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. The game is the prequel to Super Mario World 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. The game is notable for introducing a time-based health system rather than hit points, an anomaly to what many platform games typically did in this game's time period. Rather than relying on powerful pre-rendered graphics as its contemporary, Donkey Kong Country, did, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island employs a very distinct, stylized arts and crafts style to stand on its own. The game makes use of the Super FX2 graphics chip (one of only four commercially-released SNES games to do so), which allows for larger, more detailed sprites and more advanced effects that emulate 3D space.

Although Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was not as financially successful as its predecessor, the game's highly positive reception and unique style has spawned a new series of platform games from the Yoshi franchise, although it is the fourth entry overall. The game has received various adaptations into manga, such as receiving volumes dedicated to it in the Super Mario-kun and Kodansha's Super Mario manga series and extensive merchandising. 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 the Nintendo 3DS (with owners applicable for the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Program being able to download the game for free) and Wii U. The original SNES version of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is included on the SNES Classic Edition, and although it was never announced for release on Virtual Console on any other system, it is one of the 20 launch titles for Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Nintendo Switch Online on the Nintendo Switch.

Story
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 NO... 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.'' From the instruction booklet'': This story happened a long time ago...this is a story about a baby and Yoshi... ''A stork hurries across the dusky, pre-dawn sky. In his bill, he supports a pair of twins, who are to be delivered to their parents as soon as possible.'' Suddenly, something appears between the clouds and races towards the stork with blinding speed! ''"SSCCRREEEEECH!!!", it screams. "These babies are mine!"'' Snatching only one baby, the creature vanishes into the darkness from whence it came. Oh no! The second baby falls undetected towards the open sea... ''The kidnapper is Kamek, an evil Magikoopa from the Koopa Kingdom. Having divined last night that twin babies born this morning will bring disaster to the Koopa family, he arranged for an early morning ambush. Returning to his castle, Kamek realizes that he missed the other baby. He orders his toadies.'' "Go forth and find that other baby! Don't let his parents get him back! Ever!!" ''Meanwhile, the second baby does not fall into the sea after all...it lands safely on Yoshi's back! And right after him drops a map!!'' ''This paradise is Yoshi's Island. And on this island lives lots of different Yoshies. These Yoshies are naturally laid back and relaxed, but this a calamity and everyone is in a state of panic. As the Yoshies frantically yell over each other, the baby insistently points at something.'' ''Yes! The baby can sense the other baby's location. All the Yoshies quickly agree to help carry the baby to its destination by using a relay system not unlike the old pony express.'' The Green Yoshi draws first honors.

The story of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island takes place while Mario and Luigi are in their infancy, referred to as baby Mario and baby Luigi respectively. A stork was about to deliver the newborn twins baby Mario and baby Luigi to their parents, but is ambushed by Kamek on the way there. While Kamek was successful at capturing baby Luigi and the stork and imprisons them at Bowser's Castle, baby Mario plummets into the sea, only to find himself on a Yoshi's back on an island. The Yoshis then discover that baby Mario also has a map with him, which reveals the location of Bowser's Castle. Kamek has then figured out that he has missed baby Mario and then has dispatched his Toadies to kidnap baby Mario. While the Yoshis discuss what to do with baby Mario, baby Mario then notifies the Yoshis which direction to go due to a powerful twin link, where the Yoshis then employ a relay system to transport baby Mario across the island. After overcoming obstacles and fighting bosses that Kamek has enlarged in various forts and castles in the island, the Yoshis finally manage to defeat Kamek and baby Bowser and rescue baby Luigi and the stork, allowing the stork to safely deliver the babies to their parents.

Gameplay
Like the early titles of the Super Mario series, 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, although if Yoshi keeps an enemy in his mouth long enough, he will eventually swallow it (with the exception of enemies he can only ingest and spit out, and not fully swallow). Swallowing most enemies allows the Yoshi to lay a Yoshi Egg, which it 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 with a constantly moving target reticle and throw them to damage enemies, activate objects, ricochet them off solid surfaces, and skim them across water. This reticle can be locked into one position while aiming, and while Yoshis are aiming their eggs, they can still move around and jump. While most eggs come in green, some are yellow and red, and they release coins and stars when shattered respectively. While a Yoshi throws an egg, the egg changes color depending on how much it has bounced off walls. Green eggs can bounce up to three times, yellow eggs bounce only twice, and red eggs bounce only once. Power-ups also exist in the form of metamorphosis bubbles, which allow Yoshi to transform into various forms, and the Super Star, which lets baby Mario turn into Powerful Mario. In addition to these moves, Yoshis can use Hovering Jumps multiple times in the air to increase the distance they travel. The first Hovering Jumps can increase the height of the jump, but subsequent Hovering Jumps mostly serve to prolong the duration of the fall. Yoshis can Pound The Ground to smash stakes and defeat certain types of enemies. Camera controls include looking up to see upper areas of the level and ducking to force the camera down.

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. Other ways Yoshis can lose lives are if they touch spikes or thorns, if they fall off a cliff, if they touch lava, if they get eaten by a Lunge Fish, or if they get crushed by moving platforms. In these cases, Yoshi's death is shown onscreen, either by spinning and collapsing or flying offscreen.

There are six worlds in this game, and each world has nine levels total. The objective of each level is to reach the Goal Ring roulette. There are ten spots on the roulette, and five of the spots can be made winning spots by collecting the five Special Flowers in each level. Landing on one of the flower points allows the player to play a Bonus Challenge. These Bonus Challenge allow Yoshis to either gain lives or Special Items for use in levels. Two levels in each world are forts and castles, and the goal in those levels is to reach and defeat the eponymous boss that resides in those establishments rather than reach a Goal Ring. Most bosses are regular enemies that are enlarged by Kamek prior to the fight, with a few exceptions.

Scattered throughout each level are three types of collectibles: thirty Stars, twenty red coins, and five Special 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" ("special" in Japanese) 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. However, the player can always choose to exit an extra level by pausing the game and pressing ; in other levels, this can be done only if the level in question has already been cleared.

If the player succeeds in attaining a perfect one hundred points in the extra level of a world, a Star is added to the top of the title screen the next time the player turns on the game, for a maximum of six Stars.

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.

Worlds and levels
The setting of the game takes place on Yoshi's Island, which is the first world setting of Super Mario World. The island portrayed in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island however is much larger in scale and comes with a larger variety of biomes and characters endemic to the island as players progress through the game. The game contains six worlds with eight regular levels each, retaining the eight level per world structure first normalized by Super Mario Bros. 3, having a consistent amount of levels per world, and every fourth and eighth level of the world features a boss fight against an enemy enlarged by Kamek. All worlds have particular themed biomes, such as World 1 having a grasslands while World 6 has a stronger theme around caverns and lava as the player closer approaches King Bowser's Castle; this theming of levels has been carried in further entries of the Yoshi's Island series. Unlike Super Mario World, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island does not employ use of a world map and relies on a level select screen, which is represented by color-coded folders containing icons that preview the levels, and these levels are named after their features than rather than using generic numbered identifies, such as the third level of World 3 being called Nep-Enut's Domain rather simply being called World 3-3. One notable aspect of the level icons is that all Yoshis in their previews are Green Yoshis, despite Green Yoshis being used only in the first levels of each world, the Extra levels and King Bowser's Castle. While most levels have players moving on their own accord, a few levels are autoscrollers, with the first one being encountered in Hop! Hop! Donut Lifts in World 1.

Every world contains an unlockable level known as an Extra levels, which are unlocked when players get a 100 score in all levels of the worlds. These levels feature a gimmick and are shorter and more difficult than other levels of the game, often do not contain Middle Rings and they are optional to complete in regards of general progression of the game. These levels do not feature unique icons that display a preview of the level and are instead represented by a star with a number and identifier. In addition, when players first play the game, they play through a level called Welcome To Yoshi's Island, which serves as a short tutorial guiding players basic controls of the game. Once completed, it cannot be replayed, effectively making it an unrevisitable area.

Due to the light arts and crafts aesthetic of the game and usage of the Super FX2 graphics chip, levels and their backdrops are rendered reminiscent of drawings rather than the more organic approach that Super Mario World has done, and their backdrops are dynamically rendered with a more complex palette. For example, the primary backdrop for Watch Out Below! from World 1 uses a soft palette and hills having an emulated colored pencils aesthetic, clouds and hills contain visible shading streaks to communicate their shadows, environment features such as waterfalls and crystals in cave levels such as The Cave Of Chomp Rock and The Cave Of The Mystery Maze are animated, Goonie Rides! renders a shimmering ocean with a large flock of the Goonie species and variants flying in the background, while the general aesthetic of World 6 primarily uses warm color palettes to communicate players that the world is lava-themed and the final world of the game.

Playable characters
The Yoshi species are the primary playable characters of the game and this appearance is their first starring appearance in a platformer title. All Yoshis play identically to each other, and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island introduces even more color variations to the Yoshi species: in addition to the Green, Red, Blue and Yellow Yoshis that are present in Super Mario World, Pink, Light Blue, Purple, and Brown Yoshis are introduced. While Pink, Light Blue, and Purple Yoshis become mainstay colors in future installments of the overall Mario franchise, Brown Yoshis remain exclusive to this title, being replaced by Orange Yoshis. The Yoshis in this game retain their long tongues and their abilities to eat most objects from Super Mario World, though the game introduces Hovering Jumps, turning enemies and objects into eggs that can be used as projectiles, and pounding the ground.

The Yoshi colors are specific to the levels they are played on. Green Yoshis see the most usage, as they are used in the first levels of every world, extra levels, Mini Battles, and King Bowser's Castle, while the rest of the worlds feature levels in a set order of colored Yoshis; Pink Yoshis are always used in the second levels while Yellow Yoshis always fight against bosses in forts. Blue Yoshis are the least used Yoshis in the game as the last castle is replaced with a Green Yoshi.

* - The Pink and Red Yoshis' positions on the map screen are swapped, with the former at the seventh level and the latter at the second. This was corrected in the Game Boy Advance version.

Supporting characters
While Yoshi games prior feature adult Mario in a starring role while Yoshi accrues a more passive role, such as Yoshi, Yoshi's Cookie, and Yoshi's Safari, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and further entries in the Yoshi's Island series flips the roles in which the Yoshis are the primary, controllable stars while Mario, as baby Mario, rides on Yoshis and acts as their timed health meter should they get hurt by enemies or objects. Baby Mario is directly controllable only under the effects of the Super Star as Superstar Mario where he dons a yellow cape and becomes invincible. Luigi makes his debut in the overall Yoshi franchise as baby Luigi, though his role mirrors Princess Peach of the Mario franchise in that he is kidnapped and the overall goal of the game is to rescue him from Kamek and baby Bowser's clutches.

Two supporting characters are introduced in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and make recurring appearances throughout the Yoshi franchise. The stork, designed after the representing an animal of folklore known to deliver babies to parents, gets ambushed and kidnapped alongside baby Luigi at the start of the game. The latter character Poochy is a dog-like creature that follows Yoshi around and Yoshi can ride on who can run on dangerous terrain such as lava and spikes.

Five more species of helpful, generic characters assist Yoshis should they meet them and are typically exclusive to this game. They are all harmless characters and help Yoshis either navigate through the course or provide Yoshis with ammunition such as Melon Bugs and Huffin Puffins.

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.

Metamorphosis bubble
Entering a metamorphosis 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 metamorphosis 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.

Bonus Challenge
Bonus Challenges are initiated when the Goal Ring stops on a flower at the end of the level. Yoshis can increase the chances of playing a Bonus Challenge by collecting Special Flowers on the level. During a Bonus Challenge, the player players one of several minigames. Upon winning the minigame, the player can receive lives or Special Items. A specific Bonus Challenge is unlocked when the player collects 800 points in a world, and that specific Bonus Challenge can be played any time.

There are six Bonus Challenges in total.

Mini Battles
Mini Battles are minigames that can be played in various levels, when a Yoshi receives a key and enters a Bonus Game Shack. These are competitive fights against a Bandit, and besting that Bandit earns the Yoshi a reward. Mini Battles can later be played in the main level selection screen after they have been unlocked. If the players hold and press, , , , and  on the level selection screen, a screen pops up listing all Mini Battles, as well as a 2-player version of Throwing Balloons and Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest and a 4-button Throwing Balloons mode.

There are four Mini Battles in total.

Special Items
By winning Bonus Challenges and Mini Battles, the player's prizes can be one of several Special 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.

Soundtrack
A soundtrack CD was released in Japan on November 25, 1995, titled Super Mario: Yossy Island Original Sound Version. The disc contains 26 music cues from the game's soundtrack, as composed by Koji Kondo.

The instrumentation for this game's music was sampled from the synthesizer; '  synthesizers; the ; Optical Media International's Universe of Sounds Vol. 2; 's L-CD1 synthesizer,  drum machine, and  module; and the  TG77 and TG100. Some of the game's sound effects are samples of stock sound effects: the jungle ambience heard on the title screen and baby Mario's cry are taken from ' General Series 6000 library, while Yoshi's tongue sound and the noises made by Piranha Plants come from Rarefaction's A Poke in the Ear with a Sharp Stick.

Culver City event
An event was held in front of a Toys "R" Us in 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.

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: Yossy Island" from the the Kodansha Super Mario manga series, 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. The first two volumes are based on the stories from the game, while the third volume has original stories that use the game's characters and themes.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was also adapted as part of the 4-koma Gag Battle series, also titled "Super Mario: Yossy Island".

An issue from the Game Picture Book series of the Super Mario Ehon series, Super Mario Game Picture Book 4: Hang in There, Yoshi (「スーパーマリオゲームえほん 4 がんばれヨッシー」, Super Mario Game Ehon 4 Ganbare Yoshi), is loosely based off the story of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.

Staff
Yoshi's Island was directed by video game designers Takashi Tezuka, Shigefumi Hino, and Hideki Konno and programmer Toshihiko Nakago; the four had worked on previous titles in the Super Mario series, with all except Hino being directors for Super Mario World. Konno had earlier worked as a map and level designer in the previous Mario games and served as map director for Super Mario World. This is the first Mario-related project to involve Yasuhisa Yamamura, who has most notably worked on the dungeon design in the The Legend of Zelda series. The C.G. design the game employs is credited to Yoshiaki Koizumi, who previously worked on Super Mario Kart as the illustrator. The soundtrack was composed by Koji Kondo, well known for creating the Mario franchise's iconic tunes. Shigeru Miyamoto had heavy involvement with the game's development and served as the game's producer, while Nintendo's then-president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, was the executive producer.

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. Some of the pre-rendered sprites used in the opening of the game are leftovers from the original graphical pitch.

According to Hisashi Nogami, the hand-drawn style was created by literally drawing the characters by hand on paper, scanning them and then carefully copying them to make the sprites "a pixel at a time".

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was one of three completed games to use the Super FX2 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.

Critical reception
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island has been met with critical acclaim at the time of release, with most reviews praising the level design, the platforming mechanics, the personality, the graphics, the soundtrack, and the creativity of the game; the game has garnered a 96.00% on GameRankings based on 5 reviews. The most common criticisms surrounding the game comes from baby Mario's crying when he is trapped in a bubble after Yoshi takes a hit from the enemy, often being cited as "annoying". IGN has retrospectively said in its article "Is There a Bad Mario Game?", "The game earned instant acclaim and rightfully so for its brilliant stage design and platforming mechanics. Yoshi's Island doesn't beat you over the head with trial and error to teach you how to play, but it also does not hold your hand with a numbingly dull tutorial." Kaes Delgrego of Nintendo Life has referred to the game as "Perhaps the greatest platformer of all time" in his review, giving the game a score of a 10/10. Delgrego has called the time-based health mechanic "innovative" for its time that would come to games later on, comparing it to Halo's time-based life mechanic. While he has admitted that the game itself isn't revolutionary, Delgrego has praised the creativity with the puzzle-solving and the pastel-style graphics. The only criticism Delgrego has cited for the game was the easy boss fights and baby Mario's crying when Yoshi takes damage from an enemy. Reece Warrender of Cubed3 gave the game a 9/10, who was impressed by the game's new and interesting mechanics, such as swallowing an enemy to create a projectile of it, as well as having simple and enjoyable mechanics that players of any age can enjoy. The graphics and sound were praised for being high quality and having a unique style. The most major criticisms Warrender had with the game were the easy difficulty and the short length, citing that the game can be completed in five hours, despite having replay value in the form of the points system. 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.

Sales
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island has sold over 4 million copies, with the Edge publication stating that the game was "a radical sequel to Super Mario World whose anarchic gameworld and illustration-style visuals win it loyal fans but less dramatic total sales".

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.

Super Mario Bros. 5 was originally supposed to be a subtitle for the Japanese Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, similar to how Super Mario Bros. 4 was made the subtitle for Super Mario World's Japanese release. It has sometimes been nicknamed Super Mario Bros 5: Yoshi's Island (or Super Mario Bros 5 for short).

Giant Egg anywhere
By going into any level with a Fat Guy and carrying a Giant 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 Egg into any level in the game.

Constantly full mouth
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.

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.

SNES Classic Edition
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is one of the 21 titles included on the Super NES Classic Edition. This was the SNES version’s first release since the original run.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Nintendo Switch Online
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, along with Super Mario World and Super Mario Kart, is one of the 20 launch titles for Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Nintendo Switch Online.

Version differences
Two versions of this game are known to exist for the North American release. The easiest way to tell the difference is font face by hitting a Message Block.

In the Japanese release of the game, later versions pluralize the collectibles in the score screen, altering the line of dots that come after the words.

Regional differences

 * This is the first Mario game with French and German localizations, and the only SNES Mario game to have these. (Super Mario RPG, the lone SNES Mario game released later, was not localized for PAL regions, therefore no such translations were written.)
 * The title screen in Japanese versions of the game has the game logo spell out as simply: Super Mario: Yoshi's Island. European versions of the game removed the ® symbol from the title.
 * In the map selection screen, the thumbnail tiles for the extra levels in the Japanese versions of the game are a red and orange background. They are also called "Special" stages.
 * The bonus level thumbnails have room to fit their names in the Japanese version of the game.
 * The score thumbnail in international versions of the game has a completely different sprite than Japanese versions of the game. The SNES controller in the North American version of the game has its buttons changed to purple rather than the multiple-color scheme in the Super Famicom.
 * The thumbnail for the Popping Balloons Mini Battle has been slightly tweaked in international versions of the game.
 * The thumbnail for World 4-6: Lake Shore Paradise has a slightly altered Flopsy Fish in international versions of the game.
 * 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.
 * International versions of the game have removed onomatopoeia words in the chalk-board tutorial graphics and the Popping Balloons Mini Battle.
 * In World 6-★: Castles - Masterpiece Set, the pathed-moving platforms in the Japanese version of the game spelled out "YOSSY", Yoshi's alternate romanized Japanese name. International versions have changed this to "YOSHI".

References to other games

 * Super Mario Bros.: This game's "end of level" fanfare at the end of the credits is a rearrangement.
 * Super Mario Bros. 2: Shy Guys and Snifits reappear.
 * Super Mario Bros. 3: Yoshi's sprite is based on the Super Mario All-Stars version of the game.
 * Super Mario World: The American and European versions of the game are sold as a prequel to Super Mario World. Also, some of Yoshi's sound effects are recycled.

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 "Powerful Mario" theme in this game.
 * Tetris Attack: The game is a reskin of Panel de Pon featuring many of the same creatures as Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. The main theme is also rearranged as the title screen music and is also incorporated into the end credits melody in the Game Boy port.
 * Yoshi's Story: This game was originally titled Yoshi's Island 64.
 * 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 The Beach Cannon's Secret's secret course uses the same art style as Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.
 * Mario Party 4: Four Salvo the Slimes are featured as obstacles in Slime Time.
 * Nintendo Puzzle Collection: In Yoshi no Cookie, the Action Mode stage backgrounds are based on Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Additionally, the normal end credits melody of the new Panel de Pon remixes from the Game Boy port of Tetris Attack, which in turn contains the main theme.
 * Mario Party-e: Yoshi and Shy Guy's sprite from Fast Feed Yoshi! are taken from this game.
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash!!: The course, Baby Park, takes heavy inspiration from this game, with the track banner and locations employing a similar art style. Baby Mario and Baby Luigi's karts, the Goo-Goo Buggy and the Rattle Buggy have the Special Flower engraved on them.
 * Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga: A cover of Superstar Mario's theme is played during the Star 'Stache Smash minigame in this game. This cover is not present in the remake.
 * Mario Party Advance: Naval Piranha returns, alongside Goonies and other species.
 * Super Princess Peach: The game's sprite work is reminiscent to those used in Yoshi's Island, especially with Koopa Paratroopas having long wings. Additionally, the game uses enemies that originated from this game such as Kaboombas and Fangs.
 * 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 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.
 * Super Mario 64 DS / New Super Mario Bros.: The "Powerful Mario" theme from Super Mario 64 returns. A slightly altered version with different instruments can also be heard in certain minigames such as Balloon Racing and Bounce and Trounce.
 * Mario Kart Arcade GP 2: The tracks Yoshi Park 1 and Yoshi Park 2 have amusement park rides that take heavy inspiration from this game.
 * Itadaki Street DS: This game features the map of Yoshi's Island.
 * Super Mario Galaxy: An orchestral remix of Superstar Mario's theme is used as the theme of Rainbow Mario in this game.
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl: The Yoshi's Island stage is inspired from this game. Some tracks of the game's soundtrack are covered in this game, including the Ground Theme and the Athletic Theme.
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii: Kamek reappears and uses his magic to power up the Koopalings. Fake walls reappear. Kamek turns Bowser into a giant for the final battle.
 * New Super Mario Bros. U: Kamek again uses magic to enhance boss fights and turn Bowser into a giant.
 * Super Mario Maker: The Baby Mario Costume uses modified sprites from this game.
 * Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge: The soundtrack of Egg Launch Land is a complete arrangement of "Flower Garden", which plays in Make Eggs, Throw Eggs and other levels.
 * Mario Party: Star Rush: A minigame called Dodge Fuzzy, Get Dizzy is a reference to the Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy level.
 * Super Mario Run: When the player grabs a Super Star in Remix 10, a rearrangement of the Powerful Infant theme can be heard.
 * WarioWare Gold: This game contains a microgame based on Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, where Yoshi must save Baby Mario from a bubble.
 * Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Slugger & Green Glove appear as a spirit, using artwork from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Bowser's Final Smash in this game is based on Baby Bowser's second boss battle.