It was the first Yoshi platformer not to be produced nor directed by Shigeru Miyamoto, although he contributed design ideas and acted as supervisor for the game.

Taking place within a pop-up storybook, the game features vivid pre-rendered 3D graphics, illustrating worlds that are crafted from different materials, such as cardboard, fabrics, plastic, and wood.

The game received mixed reviews from critics, who responded unfavorably to its low difficulty level, although its art style, audio, and graphics were praised.

[2] The abilities of Yoshis include running, ducking, jumping, ground pounding, temporary hovering, and hurling eggs.

With extra time to polish the game, several changes were made to the international release, including graphical cleanup; the addition of white fences on cardboard courses; Egg Blocks with colors matching the Yoshi in play; new locations for some items; a slightly different ending when the player finishes a course with only melons; and additional secrets, including hidden coin formations that spell out letters.

Furthermore, the updated version also added a save feature to Story Mode, allowing the player to continue the game from the last page reached.

[16] The game's overall sound effects were designed by Hajime Wakai[17] and the palette of vocal expressions for Yoshi were recorded by Kazumi Totaka.

For example, if Yoshi is harmed to the point where the Smile Meter has no remaining petals, the music will sweep down to a lower pitch and tempo, reflecting his dreary mood.

But if Yoshi eats a Heart Fruit and becomes Super Happy, the music will instantly switch to a rock version of the currently playing theme.

Totaka has hidden his 19-note signature melody in the game, which may be heard on the Trial Mode course select screen, after the background music has looped eight times.

[24] It was specifically developed to show off the Game Boy Advance's graphical capacity, featuring an opening demo and a single looping course.

The opening displayed a pre-rendered rotating island, resembling the shape of a Yoshi, taking advantage of the system's affine rotate-and-zoom feature (akin to the Super Nintendo's Mode 7) to render a seascape in perspective.

Screenshots from the demo show the presence of giant Shy Guys, that were primarily designed to demonstrate system's advancement from the Game Boy Color's 10-pixel sprite limit.

[33] By the end of that year, Yoshi's Story sold a total of 618,789 copies in Japan, making it the 27th best-selling video game in the country in 1998.

[41] An article in Financial Times said that the late release, an inadequate supply, and distribution errors had led to poor sales for Yoshi's Story in the U.S.

[47] Upon its initial release, critics overwhelmingly praised the game's music,[50][16][55] ease of play,[50][16][55] and graphics, particularly the seamless integration of rendered objects with hand-drawn art.

[50][51][16][55][56] However, they also overwhelmingly found the game to be simplistic, particularly as compared to its predecessor Yoshi's Island,[50][16][55] and considered it much too short and easy to offer good value.

[50][51][16][55][56] John Ricciardi of Electronic Gaming Monthly wrote that "Fans of the original Yoshi's Island (one of the best platformers of all time) are going to be shaking their heads at the simplicity of this sequel.

"[50] Edge likewise highlighted the game's pre-rendered graphics for their variety of colors and scenery, but criticized the gameplay for being too easy and lacking challenge.

[49] Critics generally regarded the changes made to the international version to be positive but insufficient to alleviate the game's brevity and feeble challenge.

[50][51][16][55][56] Joe Fielder of GameSpot noted that Yoshi's Story "was obviously designed so that younger players could play through quickly and feel some sense of accomplishment", and called it "good for a rental at best.

"[51] Amongst the few more positive reviews, Game Informer praised its unusual art direction, unique progression system, and numerous hidden secrets.

But at other times, Yoshi is an unchallenging romp through levels that reek of recycled game ideas, derivative layout, and clueless enemies.

GameSpot gave the VC download a 4.0 out of 10, noting that "Like many of the other Nintendo 64 games that have made the jump to the Wii's Virtual Console service, Yoshi's Story underwent a modest graphical upgrade that has replaced the formerly blurry textures with crisp objects and has significantly reduced the instances of slowdown during boss battles.

[58] In 2020, Screen Rant praised the game's artistic style, commenting that "The crisp 2D layout and colorful storybook vibe give it a timeless quality".