Released in the US on October 4th, 1995, Yoshi's Island was a unique masterpiece that the rest of the series it would spawn still aspires to achieve to this day. Taking control of friendly dinosaur inhabitants that are Yoshis, players travel the island escorting Baby Mario in an effort to reunite the infant hero with his kid-napped brother (pun intended), Baby Luigi. Each world is broken down into six levels and two castles, each with a scoring system in place to encourage through exploration and replay-ability. In each level, players must find five carefully hidden Flowers and twenty Red coins, along end the level with 30 Star Points to earn that perfect score. Completing such is no easy feat though, as the red coins are cleverly disguised as regular coins and the means to unlocking Flowers are not always so obvious, such as being placed in hidden passages or designed to only appear when clearing a room of enemies.
Aside from the scoring mechanics for those challenge-seeking players, this game featured a slew of other distinctive and interesting mechanics. Instead of your traditional Mario platformer that was running and jumping, Yoshi used an aim and shooting system in which players would need to keep careful stock of egg ammunition to fire at enemies and suspicious spots. This ammo could be obtained from egg-shaped blocks or by consuming most small enemies. The eggs could also be thrown at a variety of angles and walls for clever ricochets and bounces. Another unique mechanic of its time was the game's health system. Whenever Yoshi would get hit by an enemy, Baby Mario would be launched into a bubble in which his Star Points would count down to zero. Players would then need to catch Baby Mario to stop the countdown and the atrocious crying. Should the player have less than ten Star Points upon retrieving Baby Mario, the Star Points would slowly count back up to ten. This clever mechanic would later inspire many a game, such as even the Halo series. You heard that right: Yoshi inspired Halo.
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| Huffin Puffin - Perhaps the coolest projectiles to be found in Yoshi's Island, these chubby little birds will follow Yoshi and when thrown, will soar across the screen and boomerang back to Yoshi. |
As gamers and the industry praised games like the Donkey Kong Country series for its stunning pre-rendered graphics of the time, designer Shigeru Miyamoto doubled-down in creating an especially cartoon visual aesthetic. The whole game looks to have a hand-drawn, crayon style, which really pops and gives the game a unique charm all its own that stands the test of time. So let this serve as a shining example for all: Don't be afraid to be different or try something new. Be bold. Be weird. Be charming. And to Baby Mario, be quiet. I want to listen to this amazing soundtrack.
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