Yoshi's Island (series)

The Yoshi's Island series 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 are set in the early childhood of Mario, 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 way. The series is primarily developed by Nintendo EAD, with some games being developed by Artoon or other companies. The series began with console titles, but switched to a focus on handheld entries with Yoshi's Island DS.

Spin-off games
These games are inspired by the Yoshi's Island series, but are not part of it nor officially grouped with said games. However, these games feature many of its mechanics, including the ability to throw eggs and the Flutter Jump. The main difference is that the Yoshis in said games do not carry babies and instead feature an health meter. However, only exception is Yoshi Touch & Go

Gameplay
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 doesn't make him lose immediately a life, the baby he's carrying ends in a bubble and a timer starts to decrease. If the Yoshi doesn't manage to pop the bubble before the timer reaches 0, some enemies, typically Toadies, kidnap the baby and the Yoshi loses a life. The derived Yoshi platform games instead feature 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.

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. 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.