Yoshi's Island

Did You Know?

• In advertising, Nintendo referred to some visual effects made possible by the Super FX2 chip as 'Morphmation'.
• The Game Boy Advance port added Kazumi Totaka's voice as Yoshi and six new levels.

Development

Yoshi first appeared in Super Mario World in 1990, and after that, the character starred in puzzle spin-offs like Yoshi and Yoshi's Cookie. Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario, then asked Shigefumi Hino, who designed Yoshi, to come up with an original project. Hino thought the Mario team had already done everything possible with 2D Mario platformers, and soon after Super Mario World was finished, in late 1990, he started working on the idea for Yoshi's Island.

He settled on making a platform game starring Yoshi that would be easier to pick up than earlier Mario games. The team decided Yoshi's job would be to carry Mario across the world map, and they used a baby version of Mario to explain why he couldn't walk on his own. To create a gentler, more relaxed pace, the levels have no time limits and encourage exploration. Yoshi's flutter jump makes him easier to handle in the air than Mario, and the ability to lay and throw eggs was added to set the game apart from previous Mario titles, none of which had a throwing mechanic as a main feature.

Level progression is linear, so players have to replay stages to improve rather than skip tough ones on a world map. In 2020, a prototype with similar graphics was found, starring a different character in a pilot suit; its title, Super Donkey, hints it might have started as a Donkey Kong game before becoming Yoshi's Island. Development ran from February 1, 1992, to June 29, 1995, led by Hino, Takashi Tezuka, Hideki Konno, and Toshihiko Nakago, with Miyamoto as producer.

New hire Hisashi Nogami created the hand-drawn, marker-like look by scanning hand-drawn art and approximating it pixel by pixel. Yoshiaki Koizumi animated the opening and ending, and Koji Kondo wrote the music.

Reception

Yoshi's Island moved over a million units in Japan by late 1995, eventually reaching 1.77 million there. Worldwide, the SNES version sold 4.12 million copies, for a total exceeding four million. Critics widely praised the game. Matt Taylor of Diehard GameFan suggested it might be the finest platform game ever created.

Nintendo Power described it as exceptionally large and visually stunning. Next Generation highlighted its scale and how well it played. Three Diehard GameFan reviewers gave it a near-perfect score; Nicholas Dean Des Barres called it one of the few truly flawless games, adding that the magazine had given Donkey Kong Country a perfect score despite finding it lackluster in comparison. Casey Loe deducted one point because of Baby Mario's irritating screech.

Nintendo Power and Nintendo Life also found the crying annoying. Over a decade later, Kaes Delgrego of Nintendo Life noted that the crying and a few overly simple boss fights were the only minor flaws. Delgrego credited Yoshi's Island with refining the platforming genre, calling it possibly the greatest platformer ever. Both at launch and in retrospect, reviewers admired the artwork, stage design, and gameplay, often citing its charm.

Delgrego said he would pause mid-game just to observe enemy behavior. Martin Watts of Nintendo Life called it a visual delight unlike any other SNES title. The controls, technical effects, and audio design also earned praise. Delgrego felt goosebumps and tingles during the ending theme.

Major Mike of GamePro observed that the game did not rely on flashy graphics or gimmicks to mask a shallow experience, calling it a 16-bit title with genuine heart and creativity.

Legacy

Critics at IGN and Nintendo Life have called Yoshi's Island a masterpiece, with IGN describing it as one of the most beloved SNES adventures ever. Lucas M. Thomas of IGN noted that this was the game where Yoshi truly came into his own, gaining his signature flutter jump, egg-throwing ability, and shape-shifting powers. Baby Mario made his debut here and later appeared in several sports titles. Nintendo producer Takashi Tezuka carried the game's handicraft aesthetic into later Yoshi games, including those made of yarn and other materials.

Official Nintendo Magazine praised the art style as a bold risk that paid off. Delgrego of Nintendo Life said the game ushered in a new era of video game art that valued creativity over graphical power, and also called the countdown-based life system revolutionary, a mechanic later seen in series like Halo. Martin Watts, also of Nintendo Life, felt Super Mario 64 was a bigger gaming milestone but argued Yoshi's Island was the most important event in the Mario timeline.

IGN reported that SNES owners embraced it alongside Donkey Kong Country. Jared Petty of IGN wrote that Yoshi's Island has aged far better than many of its peers. Levi Buchanan of IGN believed Nintendo took a chance by making Mario a passive character and giving Yoshi new abilities. Christian Donlan of 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die called the game a testament to the Mario team's staggering confidence and perhaps the most imaginative platformer of its era.

In 1997, Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked it the 7th best console game of all time, calling it as much a piece of art as a game and the epitome of platform gaming, just behind Super Mario Bros. 3. Official Nintendo Magazine placed it 22nd on its 2009 top 100 Nintendo games list, calling it a bona fide classic. IGN ranked it 15th on its 2014 top 125 Nintendo games list, and USgamers put it second on its 2015 best Mario platformers list. Complex listed it 14th on its 2018 best Super Nintendo games list. In 1996, GamesMaster ranked it number 1 on its SNES Top 10 and 45th on its all-time top 100 games list.