Goal Ring

The Goal Ring, also called the goal roulette  or '''GOAL! Ring', is an object found in several Yoshi platforming games, particularly those in the Yoshi's Island'' series. Debuting in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Goal Rings are found at the end of each level of a game (except for castles and fortresses), acting as goal points. The Goal Ring is a circle consisting of blue dots and the Smiley Flowers the player collected in a given level. When the ring is entered, the word "GOAL!" appears in the top right corner of the screen.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and its reissue, when a Yoshi jumps through the GOAL! Ring and passes Baby Mario to the next Yoshi, it starts spinning slower and slower. After a few seconds, the GOAL! Ring stops spinning and lands on either a blue dot or a flower. If it lands on a blue dot, nothing happens, and the player continues to the scoreboard and then the next level. However, if the roulette stops on a flower, the player instead goes to a Bonus Challenge after they leave the scoreboard. After the instant Bonus Challenge, the player goes to the next level. The spots on the GOAL! Ring always "bloom" in the same order when flowers are collected. The spot on the top of the GOAL! Ring blooms for the first flower collected, and additional flowers result in the addition of (a) flower(s) every two spots away from the previous one in a counterclockwise direction. If the player missed a flower in the stage, the matching spot in the GOAL! Ring does not bloom. Landing on one of these flower buds has the same result as landing on a blue dot, thus decreasing the chances of the player's being able to play a Bonus Challenge. Four tall trees stand past the GOAL! Ring in most courses.

The GOAL! Ring always loads when the player is a certain distance away from it and always starts spinning from the same spot upon being loaded. As a result, a player can often manipulate whether they get a Bonus Challenge or not by entering the GOAL! Ring a certain amount of time after loading it. If a player collects at least three flowers in a level, they can run into the GOAL! Ring at full speed, and the roulette will always stop on the bottom left flower position of the GOAL! Ring, thus always giving them a Bonus Challenge.

If the player loads in an enemy right at the other Yoshi's entrance after entering, the game will soft-freeze. Hacking the game reveals that the Yoshi that picks up Baby Mario out of the air can still have status effects (such as the Fuzzy effect). However, this does not change graphics or gameplay.

According to an unused object with glitched graphics found within the game's data, the GOAL! Ring would have been a pump-themed goal similar to the End of Level Targets from Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest with four prizes placed in different spots rather than the prizes being selected randomly. The appropriate graphics for this unused pump goal were found on July 24, 2020, alongside other unseen assets that were not in the game's data.

Yoshi's Island DS
Goal roulettes return in Yoshi's Island DS, where they have the same role as before.

Yoshi's New Island
In Yoshi's New Island, if a Yoshi lands on a Smiley Flower as he passes through a Goal Ring, all the Smiley Flowers currently blossomed on the ring turn into Egg Medals, which are then awarded to the player.

Sonic Lost World
The Goal Ring also appears in the Yoshi's Island Zone in , where it acts the same way it does in the Yoshi's Island series, minus providing the opportunity to play Bonus Challenges.

Yoshi's Woolly World / Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World
In Yoshi's Woolly World, when Yoshi jumps through the Goal Ring, it instantly stops instead of spinning slower and slower. Also, blue dots and flower buds are replaced by beads. When Yoshi lands on a bead, the player earns extra beads. When he lands on a Smiley Flower, he proceeds to a bonus game.

In Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, if the player stops the Goal Ring on a flower, they get a chance at Gold Rush in Poochy Dash instead of a bonus game.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
A Goal Ring appears at the end of the Yoshi's Island course in the fourth wave of the Booster Course Pass DLC pack for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Yoshi's Woolly World

 * Instruction manual description: The Smiley Flowers you collected throughout a course will appear on the Goal Ring. Pass through the ring to clear the course.