Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (titled Super Mario: Yossy Island in Japan) is a video game developed by the Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development division for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. Chronologically, it is the first video game to take place in the Mario series and stars Yoshi who, while carrying Baby Mario, travels across Yoshi's Island to reclaim the kidnapped Baby Luigi from the clutches of Baby Bowser and his Magikoopa minion, Kamek. Although its English title suggests that it was intended to be a sequel to the 1991 video game Super Mario World, its Japanese title may indicate that it belongs to a separate lineage.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is the first platforming video game in the Yoshi series, and the fourth entry overall. It was followed by a loose sequel, Yoshi's Story, in 1998 for the Nintendo 64. In 2002, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was remade for the Game Boy Advance as Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3. A sequel for the Nintendo DS, Yoshi's Island DS, was released in 2006. Tetris Attack and Yoshi Touch & Go borrowed the characters and settings from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was one of three games to be released with the Super FX 2 chip, which handled sprite scaling and rotation, basic polygonal rendering, and advanced parallax scrolling. The chip is used extensively in the game's mini-boss and boss battles.

The music was composed by Koji Kondo and was released in Japan on November 25, 1995 in Compact Disc format as Super Mario: Yoshi Island Original Sound Version.

Plot
One night, the Stork was carrying two babies across the sky. These two babies were Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, the future heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom. Suddenly, a strange figure, Kamek the Magikoopa, flew by on his broomstick and hit the stork. He snatched Baby Luigi, but the other baby fell down towards the ocean. When Kamek discovered his mistake, he sent his Toadies to find and capture the missing baby.

Meanwhile, the other baby, Baby Mario, had fallen on Yoshi's Island on top of a Yoshi. Along with the baby fell a map, but the Yoshi could not make sense of it. He consulted his other Yoshi friends and told him what had happened. After some talking, the green Yoshi found out what the baby really wanted - he wanted to save his brother from Kamek. So the Yoshis decided to help the baby and they set out on an adventure to rescue Baby Luigi from Kamek and his Toadies.

Worlds and Levels
Note: "Secret" levels are only in the Advance port and are not featured in the original.

World 0
World 0 consists solely of one short and basic tutorial level, only playable after starting a new file.

World 1
World 1 takes place in a grassy plain, and gives a taste of the different types of stages in the game.
 * 1) Make Eggs, Throw Eggs
 * 2) Watch Out Below!
 * 3) The Cave of Chomp Rock
 * 4) Burt the Bashful's Fort
 * 5) Hop! Hop! Donut Lifts
 * 6) Shy Guys on Stilts
 * 7) Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy
 * 8) Salvo the Slime's Castle
 * Secret: Exercise in the Skies
 * Extra: Poochy Ain't Stupid

World 2
World 2 is a forested mountainous region in the uplands. It boasts more complex levels and more enemies.
 * 1) Visit Koopa and Para-Koopa
 * 2) The Baseball Boys
 * 3) What's Gusty Taste Like?
 * 4) The Bigger Boo's Fort
 * 5) Watch Out for Lakitu
 * 6) The Cave of the Mystery Maze
 * 7) Lakitu's Wall
 * 8) The Potted Ghost's Castle
 * Secret: Mystery of the Castle?
 * Extra: Hit That Switch!!

World 3
World 3 is located in a steamy jungle, and contains a lot of water sections.
 * 1) Welcome to Monkey World!
 * 2) Jungle Rhythm...
 * 3) Nep-Enut's Domain
 * 4) Prince Froggy's Fort
 * 5) Jammin' Through the Trees
 * 6) The Cave of Harry Hedgehog
 * 7) Monkeys' Favorite Lake
 * 8) Naval Piranha's Castle
 * Secret: Go! Go! Morphing!
 * Extra: More Monkey Madness

World 4
World 4 takes the player to a hot desert with many traps and harder enemies.
 * 1) GO! GO! MARIO!!
 * 2) The Cave of the Lakitus
 * 3) Don't Look Back!
 * 4) Marching Milde's Fort
 * 5) Chomp Rock Zone
 * 6) Lake Shore Paradise
 * 7) Ride Like the Wind
 * 8) Hookbill the Koopa's Castle
 * Secret: Fight Toadies w/ Toadies or Fight Baddies w/ Baddies
 * Extra: The Impossible? Maze

World 5
World 5 takes place on an icy mountain. The first four stages take place on the mountain, while the last four are in the sky.
 * 1) BLIZZARD!!!
 * 2) Ride the Ski Lifts
 * 3) Danger - Icy Conditions Ahead
 * 4) Sluggy the Unshaven's Fort
 * 5) Goonie Rides!
 * 6) Welcome to Cloud World
 * 7) Shifting Platforms Ahead
 * 8) Raphael the Raven's Castle
 * Secret: Items are Fun!
 * Extra: Kamek's Revenge

World 6
World 6 is located in Bowser's Kingdom, not on Yoshi's Island. It is full of lava, spikes, and other traps.
 * 1) Scary Skeleton Goonies!
 * 2) The Cave of the Bandits
 * 3) Beware the Spinning Logs
 * 4) Tap-Tap the Red Nose's Fort
 * 5) The Very Loooooong Cave
 * 6) The Deep, Underground Maze
 * 7) KEEP MOVING!!!!
 * 8) King Bowser's Castle
 * Secret: Endless World of Yoshis or Crazy Maze Days
 * Extra: Castles - Masterpiece Set (called Ultimate Castle Challenge in GBA port)

Enemies
Enemies marked with * are exclusive to Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and the Game Boy Advance remake. Italic enemies are invincible, and Bold enemies are almost invincible (can be defeated under certain conditions).

Bosses
Each world features a midway fort and an end-world castle, 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 Mario are shrunk; he then eats them and the battle is located in his stomach.


 * World 1
 * Burt the Bashful (Fort)
 * Salvo the Slime (Castle)
 * World 2
 * Bigger Boo (Fort)
 * Roger the Potted Ghost (Castle)
 * World 3
 * Prince Froggy (Fort)
 * Naval Piranha (Castle)
 * World 4
 * Marching Milde (Fort)
 * Hookbill the Koopa (Castle)
 * World 5
 * Sluggy the Unshaven (Fort)
 * Raphael the Raven (Castle)
 * World 6
 * Tap-Tap the Red Nose (Fort)
 * Tap-Tap the Golden (Castle, Door 3)
 * Baby Bowser (Castle)
 * He is then transformed into a giant Baby Bowser by Kamek for the true final boss battle.

Remakes and Ports
Yoshi's Island is slated for a re-release on the Nintendo 3DS.

''Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 a remake of Yoshi's Island for the Game Boy Advance as part of the Super Mario Advance‎ series. It was released in 2002 and has a number of differences from the original surrounding gameplay, content and graphics, as listed below.

New Features
Some new new features for this game are the bonus levels and the sound effects. If the player gets all 100 points on each level the will go to a secret level. Also when Yoshi jumps, flutter jumps, crouches or throws an egg, Yoshi will say something when he does those things. Since there are Bonus levels and the game is on the Game Boy Advance the map looks sightly different.

List of Changes

 * The Pause Menu has changed. Instead of one menu handling all functions, there are now two. One allows the player to put his/her Game Boy Advance into sleep mode, or return to the overworld map. The other, which is a redesigned version of the original's pause screen, allows the use of items, and displays the player's current score for the level.
 * The Yoshi's Island Mini Battle code was changed (because the Game Boy Advance didn't have and  buttons) to, , , ,  (while holding the  button).


 * Level Changes
 * A new room has been added to the level 1-8 (Salvo the Slime's Castle). It is between what were the second and third rooms in the original game. It has one Shy Guy-spawning pipe.
 * The original version had 21 red coins in More Monkey Madness (Extra 3), but the remake has the usual 20. There was a red coin under a Tap-Tap on a ground pound stake. This has been removed from the remake.
 * An extra Middle Ring has been added to 4-4 (Marching Milde's Fort.)
 * The final room before the boss in 4-8 (Hookbill the Koopa's Castle) has been redesigned.
 * All of the extra levels in the original game were modified for this version, most noticeably Kamek's Revenge.
 * The biggest change was the addition of six entirely new levels in the remake, called Secret levels. These are to the left of the Extra Levels on the map screen, and are unlocked by defeating Baby Bowser on level 6-8. Consequently, it is no longer necessary to have a perfect score in a particular World, to unlock that World's extra level.
 * The final level of the game had its name changed from "Castles - Masterpiece Set" to "Ultimate Castle Challenge".


 * Graphical Changes
 * As always, the palette is lightened to combat the original Game Boy Advance's lack of a backlight.
 * In the original, the Yoshi who completed the x-2 levels was a very dark shade of pink. However, they appeared red on the map. Similarly, the Yoshi who completed the x-7 levels was red, but appeared hot pink on the map. In the remake, the x-2 Yoshi is always light pink, and the x-7 Yoshi is always red.
 * All Yoshis had red shoes in the original. In the remake, they have different colored shoes, as in Yoshi's Story.
 * When Yoshi touches a Fuzzy in the original game, the background smears erratically and fades between random colors. The ground also ripples. In the remake, the background doesn't smear or tint. However, it does fade between white and its normal colors. The ground ripple is also less fluid in the remake. This probably happens because the Game Boy Advance is not able to handle the Super FX chip-powered graphic effects as well as the original.
 * Probably related to the above, Red Coins were given away in the original; while yellow coins followed the rippling of the ground, Red Coins did not. In the remake, all coins ripple with the ground.
 * In underground levels with "sparkling" ground, mushrooms and other foreground decorations sometimes have their palettes changed. This is done to fix a glitch where some black objects would also sparkle.
 * Sealed doors have different graphics. The boards that cover them aren't visibly bisected, as in the original.
 * Kamek's magic has a different visual effect. The colored cloud is absent, while the cycling sparkles remain.
 * The overworld map was redesigned. The path the Yoshis follow to their goal is now in a straight line, and spots have been added to the map for each world's two hidden levels. Additionally, a "world select" screen was added.


 * Sound Changes
 * The game's soundtrack was downgraded to match the Game Boy Advance's sound capabilities.
 * Several sounds in the original were replaced by sound clips similar to the ones heard in Yoshi's Story - most notably Baby Mario's cry and Yoshi's voice.

Promotional 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, each featuring a different boss or mini-boss as 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. These cards included,


 * Raphael the Raven
 * Roger the Potted Ghost (erroneously titled "The Potted Ghost")
 * Bigger Boo
 * Burt the Bashful (erroneously titled "Bashful Burt")
 * Hookbill the Koopa
 * Sluggy the Unshaven
 * Tap-Tap the Red Nose (erroneously titled "Tap Tap the Red Nose"
 * Naval Piranha

Nintendo 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 included with the SNS-101 model of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The box art, however, featured the Yoshi sprite from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.

References to Other Games

 * Super Mario Bros.: This game's "end of level" fanfare is remixed at the end of the credits. Also, Kamek states in Yoshi's Island that the Mario brothers will eventually foil the Koopa Tribe's plans, referring to how they'd indeed do it in Super Mario Bros. and actually the whole series.
 * Super Mario Bros. 2: Part of this game's "character select" theme is part of Yoshi's Island's "Athletic" theme.
 * Super Mario Bros. 3: World 6 looks a lot like Dark Land, and even has giant mushrooms near Bowser's Castle.
 * Super Mario World: Baby Mario rides Yoshi, similarly to how Mario could ride him in Super Mario World. Additionally, the American and European versions of the game are sold as Super Mario World's second installment (although the game actually happens first in the Mario series' timeline).

References in Later Games

 * Paper Mario: Raphael the Raven returns, and Lava Piranha is similar to Naval Piranha.
 * Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time: Yoshi's Island's events are mentioned by Kamek.
 * Yoshi Story: This game was originally titled Yoshi's Island 64.
 * Mario Golf (Nintendo 64): Yoshi Island (the SMW2 version of Yoshi's Island in the Japanese continuity) re-appears, and the Yoshi who's playable may be Yoshi's Island's green Yoshi due to his size and the fact he's carrying Baby Mario.
 * Mario Party Advance: Naval Piranha returns, alongside Goonies and other species.
 * Yoshi Touch & Go: This game is a retelling of Yoshi's Island's events.
 * Yoshi's Island DS: Yoshi's Island's events are mentioned at the start of the game, and the whole game is a direct sequel of Yoshi's Island story-wise.
 * Itadaki Street DS: This game features the map of Yoshi's Island.

Trivia

 * In the Super Mario-Kun adaptation of this game, Mario and Luigi go to the past with Bowser by mistake. They stop Kamek from kidnapping Baby Mario and help Yoshi reunite the Baby Bros. But, in the Donkey Kong Country adaptation of Super Mario-Kun, it is revealed Yoshi does not remember anything about any adults here and nothing about the Baby Mario tantrums.
 * The game was placed 18th in the 100th issue of Nintendo Power's "100 best Nintendo games of all time" in 1997.
 * While the English version is called "Super Mario World 2", the original Japanese title is "Super Mario: Yoshi's Island". This was to draw a connection to Nintendo's earlier SNES success, Super Mario World. However, this also generated a lot of confusion as to whether to call it a sequel or not, even if it is clearly a prequel to the entire series. Similarly, Super Mario World was also known as Super Mario Bros. 4 in Japan.
 * The music for World 6 map is a stripped down version of the music that plays when the maps of the other 5 worlds are complete. Also, the music that plays in most areas of World 6 is the underground music.
 * The game places 185th in the 200th Issue of GameInformer's "Top 200 Games of All Times", the lowest ranked Mario series game.