Last December, we returned in Re:Play to a certain Donkey Kong Country, launched at the end of 1994, and which will not only serve as a technological showcase for the Super Nintendo, but which will also extinguish the ambitions of SEGA and its 32X. And while we thought that Nintendo’s 16-bit console had given everything with the game signed RARE, a few months later, it was Nintendo who signed a new masterstroke, with Yoshi’s Island.
In the small world of video games, the years pass… but the passion and the memories remain! Re:Play looks back at the great classics of video game history. A little return to the future past, in search of your child or adolescent soul, the very one that has undoubtedly already made you (or will make you) pronounce the magic formula “it was better before”. What if it was true…? So we blow into the cartridge, let’s go for Re:Play!
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Yoshi’s Island, a game for boomers already in 1995?
Launched in April 1992 in France, the Super Nintendo could then count on a handful of games, including F-Zero, Super R-Type and the Super Tennis/Super Soccer tandem, but also (and above all!) a certain Super Mario World . The one that (also) displays the name Super Mario Bros 4 in Japan then delighted fans, delighted to enjoy this new (and very first) Super Mario of the 16-bit era.
But while the PlayStation had just arrived in France in December 1995, Nintendo marketed its sequel, soberly called Super Mario World 2, but whose subtitle was displayed in (very) large size before the amazed eyes of the children in the supermarket. corner: Yoshi’s Island. And at the time, it was no less than 549 Francs that your servant’s parents paid to offer him this new gray cartridge.
Because yes, at the end of 1995, the Super Nintendo was in trouble, it was already 5 years old (in Japan), with the added bonus of a Saturn and a PlayStation which were starting to establish themselves in living rooms. Players now swear by a new acronym: 3D. And we have to admit that by offering a new 2D platform game, Nintendo is acting as “boomer“, in a world that now demands relief at all costs.
In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, the first surprise comes from the fact that we will not control the famous mustachioed hero… or even his brother for that matter. No. Here, we control the adorable Yoshi, met in the previous opus, who is holding a baby Mario on his back, who was lost by a stork attacked by the infamous Kamek. Because yes, Yoshi’s Island is a prequel, and not a sequel.
The BIG visual and technical blow
And like Donkey Kong Country a few months earlier, this Yoshi’s Island will also astonish people with its technical achievement. Indeed, from the first moments, Yoshi’s Island is able to captivate even the most addicted to 3D of the time.
The universe is enchanting, the music is FABULOUS, and the entire visual part benefits from a “handmade” to fall backwards. The colors are shimmering, the game is full of pastel effects but also certain special effects never before seen, thanks to the talent of Nintendo, but also to the second generation of Super FX chip.
We will then benefit from distortion effects, transparency and numerous absolutely sublime animations, not to mention gigantic bosses. The game is as varied as possible, and even at the time, it was sometimes hard to believe that all of this was running on a “simple” Super Nintendo. Even today, a few seconds are enough to fall under the spell again.
Innovations also on the gameplay side
Gameplay-wise, Yoshi is able to grab an enemy with his tongue and keep it in his mouth to throw it at another enemy, but he can also turn it into an egg. Eggs are used to be thrown to unlock passages, obtain bonuses or even attack enemies.
But not content with innovating in the technical section, Yoshi’s Island will also add many gameplay features. Here, when an enemy manages to touch Yoshi, the player will have a few seconds to recover Baby Mario with Kamek’s minions not stealing him. Same with watermelons which, once swallowed, allow Yoshi to strafe enemies with seeds, or even throw fire or ice.
And that’s not all, since Yoshi can also benefit from various transformations throughout the game. In a helicopter, in a mole, in a submarine… the little dinosaur can take various forms to evolve. Added to this is a star which transforms our Baby Mario into Super Baby Mario, again with very characteristic gameplay.
While they were expecting a simple sequel to Super Mario World, players discovered a whole new style of play with Yoshi’s Island, and many still consider it to be one of the best games today. 2D platformer of all time.
Certainly, Yoshi’s Island does not offer “that” 48 levels, but what constant pleasure, what mastery, what magic… And even though the game ended in a little less than ten hours, many people have accumulated several dozen, purely pleasure on the one hand, but also to complete each level 100%, which requires arriving at the end of each with plenty of stars, the 5 hidden flowers and the red coins.
And after?
Yoshi’s Island quickly established its status as “reference” of the 2D platform. And so many people complain about the ports (remaster, remake, etc.) of recent years, already in 2002, Nintendo relaunched this Yoshi’s Island, but on Game Boy Advance. Accompanied by the Mario Bros arcade game, this version designed for Nintendo’s portable console was a great success, just like Super Mario Bros 2 and 3, as well as Super Mario World, also offered on GBA.
And for the record, know that the Game Boy Advance port of this same Yoshi’s Island is somewhat different from the original version, notably with a narrower field of vision but also some effects removed, the fault of a Super FX2 chipset absent from the GBA version. So, if like me, over all these years, you have always preferred the Super Nintendo version of Yoshi’s Island to its GBA port, well that’s completely normal.
Note that the saga also had a form of spin-off, with Yoshi Touch & Go, launched at the start of the Nintendo DS, whose gameplay required using only the touch screen and the console’s microphone. A fun game, but which served more as an experience than a real complete game in reality, as were quite a few titles launched at the start of the Nintendo DS era.
In 2006, the Nintendo DS will have the honor of receiving a new, unpublished Yoshi’s Island, which takes up the main lines of the original opus, this time with gameplay spread over the two screens of the console, and the presence of Baby Peach instead of Baby Luigi. In 2014, it is the Nintendo 3DS which this time allows us to find a new opus in the saga, with Yoshi’s New Island which, unlike the other two, will unfortunately constitute a certain disappointment among many players.
And it is also this same Yoshi’s New Island which still serves as the latest opus in the saga… So why not a new Yoshi’s Island (successful this time!) soon on Nintendo Switch 2?
