Countdown Timer

The Countdown Timer, is a feature in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, and Yoshi's Island DS. It was known as just the Timer in the original release of the game. This feature is first explained in the "Welcome to Yoshi's Island" level. If Yoshi hits an enemy, the countdown will begin. The countdown will stop when Yoshi grabs Baby Mario (or any other baby in Yoshi's Island DS) in a bubble. Stars and Middle Rings will give the player one and ten more seconds, respectively, up to a maximum of thirty. If the Countdown Timer reaches zero, a few Toadies come and steal Baby Mario (or whichever baby is currently riding on Yoshi's back in Yoshi's Island DS).

When the Yoshi retrieves the baby, the Countdown Timer will slowly restore to ten seconds. However, if Yoshi recovers the baby while the Countdown Timer shows more than ten seconds, no increase is awarded. In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, in addition to collecting individual Stars to increase the timer, the Yoshis can use items called 10 Point Stars and 20 Point Stars to increase the timer by ten and twenty seconds respectively.

Other Appearances
In addition to the Yoshi's Island main series, the timer also made other appearances in the Mario spin-offs and it starts at three seconds instead of the usual ten in the Yoshi's Island series. When the timer reaches zero, then the race, battle, or mini-game begins.

Mario Kart series
The Countdown Timer appeared in three Mario Kart games and it can be seen in the middle of the game screen (top screen in Mario Kart DS) to tell the player when the race officially starts.

Super Smash Bros. series
The Countdown Timer also appeared in both Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Brawl to tell the fighters when the battle starts and only the announcer of the game can count it off.

Super Mario Galaxy series
In both Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, the Countdown Timer made an appearance to tell the player when the race, mini-game, or challenge starts, depending on which galaxy the player is at right now.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem
In Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem, the timer appeared on the Touch Screen and it tells the player when the battle against Donkey Kong, mini-game, or Special Level starts.