month and I fired up Yoshi's Story on my Everdrive 64 to show her where the art style started. She wasn't interested and still think it's a bad game.

Also, I don't like the Yoshi sounds originated in Yoshi's Story that they still use 20 years later. I prefer the Super Mario World, Mario Kart 64, Yoshi's Island Yoshi sound effects from before he was tainted by Yoshi's Story.

And how annoying is "Yoshi's Happy Song"? What is he saying? "Eat apple"? "Be happo"?

I'm sorry, this game fails on all counts. Thanks for raising this opportunity to discuss the game John. I'm sorry I can't agree with your views.

Actually I believe they recorded new voice lines for Yoshi for Galaxy 2 that they've been using since than.