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, Baby Mario flies and cries in a bubble, and the countdown begins, indicating how long the star powers can protect Baby Mario. The countdown will stop when Yoshi grabs Baby Mario (or any other baby in Yoshi's Island DS) in a bubble. Stars give one point and Middle Rings give ten points, up to a maximum of thirty. If the Countdown Timer reaches zero, a few Toadies come and steal Baby Mario (or whichever baby is 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 is above 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 (which increases the timer by 10 seconds) and 20-Point Stars (which increases the timer by 20 seconds).