Genre-defining platform adventure that delivers a fantastic experience across the board!

Story

A long time ago, when the stork was carrying baby Mario and his twin brother to their parents, something terrible happened. The twins were separated when an evil Magikoopa from the Koopa Kingdom tried to kidnap the two – they got baby Luigi in their possession, but baby Mario ended up in the Yoshi Island. The friendly Yoshies figured that they will do their best to help reunite the baby twins. A long and daring journey begins as the Yoshies carry the baby through the risky lands. Meanwhile, the Magikoopas are still searching to kidnap the lost baby Mario.

The Game

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island is a very nice and approachable platformer game with some unique, fun, and innovative twists. Even though you play as the different Yoshies that help Mario, it still has a very distinct Mario game feel to it, and Mario is still the main character in the story. The game is set in the Yoshi Island, which is an exotic and beautiful place, but even as such it holds many dangers. The graphical style is also unique – it aims to portray a lush playful world that looks like it has been drawn and colored with crayons.

The basic gameplay builds on the well established concept of having the player start on the left, trying to reach the end of the level to the right. However, this time around there are many quirks you’ll have to figure out to defeat some of the enemies and get past the obstacles that are laid out in your way. The Yoshi you play carries baby Mario on his or her back, and if you get hurt by an enemy, you’ll drop Mario, who then starts to float away up in the air. You must then catch him as soon as possible before he gets out of reach and the flying Magikoopa appears to take him away. So you’ll pretty much feel like a babysitter for Mario when playing this game. This alone would have been enough to make a unique concept but this game has so much more.

Content

In terms of level count this game is huge. There are six different worlds to play in. You’ll be exploring a wide variety of environments, such as hills, caves, castles, jungles, mountains, and so on. Each world consists of six levels, two boss-levels and if you fulfill some certain conditions, you’ll be able to unlock two bonus levels on each world. This means that you’re looking at around 20 hours of play time here, if you want to explore and unlock everything.

This game is basically a master class when it comes to variety and keeping things fresh and interesting. New elements, challenges, and enemies are introduced at an enjoyable pace that never gets overwhelming, and this rare feat is maintained throughout the whole adventure. If you’re looking for a platformer game, you definitely need to see what Yoshi’s Island has to offer.

Controls

Yoshi can perform many tricks, and you’ll get the chance to learn to use them all as you progress through the adventure. You can for example, stomp the ground, catch enemies with your tongue, and then either spit them out at other enemies to knock them out, or swallow it to make an egg out of it. Eggs can then be used to hit switches, enemies, or even to break clay walls. There are special eggs too – these will hold bonus items.

Yoshi can also eat different kinds of melons to gain special abilities; he can spit seeds, spit fire or breathe ice. There are also different vehicles Yoshi can turn into when you find the appropriate power-up. These are mostly used to find secret or otherwise hard to reach areas.

Yoshies are also very dexterous – they can jump high, run fast and even run in the air for short distances! All these abilities and special moves makes it a fun experience to explore the various levels and their environments.

All this will, of course, take some time to get used to. There is a distinct learning curve here, but for the most part, the game encourages you to explore and learn in a way that feels welcoming, natural and organic. The controls are fairly forgiving, and before you know it you’ll be performing stunts like catching enemies with your tongue in the air while avoiding chasms and crazy Piranha Plants.

On top of all these moves you can use, the levels are filled with trampolines and other devices that will allow you to reach different areas. The game will walk you through the different kinds of challenges the first time around. There are clue boxes here and there that gives you hints on what you need to do to overcome the obstacle in front of you. But eventually you will have to start thinking about it more individually. This works remarkably well in this game because you have wide range of moves to try before you run out of options – and the game encourages you to try different solutions. There are a lot of bonus items, mini-games and secrets to discover, and the difficulty level is slowly increasing from one level to another – making sure the game stays challenging even if you have played some hours into the adventure.

Graphics

The graphics are simply put awesome, and probably some of the most colorful and fun on the platform. You’ll be surrounded with cascading pastel colors in a virtual world not quite like any you have seen before. The graphical style is very playful and imaginative – it’s a pleasure to see for sure! The animations are great too, and perfectly captures this particular 16-bit cartoon style. Everything is nice and smooth, and looking good at the same time.

Sound

The music is adorable and cheery, and there are plenty of great, memorable melodies playing in the background as you play. Overall, it’s a perfect supplement to the aesthetics of the entire presentation – nothing much to complain about at all there. The sound effects are also good; the sound the Piranha Plants make when you throw an egg at them makes me laugh every time.

Summary

Yoshi’s Island has a lot of content, and has its focus steadily on its well-developed platforming aspects. You’ll need to jump from one place to another and knock out enemies of all kinds – much like the previous Mario games. The long play time, wealth of variety, and great graphics makes this a legendary title everyone into platformer fan should play!

Developed By: Nintendo EAD
Published By: Nintendo
Version Reviewed: SNES
Genre: Platformer
Players: 1
Also Available On: GameBoy Advanced
Released: 1995-10-06