| Yoshi | | First installment | Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995) | | Latest installment | Yoshi's Crafted World (2019) | | Number of installments | 10 (6 main, 2 ports, 2 spin-offs) | | Parent franchise | Yoshi |
The series of platform games featuring Yoshi is a video-game sub-series of the Yoshi franchise. It is a series of 2D side-scrolling platformers starring Yoshi, who has the unique ability to throw eggs to defeat enemies. It is considered a superset of the Yoshi's Island series,[1] and its games generally feature a colorful artstyle, with the Yoshi's Island games having a painted motif and the others featuring a hand-crafted aesthetic. - 1List of games
- 3Major elements of the Yoshi's Island series
List of games[edit]The following list covers exclusively the platform games starring Yoshi that are part of this series but not part of the Yoshi's Island series. Main games[edit]| Title |
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| Cover, original release, and system | Synopsis |
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| Yoshi's Story |
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December 21, 1997
Nintendo 64 | Yoshi's Story is the first Yoshi platform game to feature three-dimensional graphics. It plays much like the Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. The plot for this game revolves around the kidnapping of the Super Happy Tree. After Baby Bowser turned Yoshi's Island into a pop-up book, he stole the Super Happy Tree. At this point, six Baby Yoshis must traverse through six different worlds in order to reclaim the Super Happy Tree and return Yoshi's Island back to its original state. | | Yoshi's Woolly World |
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June 25, 2015
Wii U | Yoshi's Woolly World is a side-scroller platform game for the Wii U, produced by Good-Feel. The game features backgrounds, characters and enemies made of yarn, textiles and fabric, similar to the Wii game, Kirby's Epic Yarn, produced by the same company. This is the first Yoshi game to a home console since Yoshi's Story. In this game, which is set in the Craft Island, Kamek turns the wool Yoshis into Wonder Wool, except for Green Yoshi and Red Yoshi. These two remaining inhabitants of the island must save the rest and defeat Kamek and Baby Bowser, who wishes to use the Wonder Wool to build a great castle for himself. | | Yoshi's Crafted World |
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March 29, 2019
Nintendo Switch | Yoshi's Crafted World is a platform game that was announced for the Nintendo Switch during E3 2017, and was released on March 29, 2019. The game has a hand-crafted look similar to Yoshi's Woolly World. A feature of the game is the ability to flip between the front and back of stages to throw Yoshi Eggs on a three-dimensional plane. |
Spin-off games[edit]These games are inspired by the series of platform games starring Yoshi, but are not part of it.[1] | Title |
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| Cover, original release, and system | Synopsis |
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| Yoshi Topsy-Turvy |
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December 9, 2004
Game Boy Advance | Yoshi Topsy-Turvy, or Yoshi's Universal Gravitation in Europe and Australia, features a similar story to Yoshi's Story in where the island is transformed into a picture book. The Spirits transformed the entire island into a book (called the Forbidden Pop-Up Book) and Yoshi has to go through several challenges to earn the right to transform the island back. Once Yoshi has collected the required amount of Happiness Medals, Yoshi can defeat Bowser and save his home. This was one of only two gyro-sensitive games to be released on the Game Boy Advance; the other was WarioWare: Twisted!. |
Ports/remakes (excluding Virtual Console)[edit]| Title |
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| Cover, original release and system | Synopsis |
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| Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World |
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January 19, 2017
Nintendo 3DS | Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World is a Nintendo 3DS port of Yoshi's Woolly World that was released in January 2017 in Japan and February 2017 in other regions. It includes the entirety of the original game's levels, but multiplayer mode, Miiverse stamps (replaced by Pencil Patches), and bonus minigames have been removed. This port otherwise includes more features when compared to the original: more amiibo are compatible (and thus more Yoshi amiibo patterns are available), the Yoshi patterns unlocked from collecting Wonder Wool are available in three color schemes each (as opposed to one in the original), short videos featuring characters from the game can be viewed in the Scrapbook Theater (the player is quizzed on the video after viewing, if answered correctly, beads are awarded), the player can create up to 10 of their own Yoshi patterns, and a new mode centering on Poochy called Poochy Dash has been added. |
Tech demos[edit]| Title |
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| Image and system | Synopsis |
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| Yoshi Demo |
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Game Boy Advance | Yoshi Demo was a tech demo for the Game Boy Advance. It consists of a short 3D render of Yoshi's Island followed by an endless level based on Yoshi's Story. Several new enemies were included such as new types of Toadies, Bullet Bills, and a new 5-ton weight enemy. It is unknown if the game was planned to be released. | | Purple Yoshi tech demo |
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Game Boy Advance | A Purple Yoshi tech demo was created for the Game Boy Advance. Only one screenshot is known to exist, which depicts a Purple Yoshi in a forest fighting several spider-like robots.[2] |
Gameplay[edit]The basic gameplay of the Yoshi's Island series is that of a 2D side-scrolling platformer, featuring an health meter. When said meter is depleted, Yoshi loses a life. In both cases, there are items that, when collected, either replenish the timer or increase the health meter, until a certain maximum value is reached. In addition to the basic run and jump actions, the Yoshi being played as is able to use their tongue to manipulate objects and to eat enemies in most of the games. Once an enemy is eaten, it can be ejected or swallowed. If swallowed, the Yoshi will be able to lay an egg which can be thrown at objects or at enemies. The Yoshi can obtain various power-ups to help complete the level, many of which involve transforming into various vehicles. The spin-offs in the series feature somewhat different gameplay. In Yoshi Topsy-Turvy, the main aspect of gameplay is that the player must tilt the Game Boy Advance to tilt the in-game world, allowing Yoshi to walk on walls in order to traverse the level. In this game, Yoshi is able to eat enemies, but he cannot lay eggs. Major elements of the Yoshi's Island series[edit]Major characters[edit]Protagonists[edit]| Character |
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| Image | Brief Biography | First Appearance |
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| Yoshi |
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| Yoshi is the main protagonist of the series. He is one of the Yoshis who defend the islands whenever they are threatened by evil forces. He, like the other Yoshis, has various abilities, including fluttering in the air, ground pounding, swallowing enemies, and producing Yoshi Eggs. | Super Mario World | | Poochy |
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| Poochy is an ally that has appeared in many of the platform games starring Yoshi since Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, and he also appeared in two platform games outside of the Yoshi's Island series: Yoshi's Story, Yoshi's Woolly World and Yoshi's Crafted World. He is an unusual-looking dog, considering the fact that he doesn't have ears and a nose, and that his lips are protruding. Poochy comes in handy if the Baby Yoshis need to cross certain terrains that are inaccessible to the Baby Yoshis; thus, the Baby Yoshis ride Poochy across said terrain, taking them to a safe environment. In Yoshi's Story, however, he is too small to ride, and merely barks around hidden fruit. | Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island |
Antagonists[edit]| Character |
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| Image | Brief Biography | First Appearance |
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| Baby Bowser |
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| Baby Bowser is the recurring main antagonist in the series. He has appeared in all the platform games starring Yoshi. Baby Bowser is a spoiled infant who generally wants his way. In Yoshi's Story, he kidnapped the Super Happy Tree in order to steal all happiness from Yoshi's Island; he then turned the island into a pop-up book. | Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island | | Kamek |
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| Kamek is the one of the main antagonists in the series. He appeared in all the games of the Yoshi's Island series and in Yoshi's Woolly World as well. He is a blue-cloaked Magikoopa who commonly uses his magic to enhance certain enemies into bosses for the Baby Yoshis to fight. When that fails, he tries again—but alas, the Baby Yoshis always prevail over Kamek, foiling his evil plots. However, Kamek has appeared in other Mario games, (such as Mario Party DS and Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time), as a minor enemy or boss, his largest antagonist role is in the Yoshi's Island series. | Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island | | Bowser |
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| Beside appearing in the Yoshi's Island series twice, Bowser has appeared only in Yoshi Topsy-Turvy. Here, he serves as the main antagonist. When Bowser terrorizes Yoshi's Island, the Spirits turn the island into a pop-up book. Yoshi must collect a certain amount of happiness medals in order to earn the chance to fight Bowser. | Super Mario Bros. |
Species[edit]| Species |
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| Image | Brief Summary | First Appearance |
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| Yoshi |
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| Yoshis are a race that appear in every game of the series. They are dinosaurs who enjoy eating Fruit. The type of fruit that a Yoshi likes depends on that Yoshi's color. Yoshis come in many different colors, including Green, Red, Yellow, Blue, Pink, Light-Blue, Purple, Brown, Black, White, and Orange. Yoshis of many of these colors often have various abilities, including fluttering in the air, ground pounding, swallowing enemies, and producing Yoshi Eggs. | Super Mario World | | Shy Guy |
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| Shy Guys are the most common enemy in the Yoshi series. They have a variety of derivatives, but are usually fairly weak. | Super Mario Bros. 2 | | Goonie |
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| Goonies are a bird enemy that have appeared in several Yoshi games. They tend to travel in groups and attack by diving down to hit Yoshi. There are many Goonie derivatives such as Flightless Goonies, Skeleton Goonies and Bowling Goonies. Goonies are also sometimes seen flying in the background. | Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island |
Locations[edit]| Location |
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| Image | Brief Summary | First Appearance |
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| Yoshi's Island |
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| Yoshi's Island is the homeland of the Yoshis and the area where the games in the Yoshi's Island franchise until Yoshi's Island DS take place. The island has been attacked by Baby Bowser and Kamek many times and has even been turned into a pop-up book twice, but Yoshi has always restored peace to the island. | Super Mario World |
Items[edit]| Item |
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| Image | Brief Summary | First Appearance |
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| Yoshi Eggs |
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| Yoshi Eggs are a staple of any platform game starring Yoshi. They are not only a weapon for the Yoshis to use against enemies, but they are also tools that can be utilized to solve certain puzzles. By swallowing an enemy, a Yoshi can lay an egg. In addition to the standard green Yoshi eggs, there are also yellow and red ones. The yellow ones can be received by hitting a yellow Egg Block while the red ones can be received from red Egg Blocks. In Super Mario World, yellow and red eggs can hatch into Baby Yoshis of their respective color. | Super Mario World | | Fruit |
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| Fruit is a variety of food that Yoshis love to eat. There are five main fruits on Yoshi's Island: Apples, Bananas, Grapes, Watermelons and Melons. Heart Fruits are a rare type of fruit that makes Yoshi invincible for a short time. All of these fruits grow on the Super Happy Tree. | Donkey Kong Jr. |
Objects[edit]| Object |
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| Image | Brief Summary | First Appearance |
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| Egg Block |
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| The Egg Block is an item found only in the Yoshi's Island series, the other platform games featuring Yoshi and Super Mario Sunshine (possibly as a reference, since they appear in the level The Yoshi-Go-Round's Secret). They are small white cubes with spots on them—the color of the spots shows what the block does. The green Egg Block, when hit, ejects an unlimited number of Yoshi Eggs for the player to utilize in that level. Up to six Yoshi Eggs will come out of a green Egg Block. The yellow block and red block, however, will only give out 1 yellow egg and 1 red egg, respectively. The purple block is different from the others, as it expands and acts as a boost for the player rather than ejecting eggs. | Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island | | Super Happy Tree |
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| The Super Happy Tree is a tree that grows every kind of fruit including a Heart Fruit. In Yoshi's Story Baby Bowser stole the tree and turned Yoshi's Island into a pop-up book. Several Baby Yoshis traveled across the island and saved the Super Happy Tree and returned Yoshi's Island to its true form. | Yoshi's Story | | Sundream Stone |
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| The Sundream Stone is a sentient stone tablet with five gems that surround a sentient stone resembling a sun. It supposedly possesses the power to make anyones dreams come true. In Yoshi's Crafted World, Baby Bowser and Kamek attempt stealing the Sundream Stone as several Yoshis pull the Sundream Stone back, resulting in the Yoshis, the gems on the Sundream Stone, the stone itself, Kamek, and Baby Bowser being scattered around Yoshi's Island. | Yoshi's Crafted World |
References[edit]- ^ abNintendoWiiUUK (June 23, 2015). Yoshi's Woolly World - History Trailer (Wii U). YouTube. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
- ^The Mystery of the Purple Yoshi Tech Demo (Game Boy Advance, 2000). YouTube. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
| Yoshi games |
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| Platformers | Yoshi's Island | Main games | Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995, SNES) • Yoshi's Island DS (2006, DS) • Yoshi's New Island (2014, 3DS) |
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| Spin-offs | Yoshi Touch & Go (2005, DS) |
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| Reissues | Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (2002, GBA) |
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| Other | Main games | Yoshi's Story (1997, N64) • Yoshi's Woolly World (2015, Wii U) • Yoshi's Crafted World (2019, NS) |
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| Spin-offs | Yoshi Topsy-Turvy (2004, GBA) |
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| Reissues | Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World (2017, 3DS) |
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| Puzzles | Yoshi (1991, NES) • Yoshi's Cookie (1992, NES) • Yoshi no Cookie: Kuruppon Oven de Cookie (1994, SNES) • Tetris Attack (1996, SNES) |
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| Spin-offs | Yoshi's Safari (1993, SNES) |
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| Tech demos | Yoshi Demo (GBA) • Balloon Trip (DS) |
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| Canceled games | Yoshi Racing |
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