Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is a 1995 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The player controls Yoshi dinosaurs on their quest to reunite baby Mario with his brother Luigi, who has been kidnapped by the wizard Kamek. Yoshi runs and jumps to reach the end of each level while solving puzzles and collecting items with Mario's help.
Having introduced the character in the previous Super Mario game, Super Mario World (1990), Nintendo decided to develop a game starring Yoshi, with the aim of making it more accessible. Yoshi's Island introduced his signature flutter jump and egg-spawning abilities. The marker-drawn art style was created by scanning hand-drawn pictures and approximating them pixel-by-pixel. Some special effects were powered by a new Super FX2 microchip.
After four years of development, Yoshi's Island was released in Japan in August 1995 and worldwide two months later. It sold more than four million copies. Critics described it as one of the greatest video games of all time, praising the art, sound, level design and gameplay. The art style and Yoshi's signature characteristics established the Yoshi series of spin-offs and sequels.
Yoshi's Island was the last Super Mario platformer before the series' transition to 3D gameplay, with no further 2D entries for over a decade. It was ported to the Game Boy Advance as Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 in 2002; this version was rereleased for the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U's Virtual Console. The original version was also released for the Super NES Classic Edition, and both versions for the Nintendo Classics service.
Plot
Kamek attacks a stork delivering baby brothers Mario and Luigi. Yoshi defeats Bowser, saves Luigi, and the stork successfully delivers the brothers to their parents in the Mushroom Kingdom.
Gameplay
thumb|left|[[Yoshi aims an egg at a Piranha Plant. The timer in the top right corner will count down if Mario falls off his back. The game has a hand-drawn, paper-and-crayon aesthetic.|alt=]]
Yoshi's Island is a 2D side-scrolling platform game. The Game Boy Advance version adds an exclusive bonus level for each world with 100% level completion.
To give the gameplay a more "gentle and relaxed pacing", the levels lack time limits and feature more exploration elements than previous games; Yoshi's flutter jump also makes him easier to control in the air than Mario. Yoshi's ability to lay and throw eggs was added to distinguish Yoshi's Island further from previous Mario games, none of which had prominently featured a throwing mechanic.
<!--thumb|right| [[Shigeru Miyamoto produced the game.]]-->
Yoshi's Island was developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) Production of Yoshi's Island began on February 1, 1992, and concluded on June 29, 1995. Development was spearheaded by Hino, Takashi Tezuka, Hideki Konno and Toshihiko Nakago. It was Nakago's only directing role after an 11-year apprenticeship, with Miyamoto as producer. Newly hired artist Hisashi Nogami created the unique marker-drawn style. The graphics were achieved by drawing them by hand, digitally scanning them, and then approximating them pixel-by-pixel. Yoshiaki Koizumi animated the opening and ending, while series composer Koji Kondo wrote the game's music.
Partway into the development of Yoshi's Island, Donkey Kong Country was released, which resulted in its computer-generated graphics becoming the norm for contemporary SNES games. After the game was first showcased to the public during the last Summer Consumer Electronics Show in June 1994, Miyamoto demoed an early version of Yoshi's Island to Nintendo's marketing department, who rejected it due to the visuals "lacking punch" in comparison to the pre-rendered graphics of Donkey Kong Country. It was too late for the graphic designers to incorporate such a style into Yoshi's Island; instead, they pushed the hand-drawn style further as a way to "fight back".
Release
Yoshi's Island was released in Japan in August 1995, and two months later in North America and Europe.
Reception
Yoshi's Island sold over copies in Japan by late 1995, and went on to sell . It has sold over four million copies worldwide,
Yoshi's Island received critical acclaim. At the time of its 1995 release, Matt Taylor of Diehard GameFan thought Yoshi's Island could be "possibly the best platform game of all time".
The Game Boy Advance version received similar praise. Reviewing the Game Boy Advance release in 2002, Craig Harris of IGN wrote that Yoshi's Island was "the best damn platformer ever developed". During the 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, it received a nomination for "Handheld Game of the Year" by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.