Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (sometimes referred to simply as Yoshi's Island) is a 2D platform game, for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, developed by Nintendo EAD. Despite the "2" in its name, it is the prequel to Super Mario World and chronologically the first in Mario franchise, and it stars Yoshi and the Yoshi clan who, while carrying Baby Mario, travel across Yoshi's Island to rescue Baby Luigi from Baby Bowser and his Magikoopa minion/caretaker, Kamek. Instead of relying on jumping and a power-up system for combat as in the traditional Mario platformers, Yoshis use their tongue and eggs to overcome obstacles, as well as the introduction of many other different mechanics.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island has spawned a new series of platform games from the Yoshi franchise, although it is the fourth entry overall. The game has received a remake on the Game Boy Advance, Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, which was released on Virtual Console for Nintendo 3DS, with owners applicable for the Nintendo 3DS ambassador program being able to download the game for free, and Wii U. However, the original Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island has yet to be announced for release on Virtual Console on a video game system.

Plot
From the first cinematic of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island: Narrator: ''A long, long time ago... This is a story about baby Mario and Yoshi. A stork hurries across the dusky, pre-dawn sky. In his bill, he supports a pair of twins. Suddenly, a shadow appears in a gap between the clouds and races towards the stork with blinding speed.'' Kamek: "SCRREEEECH!!!" Kamek: "THE BABIES ARE MINE!" Narrator: WOW!!! Snatching only one baby, the creature vanishes into the darkness from whence it came. The second baby falls undetected towards the open sea... OH NOO... Meanwhile, here is Yoshi's Island, home to all Yoshies. It's a lovely day, and Yoshi is taking a walk. HUH?!? Suddenly, a baby drops in onto his back. The baby seems to be fine. This is very fortunate! Wha-? Something else fell with the baby... Let's take a peek... It looks like a map. Maybe the stork was using it? But Yoshi can't figure it out. Yoshi decides to talk to his friends. Kamek: AAAAAAAAAAKK!!! Narrator: Kamek, the evil Magikoopa, and kidnapper of the baby, quickly dispatches his toadies, when he discovers that he missed the other baby! Yoshi heads leisurely back to the other Yoshies, unaware of the danger at hand. Kamek's forces are actively searching the island. Will these two children ever reach their parents safely? From the second cinematic of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island: Narrator: ''This paradise is Yoshi's Island, where all the Yoshies live. They are all in an uproar over the baby that fell from the sky. Wait! The baby seems to know where he wants to go... The bond between the twins informs each of them where the other one is. The Yoshies decide to carry the baby to his destination via a relay system. Now begins a new adventure for the Yoshies and baby Mario.''

Gameplay
Like previous entries in the Mario franchise, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is a two-dimensional, side-scrolling platform game. In addition to the typical run and jump controls, the Yoshis can also ingest enemies and manipulate objects using their tongue. After ingesting an enemy, the Yoshi can either eject or swallow them. Swallowing them allows the Yoshi to lay a Yoshi Egg, which he can carry up to six of; eating another enemy results in the egg at the front of the line to be discarded. While Yoshi has some eggs, the player can aim and throw them to damage enemies, ricochet them off solid surfaces, and skim them across water. Power-ups also exist in the form of Morph Bubbles, which allow Yoshi to transform into various forms, and the Super Star, which lets Baby Mario turn into Superstar Mario.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island introduces the concept of time-based health, a mechanic that is reused in future Yoshi's Island games. When the Yoshi comes into contact with an enemy, Baby Mario becomes separated from Yoshi, encased in a bubble and floating around in the air. While Baby Mario is in this state, a Countdown Timer appears, counting down in seconds until it reaches zero, in which time Yoshi must recover Baby Mario or Kamek's Toadies take Baby Mario, and the player loses a life. The timer starts at ten seconds at the beginning of each level, and can be increased to a maximum of thirty by collecting stars, using 10-Point Stars and 20-Point Stars, and entering Middle Rings. If the timer falls below ten, it increases back up to ten slowly after recovering Baby Mario. Entering a Middle Ring also marks the point where the Yoshi can continue from if it loses a life.

The objective of each level is to reach the goal roulette. There are ten spots on the roulette, and five of the spots can be made winning spots by collecting the five flowers in each level. Landing on one of the flower spots allows the player to play a Bonus Challenge.

Scattered throughout each level are three types of collectibles: thirty Stars, twenty Red Coins, and five Flowers. At the end of each level, the player's score is tallied with a maximum of 100 points, with flowers worth ten points each and Red Coins and Stars one point each. Attaining a perfect one hundred points in all eight levels in a world unlocks a Bonus Challenge and an extra level on the level selection map. The extra levels are designed to be more difficult than any other level in the game, and each one has its own unique gimmick.

Controls
There are two controller configurations: Patient and Hasty. By default, Patient is selected. The control setup can be swapped at any time on the world map by scrolling over to the button with the Super Nintendo controller next to the "Score" option and selecting it; additionally, at some points, there are Message Blocks that allow the player to swap control configurations. The only difference between the "Hasty" and "Patient" settings is that with "Patient" the player must press to target and press it again to throw an egg, while with "Hasty" the player must hold  to target and release it to toss an egg.

Bosses
Each world features a midway fort and an end-world castle (the fourth and eighth levels of each world, respectively), both with their own boss. Every boss is just an enlarged version of a basic enemy that Kamek super-sizes with his magic. The only exception is Prince Froggy, who remains at his normal size while Yoshi and Baby Mario are shrunk; he then eats them and the battle is located in his stomach.

Morph Bubble
Entering a Morph Bubble causes Yoshi to be transformed into one of several different types of vehicles, each with their own unique capabilities. While in this state, Yoshi is allowed to move around as the vehicle without Baby Mario for a limited time before being pulled back to the Morph Bubble and being turned back to normal. If the player is able to hit a Yoshi Block while transformed, the transformation is automatically reversed at that location.

Special Items
By winning Bonus Challenges and Mini Battles, the player's prizes can be one of several items. These items can be used at any time during a level (except during boss battles) by going to the pause menu and selecting one of them with. Up to 22 of these items can be carried at a time.

Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was later ported to the handheld Game Boy Advance as part of the Super Mario Advance series, a series of updated remakes of classic Mario games. Known as Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, it was the third in the series, and boasted new levels and slightly altered graphics and dialogue from the original, as well as various other minor changes. This version of the game is the only version available through the Virtual Console on future consoles, rather than the original version.

Soundtrack
A soundtrack CD was released in Japan on November 25, 1995, titled Super Mario: Yoshi Island Original Sound Version. Composed by Koji Kondo, the disc contains 26 tracks from the game.

Culver City event
An event was held in front of a Toys "R" Us in Culver City, California on October 5, 1995 at 3:00 PM to promote the North American release of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. At the event, there was a trailer and a large model Yoshi Egg surrounded by hay. The trailer held a banner with the words "Play It Loud" and stock art of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. The Yoshi Egg held a banner with the word "Nintendo". The event centered around "hatching" the Yoshi Egg. After the hosts interacted with the idle audience, children were lined up and given small, green hammers which they used to break open a designated area at the bottom of the egg. The Yoshi Egg, when breached, yielded stringed paper and a large model of the Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island cartridge. Group photos were then taken of children with the cartridge.

The organizers of the event also pledged to donate five hundred dollars to local schools on the condition that the principals of these schools sit on top of the Yoshi Egg for fifteen minutes. A person in a one-piece Mario and Yoshi costume also was seated on top of the Yoshi Egg. Participants could go on and off the egg by means of a forklift.

A raffle was then held with one winner receiving a Super Nintendo Entertainment System which includes a copy of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Other winners may have won t-shirts. Discount coupons were also distributed.

Material
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was the cover feature of Volume 77 of Nintendo Power. Nintendo Power also distributed eight promotional cards of some of the game's bosses part of their collectible Super Power Club series of cards which began in October 1992 with Volume 44 of Nintendo Power. The front of each card has an in-game image of the character and the reverse had a brief description of the character. The cards include:


 * Raphael the Raven
 * Roger the Potted Ghost (titled "The Potted Ghost")
 * Bigger Boo
 * Burt the Bashful (erroneously titled "Bashful Burt")
 * Hookbill the Koopa
 * Sluggy the Unshaven
 * Tap-Tap the Red Nose (titled "Tap Tap the Red Nose")
 * Naval Piranha

Videos
Nintendo of America distributed Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island: A Magical Tour of Yoshi's Island, a six minute-long promotional VHS. The video featured Ken Lobb and the same person who narrated the Donkey Kong Country: Exposed promotional VHS. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was also featured in the The Invasion of Nintendo VHS. The video also featured Ken Lobb.

Another promotional video, titled 'The Invasion of Nintendo', was included with a copy of Nintendo Power. The video featured Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island along with some other video games. Ken Lobb made another appearance.

There exists another untitled promotional video that was likely shown on monitors in video game stores. It is about fifty seconds long and consists of clips of the game along with some narration. Most notably, however, the clips are from an early version of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island that has some differences from the released game.

Adaptations
Volume 14 of Super Mario-Kun mostly focuses on the events of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, with the arc concluding in volume 15. The Super Mario-Kun version of the story features Mario and Luigi traveling back in time to stop adult Bowser and Kamek alongside Yoshi and Baby Mario.

A standalone manga, titled "Super Mario: Yoshi Island", was also released. The series, spanning three volumes, was written by Kazuki Motoyama, who had previously written a manga based on the game Yoshi, and published by Kodansha Limited.

Yoshi's Island was also adapted as part of the 4-Koma Gag Battle series, also titled "Super Mario: Yoshi Island".

Development
In an interview with game journalist Steven Kent, Shigeru Miyamoto stated that he wanted to make a game starring Yoshi as far back as Super Mario World's development. Miyamoto disliked previous Yoshi games (specifically mentioning Yoshi's Cookie, Yoshi's Egg and Yoshi's Safari, the latter being mistranslated as "Yoshi's World Hunters" in the interview) and wanted to make one more authentic to the Yoshi character.

An early version of the game was demoed to Nintendo's marketing department, who rejected it due to the visuals "lacking punch" in comparison to Donkey Kong Country's pre-rendered 3D graphics. In response, Shigeru Miyamoto developed a more stylized and "cartoony" art direction for the game, which was accepted.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was one of three completed games to use the Super FX 2 graphics chip, which allowed for larger sprites and more advanced effects such as sprite scaling and rotation (advertised as "Morphmation" technology), basic polygonal rendering, and advanced parallax scrolling.

Staff
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was directed by Takashi Tezuka, Toshihiko Nakago, Shigefumi Hino, and Hideki Konno. Koji Kondo was the sound composer. Shigeru Miyamoto was the producer, and Hiroshi Yamauchi was the executive producer.

Reception
The game was placed 18th in the 100th issue of Nintendo Power's "100 best Nintendo games of all time" in 1997. The game placed 185th in the 200th Issue of Game Informer's "Top 200 Games of All Times", the lowest ranked Mario series game.

Pre-release and unused content
According to Shigeru Miyamoto, the marketing department at Nintendo wanted him to use pre-rendered 3D sprites like in Donkey Kong Country for the game, rather than stylized 2D sprites. Additionally, found in the game's data are several sprites that go unused, such as several Super Mario All-Stars sprites and three unused Yoshi forms. There are also three unused Mini Battles that can be seen in the game's code.

By going into any level with a Fat Guy and carrying a Giant Yoshi Egg to the end of a level, the player must go to the edge of the screen past the exit and throw the egg up, then use Yoshi's tongue to push it slightly into the edge of the screen. By finishing the level like this, the next Yoshi will collect the egg as it appears to take Baby Mario, allowing the player to take a Giant Yoshi Egg into any level in the game.

By jumping through a Middle Ring and spitting out an enemy at the same time, Yoshi constantly appears to have a full mouth, despite still being able to stick his tongue out and not being able to spit anything out.

References to other games

 * Super Mario Bros.: This game's "end of level" fanfare at the end of the credits is a cover version.
 * Super Mario Bros. 2: Part of this game's "character select" theme is part of Yoshi's Island's "Athletic" theme. Shy Guys and Snifits also return in this game.
 * Super Mario Bros. 3: Yoshi's sprite is based on the All-Stars version of the game.
 * Super Mario World: The American and European versions of the game are sold as a sequel to Super Mario World (although the game is actually a prequel by definition). Also, some of Yoshi's sound effects were taken from the original.

References in later games

 * Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars: The Magikoopa fought in Bowser's Keep has a Psychopath thought that strongly implies it is Kamek; while he is clearly familiar with Bowser in the English translation, the Japanese version of the line indicates that he recognizes Mario as the baby.
 * Super Mario 64: A part of the "Powerful Infant" theme is reused for the "Superstar Mario" theme in this game.
 * Mario Kart 64: Yoshi's sound effects were reused in this game.
 * Super Smash Bros.: Yoshi's moves and attacks were taken from this game.
 * Paper Mario: Raphael the Raven returns, and Lava Piranha has a similar appearance to Naval Piranha. Additionally, one of Parakarry's attacks is similar to the Targeting system.
 * Mario Party 2: For the minigame Tile Driver, the Koopa Troopa pattern uses artwork taken directly from this game's artwork of the Koopa Troopa.
 * Super Mario Sunshine: The background of one of Pinna Park's secret levels uses the same art style as Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.
 * Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga: A cover of Superstar Mario's theme is played during the Star 'Stache Smash minigame in this game.
 * Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time: The events of this are mentioned by Kamek. A remix of this game's alternate title music is used for Yoshi's Island in this game.
 * Yoshi Story: This game was originally titled Yoshi's Island 64.
 * Mario Party Advance: Naval Piranha returns, alongside Goonies and other species.
 * Yoshi Touch & Go: This game is a retelling of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island's events.
 * Yoshi's Island DS: Yoshi's Island's events are mentioned at the start of the game, and the whole game is a sequel to Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island story-wise.
 * Super Mario Galaxy: An orchestral remix of Superstar Mario's theme is used as the theme of Rainbow Mario in this game.
 * Itadaki Street DS: This game features the map of Yoshi's Island.
 * Yoshi's New Island: A midquel between this game and Yoshi's Island DS. Many of the enemies from the original game return, the final boss Baby Bowser's large form also returns, and Tap-Tap the Golden returns as an enemy now.
 * Super Mario Maker: The Baby Mario Costume uses modified sprites from this game.
 * Mario Party: Star Rush: A minigame called Dodge Fuzzy, Get Dizzy is a reference to the Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy level.

Trivia

 * This is the first Mario game with French and German localizations, and the only SNES Mario game to have these.
 * On the PAL version, as well as US Revision 1.1, the font was much thicker than in the Japanese version, though graphics such as controller buttons were left the same. This thicker font was later used in all versions of Yoshi's Island : Super Mario Advance 3.