Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the SNES. it was released on October 5, 1995, as a prequel to the Mario franchise where you play as Yoshi escorting Baby Mario in order to reunite him with his brother Luigi. Yoshi’s Island had a new direction and aesthetic which many loved and some of its special effects were powered by a new Super FX2 microchip found in other “higher graphics” games of the time like Star Fox. This is important to note because this came out in a time where the only thing video game graphics were concerned about was 3D and here was a veteran in the field using the latest tech to instead try to get the greatest 2D experience they could get out of it. Yoshi’s Island received “instant” and “universal acclaim”, and sold over four million copies. It’s hailed by many as a contender for the best Super Mario game ever created, the best 2D platformer ever created and some even consider it one of the best video games in video game history. Yoshi’s Island was the last 2D Super Mario game released for home consoles but it did see many re-releases, cameos, spin-offs, and sequels.

Pros:

This game is considered by many Super Mario enthusiast as, if not the best, at least ONE of the best Mario games of all time and I think it’s a fair argument to make. If you had to pick one genre that is most quintessential to the entire history of video games, the 2D platformer will probably be it and if you had to make a list of the best 2D platformers ever created, Mario would probably near or at the top. And Finally, if you had to pick the best 2D Mario game of all time, again this one will probably be near if not at the top. All that being said I think its prase has to do not only with timing but also a combination of a lot of good things that it had to offer. It introduces a wealth of new and well-done power-ups, bad guys, bosses (my favorite), levels, bonus stages and much more. However, I think the real reason this holds a bit more of a special place in the avid Mario gamers heart is the level of challenge in this Mario is set to a bit higher level than almost any other Mario game I have played. Sure you can blow through this game with no fuck given if you really wanted to and it probably wouldn’t be TOO hard, but they place almost every single important piece to a level in a rather precarious set of circumstance. So much so, that sometimes you might think the developers are just out to get you. It challenged the Mario trends by focusing on Yoshi instead (which I love, since Nintendo tends to rely a bit too much of same old same old) and with it came a ton of cool transforming abilities, the egg shots, flutter step, etc. Many level go out of their way to try to introduce and capitalize on dynamic and creative gameplay which they then proceed to stretch in every conceivable direction. They even have a level called “touch fuzzy get fuzzy” where when you touch a “fuzzy”, Yoshi gets HIGH AS FUCK and you have to play around with that. Its awesome! The boss battles are fun and varied too. Probably still some of my favorite boss battles in the franchise to date. And the hand-drawn aesthetic really is pretty damn wonderful if I might say so myself.

Cons:

THE FUCKING SOUND EFFECTS. Seriously, if there is one thing that this game does SO BAD that I would argue it can push it from the top spot, it is that fucking baby Mario cry. God, it boils my blood. Now I know this argument has been heard before and peoples counterpoint is that well, you are more incentive to get Mario back then… no, fuck you, I would want to get him back because I don’t want to lose the level. However, it doesn’t stop there, any level that you are walking across ice, they put a squeaking sound into every step you take on that ice…EVERY FUCKING STEP… seriously the sound effects in this game fucking kill me. Transitions from for ground to the background, or when you move in and out of a cave, has this pause and reveal type of set up which gets incredibly annoying too. If you are trying to do something challenging in and out of this dynamic, you are constantly halted in your gameplay and train of thought. I also found the music itself a bit underwhelming and repetitive, compared to the hits that we have come to expect and love with the franchise, with the exception of maybe 2 or 3 songs. I was also a bit let down by the world map. On the intro screen, the world looks so cool, but you don’t really navigate it at all, like at fucking all. When you choose your levels its on this cute kind of scroll and there are no directional option, just one way. Super linear. Next level, next level, that’s it. There is no variation in choices on how to maybe find an alternative way. Even Mario 3 had that going on, what happened? The level of challenge is a good thing I think since pretty much ever Mario games ever created is rather easy, however, there is an abundance of rather difficult parts all throughout this game which borders on just outright mean. Again, not terrible, but I have never been more stressed in a Mario game before or since. The grading system they got is ok, I guess, but it does feel like you have a strict teacher pushing you to 100% every level. That’s not really what I associate with having fun in a video game. Also, not terrible, but some of the things you need to get 100% in a level are set up in that almost maniacally evil way. This does make replayability of the game so much more awesome though, so that’s why it’s actually it’s more of a natural than a con for me at least.

BEST MARIO GAME EVER?

Like so many prolific video game franchise, Super Mario is forever doomed to get the question “which is the best though?” Well on many online pols this game finds itself at the top on a regular basis. Now personally I have a bit of a nostalgia bias towards Super Mario 3 and Super Mario World, but even after admitting that I can honestly say that this bad boy has a fair shot at that top slot. Now best Mario game EVER? I don’t know about that, it does have some shortcoming and some so bad that I personally I don’t think I can give it the absolute top slot. However, if you place it in the “Best 2D Mario of all time” I don’t think you can ever find this game outside of the top 3 of all 2D Super Mario games. I might give it the top slot in my book if my laundry list of cons wasn’t so heavy and full of curse words.