Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Encyclopedia
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, originally released as in Japan
, is a platform
video game developed and published by Nintendo
for the SNES
console. Despite its title, this game serves as a prequel to all other games within the established Mario Bros timeline. While featuring Nintendo's trademark Mario
character, the game's graphics and gameplay differed from all previous Mario games in that players control various Yoshi
dinosaur
s rather than Mario himself, who appears as a helpless infant
.
Yoshi's Island was released on August 5, 1995
in Japan, October 4, 1995 in North America
and October 6, 1995 in Europe
. A port was made for the Game Boy Advance
as Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3. The game has yet to be announced to be ported for the Virtual Console
. A sequel for the Nintendo DS
, Yoshi's Island DS, was released in 2006.
The gameplay of Yoshi's Island bears some superficial similarities to other games in the Mario series, such as the ability to defeat (some) enemies by jumping on them, keys required to open doors in castle levels, and a generally linear level structure. However, aside from these and a few other minor similarities, its gameplay is considerably different. Yoshi's main mode of attack is using his tongue to pull his foes into his mouth, either to spit them out or swallow them to create eggs, which can be used as projectile weapons. The game also has more of a focus on puzzle solving; for example, one level might require a player to enter a cave from a different opening in order to find the right path. The game's levels do not have a countdown timer, as previous Mario games had, allowing players to take as much time as is needed to solve a puzzle without penalty.
Power-up
s are not commonplace in Yoshi's Island, and are only occasionally found in specific places in certain levels. One power-up, similar to the Starman from previous Mario games, turns Baby Mario into "Super Baby Mario", making him invincible and fast enough on his own two feet to run directly up walls, all while protecting Yoshi inside of a large egg. Like the Starman power, the effects are temporary and wear off relatively quickly. Yoshi also has the ability, at various points in the game, to transform into different vehicles, such as a car or helicopter. The vehicle transformations are temporary as well. At the end of each level, the player is scored on a scale of 1-100, with 100 being a perfect score.
Unlike other games in the Mario series that allow a player to "warp" ahead to higher levels, Yoshi's Island is the first game in the series that requires the player to complete all 48 regular stages linearly to finish the game. In addition to these, there are six bonus levels—one for each world, which are unlocked by achieving perfect scores on all eight of that world's levels.
carries two babies across the sea, the evil Magikoopa Kamek emerges, and attemps to steal both of the babies. Kamek manages to grab Baby Luigi
, but Baby Mario
falls onto an island in the middle of the sea, called Yoshi's Island, home to all Yoshis. He lands on a green Yoshi, who was apparently taking a walk. The Yoshi clan, accompanying Baby Mario, must journey through the game's six worlds to rescue Baby Luigi and free the stork from Baby Bowser and Kamek. Throughout the game, Kamek tries to stop Yoshi by dispatching his minions all across the island and by using magic spells to transform normal enemies into more powerful creatures that further impede Yoshi's progess.
When Yoshi finally reaches Bowser's Castle, Kamek demands that Yoshi gives back Baby Mario. Suddenly, Baby Bowser wakes up and attempts to ride Yoshi, but Yohsi fights Baby Bowser until the latter becomes unconscious. Kamek then uses his magic to enlarge Baby Bowser to a gigantic size, destroying most of the castle in the process. After being defeated by Yoshi, Baby Bowser is reverted to his normal size and faints. Kamek is horrified and vows to return before flying off with Baby Bowser towards the moon.
Yoshi then frees the captured stork and Baby Luigi. The stork flies the reunited twins far away to the Mushroom Kingdom where their parents live. At dawn, the couple emerges from their mushroom-shaped home to see the pair of infants on their porch.
2 microchip to create sprite
scaling, polygon
effects, and pre-32-bit computer effects called "Morphmation" (in American commercials) that are relatively advanced for an SNES game (a preliminary version of the boxart featured the Super FX 2 logo).
The game's unique graphical style is said to have resulted from a conflict with Nintendo
's internal evaluation committee; impressed by the recently released Donkey Kong Country
, which sported pre-rendered graphics, they ordered the game's producer
, Shigeru Miyamoto
, to move the visuals in this direction. Miyamoto altered the graphics to look as if they had been drawn with crayon
s and felt-pens
, making them more cartoonish, and resubmitted it to the evaluation committee, who passed the game. At one point the game even draws inspiration from Vincent van Gogh
's painting The Starry Night
. Some of the cut scenes do, however, show pre-rendered graphics, done in a rather different form that looks more like the gameplay graphics. Eventually the sequel, Yoshi's Story
made full use of digitized 2D graphics of high resolution 3D models like Donkey Kong Country did.
gave Yoshi's Island its award for Best Action Game of 1995. GamePro
gave the game a 4.5/5 rating. GameRankings.com gives Yoshi's Island a composite review score of 95%, based on five reviews. Yoshi's Island sold about four million copies. The game placed 22nd in Official Nintendo Magazine's 100 greatest Nintendo games of all time. Next Generation Magazine
called it the "high-water mark in 2D gaming." The game has garnered a huge cult following since its release. Yoshi's Island has often appeared on lists of "greatest games of all time."
Yoshi's Island also proved to be a critical and commercial hit in its Game Boy Advance version, Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, which was released in 2002.
was released for the Nintendo 64 and featured similar gameplay, but is generally considered to be of a lower quality. The series has seen two spin-offs: Yoshi Touch & Go
for the Nintendo DS
and Yoshi's Topsy-Turvy for the Game Boy Advance
. While unrelated in basic gameplay, the characters and graphical style are heavily based on those of Yoshi's Island.
Yoshi's Island DS, released on November 13, 2006 for the Nintendo DS, is the most direct sequel and incorporates many of the same gameplay aspects. Unlike Yoshi's Island, it now also features Princess Peach
, Donkey Kong, Bowser, and Wario
joining Mario as babies.
Yoshi's Island, the location of Super Mario World 2s action, is also used as the backdrop for the SNES
and Game Boy
puzzle game Tetris Attack
.
Several of Yoshi's moves that debuted in Super Mario World 2 appeared again in later games. These include the Egg Throw, which has been used by Yoshi in the Super Smash Bros. series, the Flutter Kick, which has been used by him in later Mario games, and most notably, the Ground Pound, which has been used not only by Yoshi but also by almost every playable character since then, from games such as the Mario Party series to Super Mario 64
. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
, a stage heavily based on the version of Yoshi's Island portrayed in Super Mario World 2 was revealed.
to the Game Boy Advance
as Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 with added features.
The game featured no changes to its basic formula besides that voice samples from Yoshi's Story
were used. There were two major additions, however: six new levels called "Secret levels" could be unlocked after beating the game, and the Mario Bros. mini-game that appeared on all the Super Mario Advance series. If a player completes the game and gets 100 points on all 60 levels in the game, a secret ending will occur.
Like its two predecessors, Super Mario Advance 3 had generally positive reviews. It sold 1.6 million copies in the US and was re-released in 2006 as a Player's Choice title.
with enhanced 3D features. It was revealed by Reggie Fils Aime that these titles, specifically mentioning Yoshi's Island, Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros., Mega Man 2, and The Legend of Zelda will appear on the 3DS. "Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said not to think of them as remakes." Shigeru Miyamoto said that these classics might be "using new features in the games that would take advantage of the 3DS’ capabilities."
On July 28, 2011, Nintendo announced that the Game Boy Advance
remake of Yoshi's Island (i.e. Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3), as well as nine other Game Boy Advance games (and 10 NES
games), will be available to Nintendo 3DS owners, via Virtual Console
, to whom will participate in an upcoming Ambassador program after Nintendo officially issues a price-cut to the Nintendo 3DS starting August 12, 2011. This offer is available in all territories, and only to those who became eligible in the Ambassador program (by accessing the Nintendo eShop
before the date of the price-cut). Nintendo currently has no plans to release this game, or any other Game Boy Advance game, to the general public in paid form.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, is a platform
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
video game developed and published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
for the SNES
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
console. Despite its title, this game serves as a prequel to all other games within the established Mario Bros timeline. While featuring Nintendo's trademark Mario
Mario
is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
character, the game's graphics and gameplay differed from all previous Mario games in that players control various Yoshi
Yoshi
, is a fictional dragon-like character who appears in video games published by Nintendo. His debut was in Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as Mario and Luigi's sidekick , and he later established his own series with several platform and puzzle games, including Super...
dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s rather than Mario himself, who appears as a helpless infant
Infant
A newborn or baby is the very young offspring of a human or other mammal. A newborn is an infant who is within hours, days, or up to a few weeks from birth. In medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth...
.
Yoshi's Island was released on August 5, 1995
1995 in video gaming
-Events:*May 11 – Introduction of trade magazine GameWeek *May 11-16 — The 1st annual Electronic Entertainment Expo is held in Los Angeles, California...
in Japan, October 4, 1995 in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and October 6, 1995 in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. A port was made for the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
as Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3. The game has yet to be announced to be ported for the Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
. A sequel for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
, Yoshi's Island DS, was released in 2006.
Gameplay
The main goal for each level of Yoshi's Island is to reach that level's end with Baby Mario safely on Yoshi's back. Baby Mario is then transferred to the back of a differently-colored Yoshi, who will carry him through the next level. Between levels, players are presented with the map screen, which allows them to select the next level, or replay previous ones for a better score. There are enemies and obstacles that endanger Yoshi and Baby Mario on each stage. If Yoshi is struck by an enemy, Baby Mario will be sprung from Yoshi's back and float around in a bubble crying while a timer counts down; if Yoshi does not reunite with Baby Mario before the timer reaches 0, Baby Bowser's minions will fly on screen and kidnap him, ending the level and reducing the player's chances to retry by one.The gameplay of Yoshi's Island bears some superficial similarities to other games in the Mario series, such as the ability to defeat (some) enemies by jumping on them, keys required to open doors in castle levels, and a generally linear level structure. However, aside from these and a few other minor similarities, its gameplay is considerably different. Yoshi's main mode of attack is using his tongue to pull his foes into his mouth, either to spit them out or swallow them to create eggs, which can be used as projectile weapons. The game also has more of a focus on puzzle solving; for example, one level might require a player to enter a cave from a different opening in order to find the right path. The game's levels do not have a countdown timer, as previous Mario games had, allowing players to take as much time as is needed to solve a puzzle without penalty.
Power-up
In computer and video games, power-ups are objects that instantly benefit or add extra abilities to the game character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a benefit and can be used at a time chosen by the player...
s are not commonplace in Yoshi's Island, and are only occasionally found in specific places in certain levels. One power-up, similar to the Starman from previous Mario games, turns Baby Mario into "Super Baby Mario", making him invincible and fast enough on his own two feet to run directly up walls, all while protecting Yoshi inside of a large egg. Like the Starman power, the effects are temporary and wear off relatively quickly. Yoshi also has the ability, at various points in the game, to transform into different vehicles, such as a car or helicopter. The vehicle transformations are temporary as well. At the end of each level, the player is scored on a scale of 1-100, with 100 being a perfect score.
Unlike other games in the Mario series that allow a player to "warp" ahead to higher levels, Yoshi's Island is the first game in the series that requires the player to complete all 48 regular stages linearly to finish the game. In addition to these, there are six bonus levels—one for each world, which are unlocked by achieving perfect scores on all eight of that world's levels.
Plot
While a storkStork
Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae. They are the only family in the biological order Ciconiiformes, which was once much larger and held a number of families....
carries two babies across the sea, the evil Magikoopa Kamek emerges, and attemps to steal both of the babies. Kamek manages to grab Baby Luigi
Luigi
is a fictional character, featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by prominent game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the slightly younger fraternal twin brother of Nintendo's mascot Mario, and appears in many games throughout the Mario series,...
, but Baby Mario
Mario
is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
falls onto an island in the middle of the sea, called Yoshi's Island, home to all Yoshis. He lands on a green Yoshi, who was apparently taking a walk. The Yoshi clan, accompanying Baby Mario, must journey through the game's six worlds to rescue Baby Luigi and free the stork from Baby Bowser and Kamek. Throughout the game, Kamek tries to stop Yoshi by dispatching his minions all across the island and by using magic spells to transform normal enemies into more powerful creatures that further impede Yoshi's progess.
When Yoshi finally reaches Bowser's Castle, Kamek demands that Yoshi gives back Baby Mario. Suddenly, Baby Bowser wakes up and attempts to ride Yoshi, but Yohsi fights Baby Bowser until the latter becomes unconscious. Kamek then uses his magic to enlarge Baby Bowser to a gigantic size, destroying most of the castle in the process. After being defeated by Yoshi, Baby Bowser is reverted to his normal size and faints. Kamek is horrified and vows to return before flying off with Baby Bowser towards the moon.
Yoshi then frees the captured stork and Baby Luigi. The stork flies the reunited twins far away to the Mushroom Kingdom where their parents live. At dawn, the couple emerges from their mushroom-shaped home to see the pair of infants on their porch.
Development
The game uses the Super FXSuper FX
The Super FX is a coprocessor chip used in select Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game cartridges. This custom-made RISC processor was typically programmed to act like a graphics accelerator chip that would draw polygons to a frame buffer in the RAM that sat adjacent to it...
2 microchip to create sprite
Sprite (computer graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
scaling, polygon
Polygon
In geometry a polygon is a flat shape consisting of straight lines that are joined to form a closed chain orcircuit.A polygon is traditionally a plane figure that is bounded by a closed path, composed of a finite sequence of straight line segments...
effects, and pre-32-bit computer effects called "Morphmation" (in American commercials) that are relatively advanced for an SNES game (a preliminary version of the boxart featured the Super FX 2 logo).
The game's unique graphical style is said to have resulted from a conflict with Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
's internal evaluation committee; impressed by the recently released Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country is a side-scrolling platformer video game developed by Rare, featuring the character Donkey Kong. It was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. Following an intense marketing campaign, the original SNES version sold over 8 million copies worldwide, making...
, which sported pre-rendered graphics, they ordered the game's producer
Game producer
A video game producer is the person in charge of overseeing development of a video game.The earliest documented use of the term producer in games was by Trip Hawkins, who established the position when he founded Electronic Arts in 1982...
, Shigeru Miyamoto
Shigeru Miyamoto
is a Japanese video game designer and producer. Miyamoto was born and raised in Kyoto Prefecture; the natural surroundings of Kyoto inspired much of Miyamoto's later work....
, to move the visuals in this direction. Miyamoto altered the graphics to look as if they had been drawn with crayon
Crayon
A crayon is a stick of colored wax, charcoal, chalk, or other materials used for writing, coloring, drawing, and other methods of illustration. A crayon made of oiled chalk is called an oil pastel; when made of pigment with a dry binder, it is simply a pastel; both are popular media for color...
s and felt-pens
Marker pen
thumb|MarkerA marker pen, marking pen, felt-tip pen, flow or marker, is a pen which has its own ink-source, and usually a tip made of a porous, pressed fibres; such as felt or nylon.-Permanent marker:...
, making them more cartoonish, and resubmitted it to the evaluation committee, who passed the game. At one point the game even draws inspiration from Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
's painting The Starry Night
The Starry Night
The Starry Night is a painting by Dutch post-impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh. The painting depicts the view outside his sanitarium room window at night, although it was painted from memory during the day. Since 1941 it has been in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New...
. Some of the cut scenes do, however, show pre-rendered graphics, done in a rather different form that looks more like the gameplay graphics. Eventually the sequel, Yoshi's Story
Yoshi's Story
is a side-scrolling platform game, published and developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 entertainment system. It is the sequel to the Super Nintendo game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. It was released on December 21, 1997 in Japan, March 1, 1998 in North America and April 9, 1998 in Europe...
made full use of digitized 2D graphics of high resolution 3D models like Donkey Kong Country did.
Reception
The game received overwhelming praise from critics. Electronic Gaming MonthlyElectronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
gave Yoshi's Island its award for Best Action Game of 1995. GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
gave the game a 4.5/5 rating. GameRankings.com gives Yoshi's Island a composite review score of 95%, based on five reviews. Yoshi's Island sold about four million copies. The game placed 22nd in Official Nintendo Magazine's 100 greatest Nintendo games of all time. Next Generation Magazine
Next Generation Magazine
Next Generation Magazine was a video game magazine that was made by Imagine Media publishing company . It was affiliated to and shared editorial with the UK's Edge magazine. Next Generation ran from January 1995 until January 2002. It was published by Jonathan Simpson-Bint and edited by Neil West...
called it the "high-water mark in 2D gaming." The game has garnered a huge cult following since its release. Yoshi's Island has often appeared on lists of "greatest games of all time."
Yoshi's Island also proved to be a critical and commercial hit in its Game Boy Advance version, Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, which was released in 2002.
Sequels and spin-offs
The semi-sequel Yoshi's StoryYoshi's Story
is a side-scrolling platform game, published and developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 entertainment system. It is the sequel to the Super Nintendo game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. It was released on December 21, 1997 in Japan, March 1, 1998 in North America and April 9, 1998 in Europe...
was released for the Nintendo 64 and featured similar gameplay, but is generally considered to be of a lower quality. The series has seen two spin-offs: Yoshi Touch & Go
Yoshi Touch & Go
Yoshi Touch & Go, known in Japan as , is a video game that was developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It debuted in Japan on January 27, 2005, in North America on March 14, 2005, and in Europe on May 6, 2005. As of August 2007, the game sold 197,337 copies in Japan. Yoshi Touch &...
for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
and Yoshi's Topsy-Turvy for the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
. While unrelated in basic gameplay, the characters and graphical style are heavily based on those of Yoshi's Island.
Yoshi's Island DS, released on November 13, 2006 for the Nintendo DS, is the most direct sequel and incorporates many of the same gameplay aspects. Unlike Yoshi's Island, it now also features Princess Peach
Princess Peach
is a character in Nintendo's Mario series of video games. She is the Princess of the fictitious Mushroom Kingdom, and often plays the damsel in distress role within the adventure series. In 2007, Princess Peach landed on Forbes magazine's Wealthiest Fictional People list, with a fortune upwards of...
, Donkey Kong, Bowser, and Wario
Wario
is a fictional character in Nintendo's Mario series. The character was designed as another antagonist to Mario , and first appeared in the 1992 Game Boy title Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins as the main antagonist and final boss...
joining Mario as babies.
Yoshi's Island, the location of Super Mario World 2s action, is also used as the backdrop for the SNES
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
and Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
puzzle game Tetris Attack
Tetris Attack
Tetris Attack is a puzzle video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System home video game console and Game Boy handheld game console...
.
Several of Yoshi's moves that debuted in Super Mario World 2 appeared again in later games. These include the Egg Throw, which has been used by Yoshi in the Super Smash Bros. series, the Flutter Kick, which has been used by him in later Mario games, and most notably, the Ground Pound, which has been used not only by Yoshi but also by almost every playable character since then, from games such as the Mario Party series to Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64
is a platform game, published by Nintendo and developed by its EAD division, for the Nintendo 64. Along with Pilotwings 64, it was one of the launch titles for the console. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, and later in North America, Europe, and Australia. Super Mario 64 has sold over...
. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. Brawl, known in Japan as , often abbreviated as SSBB or simply as Brawl, is the third installment in the Super Smash Bros. series of crossover fighting games, developed by an ad hoc development team consisting of Sora, Game Arts and staff from other developers, and published by...
, a stage heavily based on the version of Yoshi's Island portrayed in Super Mario World 2 was revealed.
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was ported by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and DevelopmentNintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development
, commonly abbreviated as EAD, is the largest division inside Nintendo. It was preceded by the , a team of designers with an art background responsible for many different tasks, which Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka originally belonged to...
to the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
as Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 with added features.
The game featured no changes to its basic formula besides that voice samples from Yoshi's Story
Yoshi's Story
is a side-scrolling platform game, published and developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 entertainment system. It is the sequel to the Super Nintendo game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. It was released on December 21, 1997 in Japan, March 1, 1998 in North America and April 9, 1998 in Europe...
were used. There were two major additions, however: six new levels called "Secret levels" could be unlocked after beating the game, and the Mario Bros. mini-game that appeared on all the Super Mario Advance series. If a player completes the game and gets 100 points on all 60 levels in the game, a secret ending will occur.
Like its two predecessors, Super Mario Advance 3 had generally positive reviews. It sold 1.6 million copies in the US and was re-released in 2006 as a Player's Choice title.
Nintendo 3DS release
At E3 2010 A tech demo titled Classic Games was unveiled showing multiple Nintendo games being played on the Nintendo 3DSNintendo 3DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo. The autostereoscopic device is able to project stereoscopic 3D effects without the use of 3D glasses or any additional accessories. The Nintendo 3DS features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS series software, including Nintendo DSi software...
with enhanced 3D features. It was revealed by Reggie Fils Aime that these titles, specifically mentioning Yoshi's Island, Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros., Mega Man 2, and The Legend of Zelda will appear on the 3DS. "Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said not to think of them as remakes." Shigeru Miyamoto said that these classics might be "using new features in the games that would take advantage of the 3DS’ capabilities."
On July 28, 2011, Nintendo announced that the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
remake of Yoshi's Island (i.e. Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3), as well as nine other Game Boy Advance games (and 10 NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
games), will be available to Nintendo 3DS owners, via Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
, to whom will participate in an upcoming Ambassador program after Nintendo officially issues a price-cut to the Nintendo 3DS starting August 12, 2011. This offer is available in all territories, and only to those who became eligible in the Ambassador program (by accessing the Nintendo eShop
Nintendo eShop
The Nintendo eShop is an online service for the Nintendo 3DS handheld gaming system. Launched on June 6, 2011 in North America and June 7, 2011 in Europe and Japan, the eShop was enabled by the release of a system update that added the functionality to the 3DS' Home Menu...
before the date of the price-cut). Nintendo currently has no plans to release this game, or any other Game Boy Advance game, to the general public in paid form.