Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Platform: SNES Release: 1995 Players: 1 Genre; 2D Platformer Rating: 8.6 \ 10.0: Fantastic
Above is the game's opening level.
The Super Nintendo is home to many games that are often considered to be the pinnacle of their respective franchises, and among those that I've played, Super Mario World one of my favorites. I've been well overdue to finally experience its sequel, and I'm glad I did, because despite its significant shift in gameplay, Yoshi's Island manages to live up to its beloved predecessor and is one of the finest games on a system overflowing with classics.
The plot is as simple as you would expect - a stork is delivering baby Mario and Luigi to their parents, when it is suddenly attacked by Kamek, who successfully kidnaps Luigi and doesn't notice that Mario is plummeting to the island below. Fortunately, Mario lands on the back on a Yoshi along with a map that the stork was carrying. Meanwhile, Kamek, now aware that he missed one of the babies, dispatches minions to search the island for Mario. The Yoshi brings the baby to his friends, who are made aware of Luigi's location through Mario's bond to him, and decide to escort the baby to his brother via a relay system and depart and depart on an adventure.
Yoshi's Island is a sequel mostly in name rather than gameplay. You still platform from left to right and jump on enemies like you would in any other Super Mario game, but the mechanics vastly differ from the series norm. This game introduced Yoshi's staple abilities to flutter jump and turn enemies into throwable eggs, which are prominently featured in the game. Eggs are not only useful for dispatching enemies, but can be also be used to collect coins, break through fragile terrain, and pop the many question-mark clouds found in each level. This was also the first Mario platformer to feature the ground pound, a move that has been present in every main game in the series since. Another notable change is the lack of power-ups and the altered health system. Rather than finding mushrooms and flowers in blocks, you come across colored watermelons that allow you to either spit seeds in succession, breath fire, or freeze enemies with a blast of cold; and rather than shrinking upon taking damage, baby Mario flies of your back and begins floating away on a bubble, and your ears will be assaulted by his now infamous cries until you come to his rescue. There is a timer that counts down while Mario is not on your back, and he will be kidnapped by Kamek's minions when it hits zero. This timer can be increased to a maximum of 30 seconds by reaching checkpoint rings or collecting small stars that are acquired in a variety of ways.
Yoshi's Island features many of the tropes of other Mario games - many levels are centered around a gimmick or unique obstacle, such as Chain Chomps falling from the sky or avoiding floating Fuzzies that temporarily disorient you upon contact; there is a castle with a mid-boss in each world and a harder castle with a tougher boss at the end; and caves, snowy plains, and platforming-heavy "athletic" levels make frequent appearances. This is far from a negative, as I feel that this game executes these tropes more strongly than any Mario title that preceded it. A reason for this is that although certain types of levels are common, none of the worlds except for the sixth and final one have a distinct theme. This is not inherently positive or negative feature, but it works in Yoshi's Island's favor - the strong focus on well-executed mechanics that are present in no more than a few stages and the great variety of levels within each world makes almost every stage highly enjoyable and memorable. There were a handful of levels that I found tedious, such as the two in the final world in which you explore maze-like environments, but I had a blast with nearly all of them.
One of Yoshi's Island's main additions to the Mario formula was the introduction of optional collectibles in each level, which in this case are twenty red coins and five flowers. The flowers are very similar to the Star Coin, Star Medals, and Green Stars present in Mario titles released later down the line. You'll often find them in secret areas but will also frequently see them in plain sight in areas that are slightly tricky to get to. At the end of each level, a roulette wheel is spun, and the likelihood of it landing on a winning space is increased with each flower you collected. If you win, you will get to play a brief bonus game that can potentially award you extra lives and items. Tracking down each red coin can be a bit of a hassle because they can be easily missed - most are placed in plain sight alongside normal coins, and they can be identified by their slightly darker color; sometimes they are held by Fly Guys who you only have a few seconds to knock out of the air with an egg. The requirements for getting a perfect score of 100 on a level are finishing it with a full 30 second timer and collecting all flowers and red coins. I initially assumed that I would be able to replay a level find anything I missed on my first run, and I was struck with a baffling realization - your score is reset to zero upon restarting a level, which means you must meet all the requirements for a perfect score in one run, unlike in the New Super Mario Bros. games in which any Star Coins you collect never need to be tracked down again. It was at this moment that I abandoned my goal of completing the game 100%. While still manageable, this quirk makes the completion process unnecessarily tedious. Doing everything there is to do in a game ultimately isn't necessary, so although this is an annoying flaw, it can and most likely will be ignored by most players.
The presentation of Yoshi's Island is one of its strongest aspects. Despite being nearly 25 years old, the game's visuals have aged excellently thanks to the gorgeous hand-drawn art style. The meticulously detailed environments, varied color palette, and incredibly charming character designs make this game perhaps the most visually pleasing of all the 2D Mario titles even a quarter-century later. The soundtrack is also terrifically catchy, as is expected from Koji Kondo. The number of tracks is relatively low, but the variety is significant, ranging from the calming opening theme to upbeat and iconic athletic theme to a metal final boss theme so intense that it almost feels like it belongs in another franchise.
Ups
Decent challenge
Gorgeous art style
Catchy and varied soundtrack
Great level variety
Level gimmicks don't overstay their welcome
Downs
A few tedious levels
Frustrating 100% completion process
Also available on Gameboy Advance*, Wii U*, Nintendo Switch
ESRB: E Content: Comic Mischief Price: N/A*
*Due to the closure of the Wii Shop Channel, the only way to acquire a legitimate digital version of the original Yoshi's Island is to subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online for $19.99 per year, which grants access to dozens of NES and SNES games including this one. However, Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, the mostly unchanged Gameboy Advance port of this game, can be purchased for $7.99 on the Wii U eShop.
Above is the game's opening level.
The Super Nintendo is home to many games that are often considered to be the pinnacle of their respective franchises, and among those that I've played, Super Mario World one of my favorites. I've been well overdue to finally experience its sequel, and I'm glad I did, because despite its significant shift in gameplay, Yoshi's Island manages to live up to its beloved predecessor and is one of the finest games on a system overflowing with classics.
The plot is as simple as you would expect - a stork is delivering baby Mario and Luigi to their parents, when it is suddenly attacked by Kamek, who successfully kidnaps Luigi and doesn't notice that Mario is plummeting to the island below. Fortunately, Mario lands on the back on a Yoshi along with a map that the stork was carrying. Meanwhile, Kamek, now aware that he missed one of the babies, dispatches minions to search the island for Mario. The Yoshi brings the baby to his friends, who are made aware of Luigi's location through Mario's bond to him, and decide to escort the baby to his brother via a relay system and depart and depart on an adventure.
Yoshi's Island is a sequel mostly in name rather than gameplay. You still platform from left to right and jump on enemies like you would in any other Super Mario game, but the mechanics vastly differ from the series norm. This game introduced Yoshi's staple abilities to flutter jump and turn enemies into throwable eggs, which are prominently featured in the game. Eggs are not only useful for dispatching enemies, but can be also be used to collect coins, break through fragile terrain, and pop the many question-mark clouds found in each level. This was also the first Mario platformer to feature the ground pound, a move that has been present in every main game in the series since. Another notable change is the lack of power-ups and the altered health system. Rather than finding mushrooms and flowers in blocks, you come across colored watermelons that allow you to either spit seeds in succession, breath fire, or freeze enemies with a blast of cold; and rather than shrinking upon taking damage, baby Mario flies of your back and begins floating away on a bubble, and your ears will be assaulted by his now infamous cries until you come to his rescue. There is a timer that counts down while Mario is not on your back, and he will be kidnapped by Kamek's minions when it hits zero. This timer can be increased to a maximum of 30 seconds by reaching checkpoint rings or collecting small stars that are acquired in a variety of ways.
Yoshi's Island features many of the tropes of other Mario games - many levels are centered around a gimmick or unique obstacle, such as Chain Chomps falling from the sky or avoiding floating Fuzzies that temporarily disorient you upon contact; there is a castle with a mid-boss in each world and a harder castle with a tougher boss at the end; and caves, snowy plains, and platforming-heavy "athletic" levels make frequent appearances. This is far from a negative, as I feel that this game executes these tropes more strongly than any Mario title that preceded it. A reason for this is that although certain types of levels are common, none of the worlds except for the sixth and final one have a distinct theme. This is not inherently positive or negative feature, but it works in Yoshi's Island's favor - the strong focus on well-executed mechanics that are present in no more than a few stages and the great variety of levels within each world makes almost every stage highly enjoyable and memorable. There were a handful of levels that I found tedious, such as the two in the final world in which you explore maze-like environments, but I had a blast with nearly all of them.
One of Yoshi's Island's main additions to the Mario formula was the introduction of optional collectibles in each level, which in this case are twenty red coins and five flowers. The flowers are very similar to the Star Coin, Star Medals, and Green Stars present in Mario titles released later down the line. You'll often find them in secret areas but will also frequently see them in plain sight in areas that are slightly tricky to get to. At the end of each level, a roulette wheel is spun, and the likelihood of it landing on a winning space is increased with each flower you collected. If you win, you will get to play a brief bonus game that can potentially award you extra lives and items. Tracking down each red coin can be a bit of a hassle because they can be easily missed - most are placed in plain sight alongside normal coins, and they can be identified by their slightly darker color; sometimes they are held by Fly Guys who you only have a few seconds to knock out of the air with an egg. The requirements for getting a perfect score of 100 on a level are finishing it with a full 30 second timer and collecting all flowers and red coins. I initially assumed that I would be able to replay a level find anything I missed on my first run, and I was struck with a baffling realization - your score is reset to zero upon restarting a level, which means you must meet all the requirements for a perfect score in one run, unlike in the New Super Mario Bros. games in which any Star Coins you collect never need to be tracked down again. It was at this moment that I abandoned my goal of completing the game 100%. While still manageable, this quirk makes the completion process unnecessarily tedious. Doing everything there is to do in a game ultimately isn't necessary, so although this is an annoying flaw, it can and most likely will be ignored by most players.
The presentation of Yoshi's Island is one of its strongest aspects. Despite being nearly 25 years old, the game's visuals have aged excellently thanks to the gorgeous hand-drawn art style. The meticulously detailed environments, varied color palette, and incredibly charming character designs make this game perhaps the most visually pleasing of all the 2D Mario titles even a quarter-century later. The soundtrack is also terrifically catchy, as is expected from Koji Kondo. The number of tracks is relatively low, but the variety is significant, ranging from the calming opening theme to upbeat and iconic athletic theme to a metal final boss theme so intense that it almost feels like it belongs in another franchise.
Ups
Decent challenge
Gorgeous art style
Catchy and varied soundtrack
Great level variety
Level gimmicks don't overstay their welcome
Downs
A few tedious levels
Frustrating 100% completion process
Also available on Gameboy Advance*, Wii U*, Nintendo Switch
ESRB: E Content: Comic Mischief Price: N/A*
*Due to the closure of the Wii Shop Channel, the only way to acquire a legitimate digital version of the original Yoshi's Island is to subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online for $19.99 per year, which grants access to dozens of NES and SNES games including this one. However, Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, the mostly unchanged Gameboy Advance port of this game, can be purchased for $7.99 on the Wii U eShop.
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