Checkpoint Ring

A Middle Ring (also known as a Checkpoint Ring ) is a ring of light in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Yoshi's Island DS, and Yoshi's New Island. It appears partway through most stages and serves as a checkpoint of sorts. If a Yoshi loses a life after passing through one, he can restart at the point of the Middle Ring. Also, passing through a Middle Ring will increase Yoshi's Star Power by ten (giving him one and ten more seconds) and turn all on-screen enemies into stars. If Yoshi dies in the SNES or DS version and reaches a Middle Ring, the player will be able to keep their start count (including the 10 from reaching the ring). However, in the 3DS version, the player's star count will always go back to 10 if the player dies and reaches a middle ring.

Despite their name, Middle Rings are not always placed in the middle of a stage. Some can be found at the very beginning, or not until near the end. A few stages even have multiple Middle Rings and there are always a couple before boss fights.