Yoshi's Story

Yoshi's Story is a platform game in the Yoshi franchise, and the first one outside the Yoshi's Island series, released for the Nintendo 64. It was released in 1997 in Japan and two months later in 1998 in the United States. Later, it received a port to the Wii's Virtual Console in fall of 2007 for all regions and the Wii U's Virtual Console in early 2016, and is one of the launch titles for Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online. The music of Yoshi's Story was composed by Kazumi Totaka, who voices Yoshi in this game, a first for the Mario franchise. The gameplay possesses similar mechanics to the Yoshi's Island series of games, but it does not include Baby Mario.

A tech demo, called Yoshi Demo, was unveiled at the time of the Game Boy Advance's first announcement. The title was seemingly either a port or a direct sequel to Yoshi's Story, but it is unknown if it was simply meant as a demo or was canceled. Years later, a title called Yoshi Topsy-Turvy was released, and it featured the same art style and mechanics as Yoshi's Story and was perceived as a sequel. Yoshi's Story was also the first Mario/Yoshi game on the Nintendo 64 released in North America to be rated E for "Everyone" due to the changeover by the ESRB from the previously used K-A "Kids to Adults" rating in 1998. The game sold 1.28 million copies in the Americas and 2.85 million worldwide.

Story
If the player waits a few seconds on the title screen, the book onscreen opens and tells this story: Out of the blue, the island fell, darkened by an evil spell. The blink of an eye was all it took and the island became a storybook. The Super Happy Tree vanished, too, and once-happy Yoshis began to stew. Only Baby Bowser could be so mean, to ruin the happy Yoshis' dream. The Island [sic] had paid an awful cost, for the Super Happy Tree was lost. Elsewhere on the pop-up isle, some Yoshi eggs survived the trial. The spotted eggs in that Yoshi nest would soon face Baby Bowser's test. One by one, they began to hatch. Six little Yoshis--a perfect batch! They scratched their heads and looked around. Some even tried to pound the ground. Sadness darkened every Yoshi's face. It should've been a Super Happy place. They quickly saw the problem at hand required a cunning Yoshi plan. "If we grow Super Happy," the Yoshis thought, "we'll spoil Bowser's evil plot." Their mission then was crystal clear. They had to go and spread the cheer! So it was, they all agreed, to rescue the Super Happy Tree. They set out to follow the trail of fruit to find where the tree had taken root. One Yoshi wondered, as he bounced, if Baby Bowser could be trounced. "We'll stay together," the others cried [sic] "and stomp his Baby Bowser hide." By eating fruit and having fun, the deed would surely soon be done. And so the Yoshis' quest began, to find the tree and save the land. Just turn the page and you will see how happiness grows in a tree.

Yoshis live in harmony on Yoshi's Island, and their ultimate source of happiness is provided by the Super Happy Tree. Baby Bowser becomes jealous of their happiness and steals the Super Happy Tree, crushing their happiness, and then performs a spell to turn the entire island into a pop-up picture book.

Six Baby Yoshis hatch on the island and learn of what Baby Bowser has done, and thus, they set out to retrieve the tree. They venture through six "pages" of the island, until eventually fighting him at the end and retrieving the Super Happy Tree.

Gameplay
Yoshi's Story is played much like Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, although a few aspects were tweaked or removed, such as the timer that counted down for Baby Mario when a Yoshi was hit and a Yoshi's ability to morph. To complete a level, the Baby Yoshis have to eat exactly 30 fruits scattered through the level. Before starting a level, the player has to select a Baby Yoshi. Each Yoshi has different taste when it comes to fruits and Shy Guys, and it recovers more health (and scores more points) if it eats a fruit or a Shy Guy that is of its own color. The top left corner of the screen has a flower that serves as the life bar called the Smile Meter; the flower's petals fall off as a Yoshi loses health, and its facial expression also changes accordingly (happy when full, sad when dying). Certain characters aid the Yoshis in various ways, including Miss Warps, who can teleport the Yoshis to different parts of the level, and Poochy, who can find hidden objects from far away.

If a Baby Yoshi is defeated within the level, that Baby Yoshi is taken to Bowser's Castle by Baby Bowser's Toadies. If all of the Baby Yoshis are kidnapped, the game is over. However, any lost Baby Yoshi (aside from the secret, unlockable Black and White Yoshis) can be saved by finding a White Shy Guy and finishing the level with it. When the player starts a game in either Story Mode or Trial Mode, the game randomly selects a Lucky Fruit. Said Lucky Fruit automatically heals all of a Yoshi's life, even if the Yoshi is not supposed to like the fruit.

Each world has four different levels to choose from; once a level is beaten, the player moves on to the next world without visiting the other three levels. This means to play through every single level, the player must play through the game at least four different times, going to the unvisited levels in each world. The game has four difficulty levels: Novice, Easy, Medium, and Hard.

Yoshis' moves
The Baby Yoshis can perform various moves to complete their adventure. Most of these moves were taken from Yoshi's Island, although some were tweaked or now have a new function.

Jumping and fluttering
By pressing, the player can make a Yoshi jump; by pressing again and holding it, the player can make a Yoshi flutter-jump. This helps the player get to higher places. It is possible to flutter longer by holding after a Yoshi grunts. While fluttering, a Yoshi can do so even higher if the player presses Up on the Control Stick.

Swallowing
To swallow an object, the Baby Yoshis have to lick with their tongues. It is possible to control the direction of the tongue with the Control Stick. Unlike in Yoshi's Island, a Yoshi automatically ingests the things he eats with his tongue.

Throwing eggs
When a Yoshi eats an enemy, it can turn into an egg. A Yoshi can aim the egg he made at various things when the player presses and holds or, and he can throw it when the player releases the button. If the player wants to cancel throwing an egg, they should push. Eggs can also be thrown to collect coins and Special Hearts. Even if a thrown egg does not hit anything, it explodes where the cursor was placed, and any enemies or bubbles in the explosion can be defeated or popped, respectively. The explosion's size changes depending on how happy the Yoshi is, although an egg thrown by the Black Yoshi or White Yoshi has more of an explosive impact. Black-spotted eggs explode only when the Black Yoshi or White Yoshi throws them. A thrown egg might simply fall offscreen after hitting some targets, such as bosses. Thrown eggs can also ricochet off walls. Eggs cannot be thrown underwater, however.

Ground Pound
For a Baby Yoshi to utilize this move, the player must jump and quickly press Down on the Control Stick. The Yoshi pounds the ground. A Ground Pound can be used to reveal a few items hidden in the ground or to defeat enemies.

Sniffing
Being a move exclusive to this game, sniffing is helpful in finding objects hidden in the ground. To execute it, the player must press. If a Baby Yoshi is near an object, a "!" will appear next to the Baby Yoshi's head. If the Baby Yoshi is standing on a hidden item, he will wave at the player. Any objects hidden in the ground can be revealed by ground-pounding them. In a few levels, the player can find Poochy, who sniffs for the Yoshi clan.

Story Mode
As the main portion of the game, Story Mode contains 24 levels (four per world), but only six can be played during a single playthrough (the game jumps directly to the next world after a level is completed). The player can choose which of the four levels on the first page they wish to start on. However, the choice of levels in later worlds is determined by the number of Special Hearts collected in the previous level. To finish each level, the Yoshis must eat 30 different fruits scattered throughout the level. Whenever a level is completed, the Baby Yoshis start singing and a text appears to explain what happened in the level.

Trial Mode
Trial Mode is a mode that allows the player to play any stage that they have beaten in Story Mode. In order to unlock all the stages, the player must play Story Mode at least four times and get all the Special Hearts from the stage that they were playing. This mode was created to save the player's highest score of the levels. To quit a stage, the and  buttons should be pressed together. Also, the player cannot use the Black Yoshi or White Yoshi; both are playable only in Story Mode.

Eating nothing but melons is the most efficient method of increasing one's high score, although it can be difficult to perform in some stages. If this is done, a marker appears at the end of the level. In order to eat all the melons from the stage, the player needs to sniff all the time to find hidden objects in the ground.

Also, if the player waits for two minutes and ten seconds, "Totaka's Song" is heard.

Practice
Practice mode consists of an exclusive level in which the various controls and techniques of the game are explained. This level is the only one that does not have 30 melons in it.

Playable
All the following Yoshis are playable. Each of their names is listed next to what their Favorite Fruit in the game is (since when a Yoshi eats one of its favorite foods, the Smile Meter heals more than it usually would). Eating melons also has this effect, no matter which Yoshi color it is. The different colors also serve as lives. The Black Yoshi is unlocked after the player finds a hidden black-spotted Giant Egg in the Bone Dragon Pit or Torrential Maze, and the White Yoshi is unlocked after the player finds a hidden white Giant Egg in The Tall Tower or Poochy & Nippy.

Regional differences

 * In the Japanese version, all Baby Yoshis have the same vocal range used for the Green and Yellow Yoshis.
 * In the Japanese version, the color of the spots on Egg Blocks is green regardless of the color Yoshi being used. In the localizations, the Egg Block spot color matches that of the Yoshi being used.
 * Cloudjin flashes red when hurt in the Japanese version.
 * The Japanese version's intro is written in a rainbow pastel font, while in the localizations, it was replaced with a normal font colored with a two-toned gradient.
 * In the localizations, eating 30 of the same fruit shows an image of said fruit instead of a heart on the "Level Complete" screen. In the Japanese version, only the heart is used.
 * It is not possible to save a Story Mode game in the Japanese version.
 * In the NTSC version, the game is able to switch between Japanese and English text. In the PAL version, the Japanese option was replaced with German and French.
 * The international version cancels all momentum when the player eats a fruit on the ground.
 * The Japanese version of Blargg's Boiler has two bubbled melons above the second-to-last bone bridge. In the international version, only one is found there.
 * The international versions of Shy Guy Limbo contain a music track for the sections where Bamboo Dancers appear, which is absent in the Japanese version.
 * In the fight with Baby Bowser, the Yoshis start slightly farther away from him in the Japanese version.
 * The European version contains an additional sound effect on the Game Over screen.
 * Vine Slimes replace some of the Ghost Stream sections from the original Japanese version of the game.

Pre-release and unused content
The game was first revealed in as Yoshi's Island 64. The early logo looks similar to the SNES game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island logo, implying that Yoshi's Story was originally planned as a sequel to said game, be more complex, and would have been a title in the Yoshi's Island series. However, after the health meter was chosen, the game was considered the first platformer in the Yoshi franchise outside of the Yoshi's Island series for Nintendo consoles.

Staff
Yoshi's Story was directed by Hideki Konno, who previously served as the director of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Kazumi Totaka served as the sound composer and voice actor of the Yoshis and Shy Guys. This game marks the first time Totaka voices Yoshi. Takashi Tezuka served as the producer, Shigeru Miyamoto served as the supervisor, and Hiroshi Yamauchi served as the excutive producer.

Appearances in other media
Yoshi's Story was the subject of volumes 19 and 20 of Super Mario-kun.

Yoshi's Story was also featured in Club Nintendo's comics. These were later collected in a comic book titled Yoshi's Story Comic.

References to other games

 * Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island – Yoshi's Story was originally to be called Yoshi's Island 64. Many of the elements from this game return in Yoshi's Story, and the two games share very similar gameplay. Also, a small portion of the "Flower Garden" track can be heard 43 seconds into "Games of Happiness."
 * Mario Kart 64 – Yoshi's design sprites for Yoshi's Story use Yoshi's same design from this game.

References in later games

 * Super Smash Bros. – A stage called Yoshi's Island is based on Yoshi's Story. Yoshi's moves, animations, and voice clips are the same as in Yoshi's Story.
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee – The Yoshi's Island stage from Super Smash Bros. returns, and a new one called Yoshi's Story is playable.
 * Super Mario Sunshine – The main way of keeping the Yoshis healthy in this game is by eating fruits.
 * Yoshi Topsy-Turvy – Yoshi's Island is turned into a storybook again.
 * Mario Superstar Baseball – The Super Happy Tree appears in Yoshi's themed field.
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl / Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS – An arrangement of the ending theme from Yoshi's Story plays on the Yoshi's Island stage in both games.
 * Super Smash Bros. for Wii U – The same arrangement of the ending theme from Super Smash Bros. Brawl and the 3DS version as well as the arrangement used for the Yoshi's Story stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee play on the Woolly World stage, while the arrangement used for the Yoshi's Island stage in Super Smash Bros. plays on the Yoshi's Island stage.
 * Mario Super Sluggers – The Super Happy Tree can be found in Yoshi Park again. The park plays an arrangement of the theme music.
 * Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games – Rail Lift appears as the setting of the Dream Long Jump event.
 * Mario Tennis Open – All the Yoshis from Yoshi's Story (including the unlockable Black and White Yoshis) are playable in the game.
 * Super Mario 64 DS – The Yoshis' Smile Meter reappears in one of the minigames.
 * Mario Golf: World Tour – The Yoshi Lake course is inspired by Yoshi's Story. Its music is an arrangement of the title screen music.
 * Nintendo Land – The Yoshi's Fruit Cart attraction requires the player to collect fruits. Also, Treasure Hunt's level theme and the ending theme appear here.
 * Yoshi's Woolly World – Some of the elements from this game were borrowed from and inspired by Yoshi's Story, and it also stars Yoshi without Mario similarly to that game as well.
 * Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – The Yoshi's Story stage reappears, along with the Yoshi's Island stage from Super Smash Bros., renamed "Super Happy Tree." Don Bongo, Pak E. Derm, the Super Happy Tree, and Blargg appear as spirits, using their appearances from Yoshi's Story.
 * WarioWare: Get It Together! – A microgame based on Yoshi's Story is included.

Trivia

 * In the North American version of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Chronicle erroneously states that the game was released on February 20, 1998, instead of March 9, 1998.