CAR

QFour wheels are faster than

two legs. In this form Yoshi can

also dodge enemies and reach

greater heights by adjusting his

wheels’ suspension.

HELICOPTER

QWho needs a blue winged Yoshi

when you’ve got rotor blades?

This form can fly freely through

the air for a limited time, though

you do need to beware of inertia.

SUBMARINE

QThis one’s a bit of a belter – not

only does Yoshi get freedom

of movement underwater,

he also gets the ability to fire

torpedoes at his enemies.

MOLE TANK

QWe really dig this particular

transformation. [Nick, please

collect your P45 from reception

• Ed.] As you’d expect, it allows
  Yoshi to create tun nel s.

TRAIN

QBecoming a train allows Yoshi

to travel along tracks. Thankfully

realism is left to one side, so it

doesn’t cost him all his coins and

he’s never replaced by a bus.

Yoshi can take five different forms

aer entering a Morph Bubble – but

what do they all do?

MORPHIN’

TIME

Yoshi’s Island was released in August 1995 in
Japan, and releases in North America and Europe
followed in October 1995. The game received
universal acclaim upon its release. Nintendo
Magazine System gave it 97%, with Simon Clays
commenting that it was “about the best game
I’ve ever had the pleasure to play,” with his only
complaint being that the graphics were “slightly
immature”. Tony Mott awarded the game 94%
for Super Play and praised it for its variety, noting
that “You never know what’s just around each
corner, but you know that it’ll be something worth
seeing.” However, he felt that the game’s linear
progression was disappointing by comparison
to Super Mario World’s wealth of secret exits
and stages. Edge’s review scored the game
9/10, crediting the Super FX2 chip with “some
wonderfully inventive touches which make each
new level a reward to the player.”
The game was later converted to Game Boy
Advance as Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi’s Island,
and that version has since been made available
for 3DS and Wii U. Of course, despite Yoshi’s solo
success Mario was soon back on top. Although
the developers felt that they’d pushed Mario to his
2D limit, new hardware meant that Nintendo had
already figured out what to do with its headline
star. Less than a year later, Mario returned in the
groundbreaking Super Mario 64, which many of
the Yoshi’s Island staff also worked on. But as a
swan song for an era in which 2D gaming was
still the primary concern of the world’s most
prominent game developers, you couldn’t ask
for much better than Yoshi’s Island. The game
established Yoshi as a platform star in his own

right and is still considered to be one of the

greatest of all time, frequently showing up in lists

of the best games ever, including Games™’s top

100 in 2010 and our own readers’ top 150 in 2015.

W

ith that in mind, we’ll leave the last

word to the developers – why do they

think that the game is still so beloved

by players? “I think maybe it has

something to do with the appeal of the gameplay;

Yoshi offers this unique ability to gobble up

enemies, turn them into eggs, and then throw

those eggs,” says Tezuka. “For the Yoshi series,

we wanted to convey Yoshi’s warmth of character.

The adorable voice and our leaning towards

hand-made visuals has all added up to create the

character’s uniqueness, and I think it’s maybe

these things that players are drawn to.”

“It wasn’t easy creating Yoshi or Yoshi’s Island,”

says Hino. “We competed in the team to see what

were the most amusing or fun things we could

draw, and laughed together as we thought up

strange enemies and level features, knowing we

had a bit more freedom to do so because it wasn’t

a Mario game. Even the programmers jumped

on board and worked really hard to achieve our

ideas. I think the fondness people have for the

character and the game is because we managed

to give form to all this passion we had. A long time

has passed since then, but even now designers

continue to develop Yoshi with all kinds of

different interpretations, such as handicrafts,

worlds made of yarn and so on. I’m really

happy to see people still continuing to enjoy

playing with Yoshi.”

doesnt costhim all hiscoinsand

he’s never replaced by a bus.

prominent game developers, you couldn t ask
formuch betterthan Yoshi’s Islanddd. The game
established Yoshi as a platform star in his own

worlds made of yarn a

happy to see people st

playing with Yoshi.”

SLOT MACHINE
QThis fruit machine will give you extra
lives if you can match the symbols on
the reels. You don’t even need to pay
10p to play – bargain.

WATERMELON

SEED SPITTING

CONTEST

QBattle against a foe by shooting

watermelon seeds at them.

POPPING

BALLOONS

Q. Your job is to pop these baloons to

try to find a hidden item before your

opponent does.

GATHER COINS

QCoins are fired out of a cannon high

above the arena, and it’s your job to

collect them. You can jump on your

opponent to hinder them, too.

THROWING

BALLOONS

QInput button commands to throw a

water balloon at your enemy. If it pops

in your hands, you lose!

ng or fun things we could

gether as we thought up

evel features, knowing we

m to do so because it wasn’t

he programmers jumped

really hard to achieve our

ness people have for the

me is because we managed

passion we had. A long time

, but even now designers

oshi with all kinds of

ns, such as handicrafts,

and so on. Iand so on. Im’mreally really

till continuing to enjoy

»[SNES] You’re not going to get past the massive

Nep-Enut by jumping, so it’s best to feed him an egg.

RETRO GAMER | 29

THE MAKING OF: YOSHI’S ISLAND