Yoshi's Safari

Yoshi's Safari (known as Yoshi's Road Hunting in Japanese) is a video game made for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993. It is one of the few games to use the SNES's Super Scope light gun peripheral, and it is the first and so far the only dedicated rail shooting game in the Mario franchise. In Japan, it was released on the same day as Super Mario All-Stars.

In Yoshi's Safari, Mario and Yoshi are requested by Princess Peach to save King Fret and his son, Prince Pine, from King Bowser and his Koopalings, who have invaded the kingdom of Jewelry Land. The Koopalings are equipped with powerful mechs and command legions of minions. Mario rides Yoshi and uses the Super Scope to combat the Koopas.

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 the resulting 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.

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 shooting at him causes a loss of health. The Super Scope can fire automatically, which quickly drains power. The RPM of the Super Scope will decrease when its Power Meter is 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 is 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.

Controls
While the game is paused, holding CURSOR and repeatedly pressing FIRE twice resets the game back to the title screen.
 * Super Scope
 * FIRE: Shoots at the screen.
 * CURSOR: Makes Yoshi jump. During boss battles, uses item.
 * PAUSE: Pauses/resumes the game.

When selecting 2-Player Mode, and plugging a Super NES Controller into the first control slot, the player with the SNES Controller controls Yoshi's movements, allowing him to move side to side or duck. The player using the Super Scope will only be able to shoot at enemies; they will not be able to make Yoshi jump by pressing CURSOR during this mode.
 * Super NES Controller (2-Player Mode only)
 * Moves Yoshi.
 * Makes Yoshi jump. During boss battles, uses item.
 * Reduces Yoshi's speed during a course.

Playable

 * Mario
 * Yoshi

Non-playable

 * Princess Peach
 * King Fret
 * Prince Pine

Normal enemies

 * Flying Goomba
 * Green Shell
 * Koopa Para Troopa
 * Bullet Bill
 * Cheep Cheep
 * Blooper
 * Octopod
 * Nipper Plant
 * Lava Bubble
 * Spiny
 * Spiny Egg
 * Big Boo
 * Para Bomb
 * Bob-omb
 * Monty Mole
 * Mechakoopa

Mini-bosses

 * Hammer Brother
 * Boomerang Brother
 * Sledge Brother
 * Lakitu
 * Firesnake
 * Octopot

Bosses

 * Lemmy Koopa
 * Ludwig von Koopa
 * Wendy O. Koopa with a winged anvil
 * Larry Koopa
 * Morton Koopa Jr.
 * Iggy Koopa
 * Roy Koopa
 * Magikoopa
 * Big Boo
 * Chargin' Chuck
 * Mecha Nokonoko
 * Bowser

Levels
While they are all numbered, the levels in each realm can be played in any order, except for Bowser's Castle, which is unlocked after beating levels 8-11. Once all the gems in the Light Realm are collected, the player moves on to the Dark Realm. The player can replay a level in a realm as many times as they want as long as all the all the gems in that realm are not collected.
 * Light Realm
 * 1. Grass Land (Boss: Lemmy Koopa)
 * 2. Mushroom Land (Boss: Ludwig von Koopa)
 * 3. Pipe Island (Boss: Wendy O. Koopa)
 * 4. Crescent Coast (Boss: Larry Koopa)
 * 5. Spirit Mountain (Boss: Morton Koopa Jr.)
 * 6. Grand Bridge (Boss: Iggy Koopa)
 * 7. Float Castle I (Boss: Roy Koopa)
 * Dark Realm
 * 8. Cornice Cave (Boss: Magikoopa)
 * 9. Ghost Mansion (Boss: Big Boo)
 * 10. Float Castle II (Boss: Chargin' Chuck)
 * 11. Dark Sea (Boss: Mecha Nokonoko)
 * 12. Bowser's Castle (Boss: Bowser)

Items
Throughout courses, the player can earn coins from enemies, and items from Flying ? Blocks. Items dropped from yellow Flying Blocks immediately take effect, while items dropped from dark green variants are used for boss battles only. Boss battle items can be used by pressing the Cursor Button on the Super Scope or by pressing on the SNES Controller during 2-Player Mode.

Appearances in other media
There were two KC Deluxe issues by Kazuki Motoyama, who also wrote adaptations of Yoshi and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.

Pre-release and unused content
There are two unused graphics of Mario: One is him running, despite him never running in the game. The other is him looking down while riding Yoshi, which was meant for a cutscene. Additionally, early footage is shown in a Nintendo Power Previews LaserDisc used in store kiosks. This includes early versions of Yoshi's damage animation and the North American box art.

Trivia

 * This game is the first time that Princess Toadstool is referred to by her original Japanese name "Princess Peach" in the West, albeit temporarily until it was reintroduced in Super Mario 64.
 * The Hammer Brothers and Boomerang Brothers present in the game have blue and green armor, respectively, the opposite of how they would eventually be consistently depicted.