Yoshi's Island Video Game

Aug 19, 2017  The game is a prequel to Super Mario World, where the player this time controls only Yoshi, who must accompany Mario still baby through six.

  1. Yoshi's Island Video Games
  2. Yoshi's Island Video Game Characters Chest Piece

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland

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The history of a legend. We call it that because Yoshi's a trooper for putting up with that crying.
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Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, released on the SNES close to the end of its lifespan, is the first platformer in the Yoshi's Island sub-series of the Super Mario Bros. franchise, starring Mario's Non-Human Sidekick, Yoshi. It is also the last 2D Mario series game until New Super Mario Bros. came out for Nintendo DS eleven years later.

The game was released in Japan on August 5, 1995, and in North America two months later on October 4. A sequel, Yoshi's Island DS was released on November 13, 2006.

The story is set before the original Super Mario Bros. Kameknote , who is at the time young Bowser's caretaker, looks into the future and sees the fate of his young master. To prevent this, he blindsides the delivery stork as it's carrying the Mario Bros. to their parents but only snags Luigi, dropping Mario over Yoshi's Island and right on the back of one of the dinosaurs. Seeing the map that was bundled with the baby Mario, the Yoshis decided to work together in a relay style fashion to rescue Luigi, all the while dodging Kamek's troops who are searching for Mario.

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Gameplay-wise, it shares much in common with its parent series and it even has many of the common Mario enemies. The game introduced Yoshi's egg-throwing ability as well as the Ground Pound attack (an attack that would be given to Mario himself in the 3D games and the New Super Mario Bros. series). One difference, however, is that Yoshi doesn't have traditional Hit Points; instead, every time Yoshi is hit, Mario flies off Yoshi's back and a timer counts down. The player must retrieve the screaming baby before the countdown reaches zero, otherwise he'll get kidnapped and Yoshi loses a life. The amount of seconds on the countdown can be increased by collecting stars.

In the fall of 2002, the game was given an enhanced port for the Game Boy Advance, known as Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3. The port includes 6 new difficult Bonus Levels called the Secret Levels that are unlocked after beating the game, changes some of Extra Levels, and has a number of other minor adjustments such as lightening the color palette. This version was later one of the ten Game Boy Advance games available to participants in the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Program, given a limited release to early adopters of the Nintendo 3DS for free on its eShop in December 2011. The game was later made available on the Nintendo Switch as part of the Super Nintendo library for Nintendo Switch Online.

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This video-game provides examples of:

Yoshi's Island Video Games

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  • Advancing Boss of Doom:
    • The final battle against Baby Bowser. Not exactly an Advancing Wall of Doom, but once you hit him four times, he gets pretty pissed off and tries to charge into the foreground. Failing to defeat him in time makes him destroy the terrain, making you fall to your death. That is, unless you can perform the action seen here.
    • Sluggy the Unshaven is this- he cannot damage Yoshi in any way, only slowly advancing and pushing Yoshi back. However, the end of the platform leads to a Bottomless Pit...
    • The fight against Roger the Potted Ghost involves you in a push-of-war battle on a platform with one Bottomless Pit at each end.
  • Antepiece: Lots. An example: Naval Piranha's castle features several rooms teaching the player how to ricochet eggs off walls to collect items. This is the only way to damage the boss at the end of the stage.
  • Art Course: A few of the latter levels would have the night sky take an appearance similar to The Starry Night.
  • Artifact Mook: Though enemies from the dream-themed Super Mario Bros. 2 (with said enemies being explicitly tied to the nature of the dream world of Subcon) already started appearing in subsequent Mario games, the case of Shy Guys and Snifits in this game is notable because it takes place chronologically before all games released up to that point (and since), including Super Mario Bros. 2 itself.
  • Artistic License – Biology: When you are inside Prince Froggy, you are supposed to Attack Its Weak Point, which turns out to be its uvula. Only humans have uvulas. And the uvula isn't in the stomach, and it triggers the gag reflex, not a bowel movement.
  • Attack Its Weak Point:
    • Lampshaded in the battle with Sluggy the Unshaven: 'Just remember, this slug has no weak points!' Unless you count the big red heart in the center of its body, that is. And guess where you have to aim at to hurt him?
    • Lampshaded with Naval Piranha as well. The name is a dead giveaway.
  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: All of the bosses are enhanced by Kamek's magic in order to make his monsters grow. Inverted with Prince Froggy, though; instead of him being 50 feet tall, you're 2 inches tall.
  • Autobots, Rock Out!: Final battle theme with Mega Baby Bowser. Blistering electric guitars, anyone?
  • Autosave: The game saves after every level.
  • Background Boss: The final battle against Giant Baby Bowser. Friendly balloons show up to deliver giant eggs to you, and unlike normal gameplay, you throw them into the background to hit Bowser.
  • Badly Battered Babysitter:
    • Except it's not the babies delivering the battering...
    • There's also Kamek. When the first thing your charge does is stomp you flat, there's a reason why he panicks when Baby Bowser wakes up.
  • Bait-and-Switch Boss: Upon reaching the boss room in the level 'King Bowser's Castle', you'll at first only find Kamek ordering you to 'HAND OVER THE BABY!!!', then Baby Bowser wakes up and stomps Kamek flat.
  • Bandit Mook: The aptly named Bandits don't just make you drop Baby Mario, they run off with him, and you have to chase it to get him back. The game has a few other enemies that do this, namely Ukikis (the monkeys), and frogs. Also, Mousers steal your eggs.
  • Batter Up!: Sluggers are capable of using their bats to knock back just about anything that is thrown their way, from eggs, to watermelon seeds, to Chomp Rocks.
  • Big Bad: Kamek, who kickstarts everything.
  • Big Boo's Haunt: Bigger Boo's Fort, which introduces several ghost enemies including the typical Boos, and itself has a King Mook Boo as its boss.
  • Book-Ends: World 6 Secret, 'Endless World of Yoshis' in Advance 3, the last segment of which is... the intro level, 'Welcome To Yoshi's Island'.
  • Born Unlucky: The yellow Yoshi must brave through every fourth level which includes the fortress and mini-boss. The blue Yoshi has to storm every castle which includes the world's boss (except the last, which is Bowser's Castle for the green Yoshi).
  • Boss Arena Idiocy: Tap-Tap the Red Nose is invincible to all Yoshi's attacks. Good thing he's just chilling on a stack of breakable blocks above lava!
    • The same goes for Roger the Potted Ghost, who likewise cannot be harmed by any of Yoshi's attacks, but is fought in a room with bottomless pits that Yoshi can push him into.
  • Brutal Bonus Level: The Secret and Extra levels have the game's most difficult challenges, plus many are long and without checkpoints. Each Extra level is unlocked after scoring 100 points in all regular levels of a world, while the Secret ones (exclusive to the Advance port) are available after beating the game for the first time.
  • Bubbly Clouds: The last leg of World 5 goes from the mountains to the sky, with cloud platforms galore.
  • Bullet Seed: After eating a watermelon, Yoshi can spit watermelon seeds at enemies to kill them.
  • Canis Latinicus: In Yoshi's Island there are six main enemy classifications, each of which is given 'scientific nomenclature': Edibilis Boringusnote , Harrassimentia Phlyoverusnote , Projectilia Ritebakatchianote , Ucantia Defeatusnote , Dudim Phreykunoutonthisnote , and Mostosti Vomitonusnote .
  • Checkpoint Starvation: The first four world's extra stages do not feature middle rings at all. Granted, the levels are significantly shorter than many of the regular ones, and one is a maze without a really significant middle point, but still!
  • Chekhov's Skill: Bouncing an egg off the wall. What, you thought the Naval Piranha level just happened to train that to hell?
  • Chest Monster: Fooly Flowers. They have fangs and an evil smile, and when you get near them, they fall down, and roll along the ground trying to kill you.
  • Children in Tow: The Huffin' Puffins are generally followed by a line of smaller ones. You can bump off the parent and use the children as egg substitutes.
  • Color-Coded Characters: Each different-colored Yoshi does the same numbered stage in each world (green starts with the first level, pink does the second, etc). The exception is the final world, which always ends with the green Yoshi.
  • Conspicuously Light Patch: Each level in the original game had 20 red coins, disguised as and placed among regular gold coins. However, if you look very closely, you'll notice that the disguised red coins have a subtle red tint to them, which makes them easy to distinguish from the gold coins once you know what to look for, especially on emulator. This was fixed in Advance 3 so they all look the same.
  • Constellations: Upon defeating Raphael the Raven, he flies off into the sky and becomes a constellation.
  • Cosmetic Award: A Perfect Score in an Extra Level adds a Star on the title screen.
  • Critical Annoyance: When you get hit, Baby Mario floats around in a bubble crying until you get him back. You will also hear a beeping noise.
  • Crosshair Aware: The final boss, and a handful of regular enemies as well.
  • Cute, but Cacophonic: Mario is cute as a baby, but you won't like to hear him cry.
  • Defeat by Modesty: Burt the Bashful is defeated by repeatedly hitting him so his pants fall. After they fall completely, he deflates and explodes out of embarrassment.
  • Degraded Boss: Big Slime/Salvo the Slime, a boss from the first game's first world, reappears in a few endgame fortress levels guarding keys as an altered mini-boss of sorts. Ironically, it's actually much harder this time, as future appearances don't have it drop Lemon Drops to refill your eggs, forcing you to be wise with using them.
  • Developers' Foresight: If you skip the Naval Piranha boss battle by defeating her before it even begins, Kamek will swoop in and scream, 'OH, MY!!!' This is a sign that the developers anticipated this being possible.
  • Disc-One Nuke: Getting 100% Completion on any given level is quite the feat, considering that, other than five flowers and twenty red coins - both well hidden - the player must also have his or her stars reaching the Cap of thirty by the end of the level; that said, managing to do so in every level in the first world awards the player with the Flip Cardsbonus minigame by making it accessible at will. This means that - especially when dissing the whole 'avoid Kamek and you get 10 lives' thing - you can use the minigame purely as a source for items, including a whole pack of egg-ammo, the possibility to tell red and yellow coins apart, an 'add 20 stars' item... you get the picture.
  • Down the Drain: 'Naval Piranha's Castle' and 'The Impossible? Maze'.
  • Early Installment Weirdness: This is the only game where Baby Bowser speaks in Baby Talk. In all his subsequent appearances, he is able to speak clearly, probably as a sign of him maturing.
  • Elite Mook: The Zeus Guys. The near invicible bandit sub-species that throw energy balls at you and will punch and kick you if you get too close. They're usually in duos.
  • Evolving Title Screen: The title screen places flags on finished worlds, switches to the final world once reached and adds instruments to the music.
  • Evolving Music: For each world you unlock, the map theme gets additional instruments.
  • Exactly What It Says on the Tin: People occasionally get confused and assume that Baby Bowser and Bowser Jr. are the same. But Baby Bowser is Bowser as a Baby.
  • Fake Difficulty: The GBA port introduces bits of this due to the noticable screen crunch making it easy to run or jump into enemies just offscreen.
  • Fat Bastard: The fat Shy Guys that are immune to being stomped due to their bulk. Yoshi can eat them to create huge eggs that act very similar to a POW block.
  • Flipping Helpless: This is how you defeat Hookbill the Koopa in Yoshi's Island; Flip him over, then Ground Pound their underside to cause damage.
  • Foul Flower: Zigzagged. On one hand, there are some helpful smiley flowers, such as the five flowers in each level that Yoshi can collect for bonus points. On the other hand, there are some enemies based on flowers, such as Fooly Flowers, which pretend to be collectible flowers, then drop to the ground and start rolling at Yoshi when he gets close.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Baby Bowser has no actual involvement in the plot and is a complete non-entity until the final battle, but everything Kamek does in this game traces back to Bowser having no successful future thanks to the Mario Bros.
  • Ground Pound: Trope Namer, and the first time it was ever usable by the player in a Mario game.
  • Ground Wave:
    • The ground wobbling and rippling is one of the side-effects while Yoshi is dizzy.
    • During the first phase of the Final Boss, both Yoshi and Baby Bowser's Ground Pounds cause damaging shockwaves that literally ripple across the floor.
  • Hard Levels, Easy Bosses: The fortress and castle levels are often long and challenging, but the boss fights in them are usually cakewalks to beat—unless you're going for a 100% run anyway.
  • The Heavy: Kamek is the most recurring antagonistic presence in the game, showing up at every fort and castle to empower Bowser's minions.
  • Helpful Mook:
    • Green Gloves, an enemy type that can catch your eggs and throw them back at you, can potentially be the Accidentally Assisting type. The game exploits this for some of its puzzles. For example, in World 2-2 (where they're first introduced), you can trick one into hitting an out-of-reach ? cloud for you, which contains a 1-Up.
    • Muddy Buddy, if hopped on, coats Yoshi's feet in mud, making him immune to Spikes of Doom.
  • Human Snowball: If you hit a rock on a skiing level, you will trip and turn into a snowball.
  • 100% Completion:
    • Each level allows Yoshi to collect 30 starsnote , 20 red coins, and 5 flowers (each of which provides a specific number of points adding up to 100). In a single world, collecting a full 100 points from seven different levels unlocks a replayable Bonus Challenge that allows you to farm items or lives, and collecting 100 points in all eight levels of a world will unlock an Extra Level for the world, which also allows you to collect 100 points.
    • In the Super Mario Advance 3 version, defeating Baby Bowser also unlocks a Secret Level for each world with another 100 points to collect (for a total of an even thousand points in each).
  • I Can't Believe It's Not Heroin!: 'Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy'.
  • Implacable Man: Tap-Tap the Golden, encountered in the cave behind Door 3 in Baby Bowser's Castle. He will steadily chase you across the cave and cannot be damaged or defeated by any means; even if he falls into one of the Bottomless Pits he will somehow manage to jump back out. Your only option is to knock him backwards with eggs and flee.
  • Insistent Terminology: In the original SNES version of the game, Mario and Luigi are repeatedly referred to as twins. In the GBA version, however, they were instead called brothers.
  • Interchangeable Antimatter Keys : In castle levels, it is apparent.
  • Interface Screw: Four words: 'Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy.'
    • The same thing happens whenever Yoshi will attempt to throw a giant egg.
    • There is also the 'Grim Leecher', which thankfully is encountered only in a bonus level in Yoshi's Island.
  • Jungle Japes: Much of World 3 is themed on the jungle.
  • Line Boil: Some of the text has this.

Yoshi's Island Video Game Characters Chest Piece

Island
  • Make My Monster Grow: All of the bosses and minibosses are just normal enemies that are enlarged by Kamek's magic. Inverted one time when Kamek shrinks Yoshi and he gets eaten by the boss.
  • Mini-Dungeon: Halfway through each world, Yoshi ventures into a Fortress like grown Mario (and his friends whenever present) would do in a 2D platform adventure. The difference is that each Fortress houses a different Mini-Boss.
  • Mushroom Samba: Touching a Fuzzy causes Yoshi to stumble around as if drunk for a little while, screwing up his movements and causing the level geography to warp. As it happens, the 'scientific name' of the Fuzzies is Dudim Phreykunoutonthis.
  • Musical Nod: The end credits play a slowed-down remix of the Super Mario Bros. Course Clear fanfare.
  • Never Trust a Trailer: The American TV commercial. It made this game look like a Grossout Game.
  • Never Say 'Die': Kamek's euphemisms before the boss battles.
    Kamek:(before facing Roger the Potted Ghost) So give him here before you accidentally get hurt!
    Kamek:(before facing Marching Milde) Yoshi! Oh dear... Well, Marching Milde will pound you to bits!!
    Kamek:(before facing Hookbill the Koopa) Little Koopa come through for me now! Go forth and rock Yoshi's world!
    Kamek:(before facing Raphael the Raven) I banish you to forever twinkle in the heavens, BE GONE!!
  • No-Damage Run: In-universe, the player is required to do this in the boss fights in order to get the perfect score for the level. Keeping the timer up to 30 in the levels is hard enough, but even one slip up during the boss fights will rob you of at least 1 point off the baby timer, forcing you to replay the level again to get the full 100. You can't use inventory items in boss fights, which means no star point recovery items either. You can, however, get around this by bouncing an egg off the wall twice before it hits the boss, making them drop two point recovery stars. Given how big the bosses are, it's generally not very difficult. (but the stars usually drop right on top of the boss, making them extremely difficult to grab without taking even more damage) The GBA version also adds a death count that shows up in the secret ending for 100% Completion which then gets added to your file. Getting No. 1 requires you to not lose a single life throughout the course of the entire game (or at least none that get autosaved).
  • Obstacle Ski Course: Two of the snow levels have skiing sections where you need to dodge rocks and jump over bottomless pits.
  • Oh, Crap!:
    • Yoshi's expression while he's shrunken by Kamek before Prince Froggy eats him. Oddly enough, he has the same look on his face after he goes through Froggy's other end after the battle, but that's probably because of how he came out.
    • Kamek later gets one in the same world if Yoshi performs a One-Hit Kill on Naval Piranha by firing an egg at her before even starting the battle.
  • Precision F-Strike: If Naval Piranha is defeated before his boss fight, Kamek yells, 'OH, MY!!!' Where this trope counts is in the Japanese version: Kamek yells, 'チクショ〜!' ('chikusho~!'), which generally translates to, 'Damn it!'
  • Retcon: Prior Mario games stated that Luigi was Mario's younger brother; this game established instead that they are twins. Additionally, this is the first time that Mario and Luigi are portrayed as natives of the Mushroom Kingdom; earlier materials depicted them as foreigners.
  • Ring-Out Boss:
    • Roger the Potted Ghost can only be defeated by pushing his pot into a pit, and he is aided by a pair of Shy Guys who are busy pushing his pot in the opposite direction.
    • Sluggy the Unshaven tries to push you into theBottomless Pit.
    • Tap-Tap the Red-Nose is defeated only by destroying the blocks underneath him, and then knocking him into the lava below.
  • Sequel Difficulty Spike: For a game designed after a baby's coloring book, Yoshi's Island is a much tougher game than Super Mario World. There's no way to warp or skip levels, the stages are longer and more maze-like, stage hazards are more dangerous and the enemies are more aggressive. Thankfully there are plenty of ways to get extra lives.
  • Shout-Out: An example not from the game itself, but its advertising: the TV commercials for this game were a send up of the Mr. Creosote sketch from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
  • Skippable Boss: You can skip the fight against Naval Piranha by killing him before Kamek shows up. This can be done by positioning yourself on the far left end of the boss room ledge (so the cutscene doesn't trigger) and throwing an egg at the Piranha Plant.
  • Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Much of World 5 takes place in the mountains. Naturally, several levels contain snow and ice, and there's even an Obstacle Ski Course.
  • Squashed Flat: There are 3D doors that fall down, and if Yoshi gets caught underneath one of them, he will peel off the door in a paper-like state (which was considered very impressive animation for SNES standards). This is also how Kamek ends up when you face Baby Bowser.
  • Stock Sound Effects: Baby Mario's crying in the SNES version is a stock sound clip of a baby crying. The GBA port replaces Baby Mario's cries with a new one recorded by Charles Martinet, but Baby Luigi's cries on the world map still use the old sound effect.
  • Take That!: Harry Hedgehog is a blue hedgehog who runs very fast and tries to ram into you. This is a jab at Sonic the Hedgehog. In later games after the end of Sega and Nintendo's bitter rivalry, you may notice that Harry is now purple.
  • Take That, Audience!: The Extra 1 level is named 'Poochy Ain't Stupid!' This is the game telling you that if you die at this level, it's not the dog that's stupid, it's YOU.
  • Terms of Endangerment: Kamek often refers to Yoshi by cutesy pet-names in his banter prior to boss fights.
  • Trailers Always Spoil: Nintendo Power's 'A Journey Through Yoshi's Island' promo video featured a clip of the Final Boss battle at the very end. It also mentions Baby Luigi during its summarization of the game's story, while the game itself never refers to him by name (in fact, he wasn't actually shown on camera until the very end).
  • Unending End Card: The ending is a nice one, but if you want to keep playing after beating the final boss, you'll have to reset. No button will take you away from the picture of Baby Mario and Baby Luigi.
  • Unique Enemy: Several.
    • The game's only Gargantua Blargg is found in 1-4.
    • Blindfold Boo only appears once in a secret area of 2-4. The GBA remake rectified this, as they also appeared in Secret 6.
    • The Lunge Fish, an enemy that can eat Yoshi alive, only appears in 3-7.
    • Also in 3-7 is Barney Bubble, which only appears just before the Lunge Fish section. No longer the case in the GBA remake, which added them to Secret 6.
    • There are three unique Lakitu enemies which each only appear in a single level. Aqua Lakitu only appears in 3-8, Fishin' Lakitu only appears in 4-8, and Thunder Lakitu only appears in 5-1.
    • The red Bullet Bill launchers, though Dummied Out in the original version, appear only once in the GBA remake, in Secret 6.
  • Warm-Up Boss: Burt the Bashful and Salvo the Slime for World 1. Both are incredibly easy boss fights, particularly the latter since he can't even directly harm you.
  • Womb Level: The boss battle for World 3's miniboss, Prince Froggy, takes place in said frog's stomach since he eats a shrunken-down Yellow Yoshi right before the battle. The only way to damage him is to aim eggs from the Shy Guys he eats at his uvula. Yoshi gets out through the back passage... and gives the camera a look of absolute shock as the boss dies.

Index

Yoshi's Island
First installmentSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995)
Latest installmentYoshi's New Island (2014)
Number of installments6 (3 main, 1 spin-off, 1 port, and 1 demo)
Parent franchiseYoshi

The Yoshi's Island series[1] 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. The games generally feature a colorful, storybook-like art style. The games function as prequels to the present era of the Mario franchise, as they are set in the infancy of Mario and Luigi, where the Yoshis must work to save Baby Mario and others, including Baby Luigi, from the machinations of Kamek and Baby Bowser. Indeed, the defining trait of the series is that the controlled Yoshi carries a baby character, who ends in a bubble when the former is hurt. When this happens, Yoshi has a set number of seconds to rescue Mario, which can be increased in various ways.[1] The series is primarily developed by Nintendo EAD, with some games being developed by Artoon or other companies. The series began with a console title, but switched to a focus on handheld entries with Yoshi's Island DS.

  • 1List of games
  • 3Major elements of the Yoshi's Island series
    • 3.1Major characters

List of games[edit]

Main games[edit]

The following games are part of the Yoshi's Island series:[1]

Title
Cover, original release, and systemSynopsis
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

1995
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island revolves around the time when Mario and Luigi were babies. When Kamek attempts to kidnap both Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, he succeeds in kidnapping Baby Luigi, but Baby Mario falls to Yoshi's island and Yoshi finds him. Kamek sends his army of Toadies to find and kidnap Baby Mario. Yoshi and his fellow islanders escort Baby Mario to help him rescue his brother.
Yoshi's Island DS

2006
Nintendo DS
The direct sequel to Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Island DS, features Baby Peach, Baby Bowser, Baby Wario, Baby Donkey Kong and of course Baby Mario all on a quest to save all the world's babies (including Baby Luigi). Kamek is the one responsible for the kidnapping of the babies, still being mad after the events of the previous game. The Stork manages to attack some Toadies, who drop the babies they are carrying, the babies being Baby Mario and Baby Peach. The Yoshis set out to rescue the babies, encountering more along the way.
Yoshi's New Island

2014
Nintendo 3DS
Yoshi's New Island is a platform game for the Nintendo 3DS. The game is a midquel between Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Island DS, and it uses a similar art style for the game. It is shown that the Stork has delivered the Baby Mario twins to the wrong house and tries to get them to their real parents. Kamek steals Baby Luigi once again and Baby Mario falls on a place called Egg Island, where the Yoshi residents find him and decide to take him to Bowser's Castle.

Most gameplay elements are borrowed from the first game. Among new elements are the Mega Eggdozers, Metal Eggdozers and the multiplayer minigame mode. A game released in 2014 on the Play Nintendo website called Yoshi's New Island Match-Up.

Spin-off games[edit]

These games are inspired by the Yoshi's Island series, but are not part of it.[1]

Title
Cover, original release and systemSynopsis
Yoshi Touch & Go

2005
Nintendo DS
The first Yoshi's Island game on the Nintendo DS, Yoshi Touch & Go features the same story as Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. The game is more of a puzzle game than a platformer like Yoshi's Island was. The game is entirely touch-sensitive, allowing Yoshi to attack enemies with a tap of the stylus.

Reissue[edit]

Title
Cover, original release and systemSynopsis
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3

2002
Game Boy Advance
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 was the Game Boy Advance port of Super Mario World 2. This game was very similar to the original with several differences, such as updated graphics and some new levels. This game also included Mario Bros. as an extra feature, which was a constant theme in the Super Mario Advance series.

Tech Demos[edit]

Title
Image and systemSynopsis
Balloon Trip

Nintendo DS
Balloon Trip was a tech demo for the Nintendo DS, shown off at E3 2004. The game had a very simple storyline, in which Baby Mario is floating in the air being held up by 3 balloons. If any enemies touch these balloons, they pop. The player must use the stylus to stop enemies from touching Mario by drawing various things such as clouds and bubbles. This demo was used as the foundation for Yoshi Touch & Go.

Gameplay[edit]

The basic gameplay of the Yoshi's Island series is that of a 2D side-scrolling platformer. 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 baby that the Yoshi carries on his back (usually Baby Mario) can also give the Yoshi various abilities to aid it. The defning feature of the series is the fact that, when the Yoshi is hit by an obstacle that does not make him lose immediately a life, the baby he is carrying ends in a bubble and a timer starts to decrease. If the Yoshi does not manage to pop the bubble before the timer reaches 0, some enemies, typically Toadies, kidnap the baby and the Yoshi loses a life.

The spin-offs in the series feature somewhat different gameplay. In Yoshi Touch & Go, the player must draw lines of clouds with the Nintendo DS Touch Screen, guiding Yoshi and Baby Mario away from enemies as they float down. Enemies can be defeated by drawing bubbles around them or by throwing eggs obtained from eating fruit at them.

Major elements of the Yoshi's Island series[edit]

Major characters[edit]

Protagonists[edit]

Character
ImageBrief BiographyFirst Appearance
Yoshi
Yoshi is the main protagonist of the Yoshi's Island series. He is one of the Yoshis who defend the islands whenever they are threatened by evil forces, often carrying Baby Mario and the other babies on his back. He, like the other Yoshis, has various abilities, including flutter jumping in the air, ground pounding, swallowing enemies, and producing Yoshi Eggs. Yoshi is often the one who finds Baby Mario and begins the quests.
Super Mario World
Baby Mario
Baby Mario is the starring baby of the Yoshi's Island series. Whenever Kamek attempts to kidnap Baby Mario, he fails, leaving Baby Mario in the care of the Yoshis as he sets out to rescue his brother. Baby Mario has the ability to become completely invincible to all attacks in Yoshi's Island DS after collecting a star. Baby Mario also possesses the power to make Yoshis run more swiftly.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Baby Luigi
Baby Luigi plays the damsel in each Yoshi's Island game he appears in: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Island DS, Yoshi Touch & Go, and Yoshi's New Island. Each time that he is kidnapped, his brother must team up with the Yoshis to rescue him. In Yoshi's Island DS, Baby Luigi's role is slightly more significant in the fact that he is one of the seven star children.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Poochy
Poochy is an ally that has appeared in the Yoshi's Island series twice: in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and in Yoshi's New Island. He is an odd-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 Yoshis need to cross certain terrains that are inaccessible to the Yoshis; thus, the Yoshis ride Poochy across said terrain, taking them to a safe environment.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Baby Donkey Kong
Baby Donkey Kong, (alternatively referred to as 'Baby DK'), has appeared in only one Yoshi's Island game to date: Yoshi's Island DS. He appeared as an ally who helped the Yoshis rescue Baby Peach back from a group of Ukikis. Baby DK then decides to join the mission to stop Bowser. Baby DK had many useful abilities, including the ability to climb on vines, the ability to make a Yoshi charge through hard rock, and the power to make Yoshi Eggs explode on impact.
Yoshi's Island DS
Baby Peach
Baby Peach is the infant form of Princess Peach. Her only appearance in the Yoshi's Island series is in Yoshi's Island DS as one of the star children. After Kamek and his army of Toadies attempted to kidnap all children in the Mushroom Kingdom, they failed to nab Baby Peach (along with Baby Mario). Baby Peach teamed up with the Yoshis and Baby Mario to get to Kamek and Bowser and stop his evil plans, freeing the kidnapped babies. She had the ability to help Yoshis float via the use of her parasol.
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Baby Wario
Baby Wario is one of the seven star children and the baby version of Wario; he has appeared only in Yoshi's Island DS. Even as a baby, he showed a great love for money, as seen in a few cinemas throughout the game. Baby Wario, though kidnapped, was set free due to his greedy, spoiled, and whiny personality. When the Yoshis find him, they allow Baby Wario to accompany them, though it is for a short duration. Baby Wario has a giant magnet which allows him to attract any metallic object—even coins.
Yoshi's Island DS
Stork
The Stork is yet another ally in the Yoshi's Island series. He has appeared in three games: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Island DS and Yoshi's New Island. He also appeared in Yoshi Touch & Go. His role in the games was relatively basic and short: to deliver the babies, either to their parents or to a Stork Stop. The Stork didn't speak in any games, and implied no complex personality. Not much is known about him, but he has always been there to help the Yoshis take care of the babies.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

Antagonists[edit]

Character
ImageBrief BiographyFirst Appearance
Baby Bowser
Baby Bowser is one of the three recurring main antagonists in the Yoshi's Island series. He has appeared in all three Yoshi's Island games to date: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Island DS, and Yoshi's New Island. Baby Bowser is a spoiled infant who generally wants his way. In Yoshi's Island DS, Baby Bowser was an ally (temporarily) for the first time. He had the ability to breathe fireballs that could defeat enemies and melt ice. In Yoshi's New Island, Baby Bowser chose Egg Island to be his resort, but his plans were foiled by the Yoshi clan.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Kamek
Kamek is the main antagonist in the Yoshi's Island series. He has appeared in all three Yoshi's Island games to date: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Island DS, and Yoshi's New Island. Like Baby Bowser, he also appeared in Yoshi Touch & Go. He is a blue-cloaked Magikoopa who is notable for stealing the babies of the Mushroom Kingdom. Kamek commonly uses his magic to enhance certain enemies into bosses for the Yoshis to fight. When that fails, he tries again—but alas, the 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
Bowser has appeared in two main Yoshi games: Yoshi's Island DS and Yoshi's New Island. During the events of Yoshi's Island DS, He serves as the main antagonist. Bowser travels back in time to find the seven star children, in hopes of receiving their power; if he were to receive their power, he could conquer the universe. Bowser kidnapped as many children as he possibly could, (including his infant self), in order to get the seven star children. However, the star children eventually foil Bowser's plan, forcing him to return to his original time. He also appears in Yoshi's New Island as the final boss—Bowser, however, can only be fought after the player has completed all of the main levels but does not use the Flutter Wings power-up.
Super Mario Bros.

Species[edit]

Species
ImageBrief SummaryFirst Appearance
Yoshi
Yoshis are the main inhabitants of Yoshi's Island. 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 accompany Yoshi and the babies on their journeys, carrying the babies on their backs. Yoshis have various abilities, including flutter jumping in the air, ground pounding, swallowing enemies, and producing Yoshi Eggs.
Super Mario World
Toady
Toadies are minions of Kamek who often kidnap Baby Luigi. They normally travel in groups of four and fly using the propellers on their heads. There is also a variant called Solo Toadies, which travel by themselves and attempt to kidnap the baby on Yoshi's back.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Shy Guy
Shy Guys are the most common enemy in the Yoshi's Island series. They are normally quite weak, but have an inordinate amount of alternate versions, including flying ones, stilt-using ones, fat ones, rocket-riding ones, and even pirate-themed ones.
Super Mario Bros. 2
Bandit
Bandits are tough, lanky Shy Guys with smug grins that will attempt to steal the baby, sometimes carry coins, and sometimes wear crude Yoshi masks. Sometimes, they replace the baby with a green Shy Guy. They also have two baseball-playing versions called Baseball Boys, a red version with a spiked helmet and yellow hood, and a martial artist variety.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Ukiki
Ukikis, formerly Grinders, are monkeys with many different abilities. Some just hop around, others spit watermelon seeds or grab Baby Mario, while others form long swinging chains. They can also throw bombs and yellow Needlenoses; these varieties are known as Short Fuses and Seedy Sallies, respectively. They can also swim slowly. When hit, their color darkens.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Raven
Ravens are a species of black, rotund birds. They mostly attack by walking around planet-like objects, though the smaller ones tend to run along walls and ceilings. Raphael the Raven is a Raven enlarged by Kamek's magic.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Goonie
Goonies are a bird enemy that have appeared in several Yoshi's Island 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
The Blarggs
Red Blarggs, Gargantua Blarggs, and Nep-Enuts, all derivative of the Blargg from Super Mario World, are recurring enemies throughout the Yoshi's Island series. The former two inhabit lava, while the latter inhabits water. Blarggwich, a ghostly variety, actually helps the Yoshis by giving them rides on the Flatbed Ferry atop its head. Yoshi's Island DS has an even larger form of Gargantua Blargg as well.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Human
Humans are a race that appear in most Yoshi's Island games—however, most of them only appear as babies. Humans play their most important role in Yoshi's Island DS, where Bowser attempts to kidnap several human babies which he believes are the star children, which will give him the power to take over the world. The Yoshis save several of these babies and join forces to defeat Bowser.
Donkey Kong

Locations[edit]

Location
ImageBrief SummaryFirst Appearance
Yoshi's Island
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, but Yoshi has always restored peace to the island.
Super Mario World
Egg Island
Egg Island is the second homeland of the Yoshis which appears in Yoshi's New Island. The island is in front of Yoshi's Island, the main island of the Yoshis. When the Stork drops Baby Mario and Baby Luigi once again, Baby Mario falls down and teams up with the native Yoshis to rescue his brother, who is held captive by Kamek now that Baby Bowser chooses the island to be his resort. When the team defeats Bowser and rescues Baby Luigi, the Stork takes the babies back to their homes, as the Yoshis bid them farewell.
Yoshi's New Island

Items[edit]

Item
ImageBrief SummaryFirst Appearance
Yoshi Eggs
Yoshi Eggs are a staple of any Yoshi's Island game. 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, red, and even flashing ones. The yellow ones can be received by hitting a yellow Egg Block, the red ones can be received from red Egg Blocks, while the flashing ones can just be found rarely on the ground. A green egg that bounces off walls will become yellow after the first bounce and red after the second bounce, as well. Other types of eggs are found in the series: Giant Eggs are formed by swallowing Fat Guys; Mega Eggdozers are formed by swallowing large enemies like Mega Guys and Mega Kantera; and Metal Eggdozers are formed by swallowing metallic enemies like Metal Guys and Tetu Kantera.
Super Mario World
Star
Stars are items that appear from red eggs when they hit an enemy, from enemies that are defeated in certain ways, or from Tulips, certain crates, and Winged Clouds. They represent the amount of time the baby can be off of the Yoshi's back before the Toadies kidnap them. Ending a level with 30 Stars left factors into 100% completion of the level.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Smiley Flower
Five Smiley Flowers appear in each level. Collecting them all will grant an extra life and factor into the level's 100% completion. The enemy Fooly Flower pretends to be a Smiley Flower, but will attempt to roll over any approaching Yoshi.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Red Coin
20 Red Coins appear in each level. Collecting them all will grant an extra life and factor into the level's 100% completion. They often appear gold, like normal coins, but in some games have a slight orange tint even in this form.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

Objects[edit]

Item
ImageBrief SummaryFirst Appearance
Egg Block
Egg Blocks 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 magenta 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
Flatbed Ferry
The Flatbed Ferry is the Yoshi franchise's version of the Lift, and typically follows a dotted path. They come in numerous colors, typically indicative of their speed or behavior.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Winged Cloud
The Winged Cloud is an object that, when hit with an egg or similar object, will typically drop an item, an object, a group of items, or cause some even to occur, such as stairs appearing. They are sometimes invisible, becoming instead transparent when a Yoshi touches them.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
! Switch
While specific to Switch Palaces in Super Mario World, ! Switches become much more commonplace in the Yoshi's Island games. They cause Dotted-Line Blocks to turn into red ! Blocks or cause a secret pathway to a bonus area to open up.
Super Mario World

References[edit]

  1. ^ abcdDescritpion of the Yoshi's Island series on the Super Mario Pia. The main description states A side-scroller action game where Yoshi protects the baby-form [of Mario] Baby Mario as an adventure unfolds. If hit by an enemy's attack, Baby Mario is separated. This heart-pounding system where you must quickly rescue [Baby Mario] is fun!
Yoshi games
PlatformersYoshi's IslandMain gamesSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995, SNES) • Yoshi's Island DS (2006, DS) • Yoshi's New Island (2014, 3DS)
Spin-offsYoshi Touch & Go (2005, DS)
ReissuesYoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (2002, GBA)
OtherMain gamesYoshi's Story (1997, N64) • Yoshi's Woolly World (2015, Wii U) • Yoshi's Crafted World (2019, NS)
Spin-offsYoshi Topsy-Turvy (2004, GBA)
ReissuesPoochy & Yoshi's Woolly World (2017, 3DS)
PuzzlesYoshi (1991, NES) • Yoshi's Cookie (1992, NES) • Yoshi no Cookie: Kuruppon Oven de Cookie (1994, SNES) • Tetris Attack (1996, SNES)
Spin-offsYoshi's Safari (1993, SNES)
Tech demosYoshi Demo (GBA) • Balloon Trip (DS)
Canceled gamesYoshi Racing
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