Yoshi's Safari

Yoshi's Safari is a video game made for the Super Nintendo in 1993. Unlike most Mario games, it is a rail-gun shooter with support for the SNES's Super Scope light gun.

In Yoshi's Safari, Mario and Yoshi have to save King Fret and his son Prince Pine of Jewelry Land from King Bowser and his Koopalings.

Story
Bowser and the Koopalings attack Jewelry Land and imprison its rulers, King Fret and Prince Pine. They also steal the twelve gems that keep the land stable, and an earthquake splits the kingdom into two halves: the Light Realm and the Dark Realm. The gems are distributed amongst Bowser, the Koopalings and five powerful minions, all of whom lord over the many regions of the captured kingdom. Fortunately, Prince Pine is a friend of Princess Peach, who promptly sends Mario and Yoshi to save Jewelry Land; she gives them the Super Scope to aid in their quest.

After defeating the Koopalings in the Light Realm and freeing King Fret, Mario and Yoshi head to the Dark Realm to save Prince Pine from Bowser. At the end of the game, a code for a harder game is given to use at the title screen. This not only changes the colors of the levels, but it also makes the bosses harder and changes the text of the story scenes to say that the events of the story are repeating themselves.

Levels

 * Light Realm
 * Grassland (Boss: Lemmy Koopa)
 * Mushroom Land (Boss: Ludwig Von Koopa)
 * Pipe Island (Boss: Wendy O. Koopa)
 * Crescent Coast (Boss: Larry Koopa)
 * Spirit Mountain (Boss: Morton Koopa Jr.)
 * Grand Bridge (Boss: Iggy Koopa)
 * Float Castle I (Boss: Roy Koopa)


 * Dark Realm
 * Cornice Cave (Boss: Magikoopa)
 * Ghost Mansion (Boss: Big Boo)
 * Float Castle II (Boss: Chargin' Chuck)
 * Dark Sea (Boss: Koopa Troopa Sub)
 * Bowser's Castle (Boss: Bowser)

Gameplay
The game is played from the perspective of Mario, who rides on Yoshi's back and must shoot incoming enemies with the Super Scope. Yoshi's head is always visible, and accidentally shooting at him causes a loss of health. The Super Scope could fire automatically, which quickly drained power. The RPM of the Super Scope would decrease when its Power Meter was close to empty; when it becomes completely empty, the Scope will continue firing, but only one shot at a time, even if the Fire Button was still held down (signifying that the player needs to release the Fire Button and let it recharge). There are two Fire Flowers in the game, and collecting them increases the amount of time that the Scope can shoot before needing to recharge.

Yoshi's Safari puts some emphasis on platforming, and at times it's imperative to jump (via the Cursor button) in order to avoid some obstacles. Also, there are branching paths that leads to different enemies, mini-bosses or prizes; they always end with the same main road, which leads to a boss. The bosses include the Koopalings, with some of them piloting Mechs; bigger versions of normal enemies (such as a large Magikoopa or the Big Boo); and Bowser himself, wearing a suit of armor equipped with two Gun-Hands and a devastating energy cannon located in the stomach.

Trivia

 * Yoshi's Safari is the first game outside Japan to refer to Princess Toadstool as "Peach".
 * Yoshi's Safari marked the last appearance of the Koopalings in an official Nintendo game until Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, released in 2003.
 * Yoshi's Safari is the first and only dedicated shooting game that Mario has starred in.