Played on Wii U Virtual Console

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island for the Super Nintendo ended up serving two purposes: it was both a follow-up to the previous entry in the Super Mario series, Super Mario World, and also a springboard into the spin-off series of Yoshi’s Island games. I remember playing the game as a young child and loving it, but I was never actually fortunate enough to own a Super Nintendo, so I haven’t been able to play it ever since. Nowadays, the only way to play the original release of Yoshi’s Island is still on the Super Nintendo. It’s really strange that the true original game never got a re-release like many other Mario titles, but unfortunately this is the case. Luckily, the game got an enhanced for the GameBoy Advance in 2002 with the release of Super Mario Advance 3. This contains everything that the original game did, and just has one additional level in each of the six worlds. Fortunately, even if you don’t own a GBA, this game is still accessible to you if you own a Wii U, since this version was actually released for the Virtual Console on that system. This is how I played the game, and so my review is based on my experience with that version.

The premise here was actually pretty radical for the Mario series at the time. Up until this point we had always seen Mario as the hero and playable character. However, in this “prequel” of sorts, Mario and Luigi are just babies. It’s actually Yoshi that you get to play as, and the goal here is to help reunite Mario and Luigi. Yoshi will take Baby Mario on his back and lead him through a variety of levels in order to reunite him with his brother. Of course, the story doesn’t go any deeper than this or anything, but that’s not the point. Regardless, this was a pretty interesting idea, and one that allowed players to control the loveable sidekick that was introduced in Super Mario World.

The game does still very much feel like a Mario game, though, albeit with a few changes. It’s still the same kind of platforming series that we know and love, with the gameplay mainly revolving around avoiding or defeating a variety of enemies and obstacles to get to the end of the level. The main difference is in how Yoshi controls and with the changes that come along with that. I’d say the main new gameplay feature here is that you can eat enemies and turn them into eggs, which you can in turn throw at other enemies and objects. This helps mix things up from the traditional “Mario runs and jumps on enemies” formula of the previous Super Mario games. Yoshi does also get “power-ups” like Mario does, although in a much different way. It’s way more similar to something like Donkey Kong Country, where you’re actually taking control of a different creature. Here, Yoshi is transforming into vehicles like helicopters and submarines in order to clear a certain area. These sections actually aren’t as prevalent as you would think, but they are welcome when they are present.

This is the weird part of the review for me, where I describe how I felt playing the game. This is one of those strange situations for me, where I feel like everything in the game is presented and implemented really well, and yet the fun factor just isn’t super high for me. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy the game, but it just doesn’t rank anywhere close to other favorite entries in the Mario series, like Super Mario World or Super Mario 64. It’s great, but there were times where I felt like I was just going through the motions, and in longer, difficult sections of the game I sometimes felt like it was just a bit of a chore. I don’t want to sound overly negative or dramatic when bringing this up, but I feel like when I’m reviewing the game on a technical level it almost sounds perfect, and for me it just simply wasn’t.

Part of the reason for this might simply be because I’m a completionist, and going for 100% in this game is definitely a chore. In every level, you must find 5 flowers, 20 red coins, and 30 stars in order to get a perfect score on the level. I feel like this game is a lot more fun when you’re just playing it, but unfortunately the only way to unlock every level is to get a perfect score on the rest of them. I found the core game to be really fun, but going for all of the collectibles just felt tedious. It took me a little over 20 hours to fully complete the game, although you’ll probably spend half this time if you’re only intending on beating the levels. There are 60 levels total in this version of the game, so there’s definitely a lot to see here.

On a more technical level, I think the game is amazing. The game has such a distinctive look that was absolutely groundbreaking for its time, and still looks beautiful today. It has this picturesque, almost storybook-like look to it, and I’m not sure how they achieved this on the Super Nintendo. It looks more cutesy than other Mario games, but I like it for this reason. I actually think the look of the game is one of its greatest strengths. I also would love to give props to the music. The Mario series has always been great at creating catchy tunes and jingles that stick with you, and Yoshi’s Island is no exception. Even just the “level select” music is fantastic, and sometimes I would just stay on it just to hear the music for a bit. As far as sound effects, one of the biggest criticisms this game always gets is having to hear Baby Mario cry whenever you get hit. I’ll acknowledge that this can be annoying, but I don’t think it ruins the game by any stretch of the imagination.

So, there you have it. With classics like this, a lot of people have already played and love this game, so it’s weird to spend my time trying to convince people to play it. I just want to share in on an appreciation for a classic. As for anyone that hasn’t played it and is wondering if they should, I recommend it despite any personal hang-ups I have about it. Like I said, I don’t think it’s one of the best of the series or anything, but it’s still a really great game, and a unique one at that. I’m sure this game appears on many peoples’ must-play lists, and I can see why. Even if going for 100% was a bit of a slog at times, I’m still happy that I decided to play through the whole game, because it was a really fun experience.

4/5