Before the Easter eggs, let’s talk about Yoshi’s: we have a month to write a review for each game, starting with Super Mario World
You probably didn’t expect such an initiative Easterbut we thought it well to let you find one every Sunday of Lent review different for what we wanted to baptize the “Mese di Yoshi“, starting from Super Mario World. The debut of the dinosaur, mount every other day for the big N’s mustache, took place precisely with this game, also mentioned in the sentimental autobiography of the undersigned. Nor is it an irrelevant character: the idea of including the possibility of riding someone in a platformer has made school, as seen in the very illustrious Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped with Baby T.
There are many ideas that the plumber symbol of the Colossus of Kyoto has had to set aside due to hardware limitations since the very beginning, and the cute reptile has had to step aside along with other gameplay elements discarded for the first Super Mario Bros., born in 1985. Even the Bullet Bills, now relegated to a permanent presence as enemies in the levels, were born as bullets for firearms that Mario was supposed to use. And yet, while in some cases one is satisfied with what the convent passes, there are also occasions when one has something special in one’s hands. And Yoshi had to wait a whole generation.
Genesis (but without Sega Genesis) – Month of Yoshi: Super Mario World retro review
The character designer to whom we owe Yoshi’s arrival in Super Mario World, the subject of a near-review, was Shigefumi Hino, with the complicity of Takashi Tezuka (promoter of many easter eggs, as we will see next month). Actually Shigeru Miyamoto’s original idea was always to give Mario a horse, but as we have anticipated, the limitations of the dear old NES were certainly not few. According to the always lively Yoichi Kotabe (author of the artwork to which we owe, among other things, a collaboration for the well-known Heidi anime), the Japanese name Yossy comes from the employee of Nintendo Mie Yoshimura and from “Nessie”, nickname of the Loch Ness monster.
There is also some optimism in the name, considering that the “yes!” celebratory, in Japanese, it can be expressed with the well-known “yatta!” or with the unfamiliar “yosh!” (also remained in the English dub of Sonic Adventure 2 at the end of the Eggman levels, ed). With a setting like Dinosaur Land However, behind Super Mario World, one would think that Yoshi was conceived as a dinosaur from the very beginning. Yet, as the remains of the game’s beta below testify, Tezuka had something very different in mind: believe it or not, it had to be an overgrown Koopa Troopa!
My tummy get hut – Month of Yoshi: Super Mario World retro-review
Our pretext for dedicating the Sundays in March to just one character is the egg, and that’s where Mario’s faithful companion was to be found. In fact, the in-game dialogue hinted that it wasn’t just the defense mechanism we’d see in Smash years later. True, Yoshis are oviparous, but in its debut, the lizard was trapped in there by Bowser. Once teamed up with our hero, however, ironically the mount takes control of the gameplay – we are no longer controlling the plumber, in a sense. Let’s check out his new friend directly!
From this game onwards, Yoshi would become a full-fledged ace taker. Extra life point, aid for aerial movement, indefatigable devourer of enemies and, above all, protective footwear for hostile terrain: the character promises this and more. Maybe it’s also the reason behind the handicap for the player: before Super Mario Maker, we would never have seen an episode where it is possible to carry the living Swiss Army knife with you in castles and haunted houses. Indeed, this poor fellow he will faithfully wait for us outside like a little dogwaiting to be able to bring his fellow men back under the fronds of his bucolic hut.
So much for the best friend – Yoshi Month: Super Mario World retro review
Given that Sonic The Hedgehog 2 would also be released shortly thereafter, one wonders which was the first platformer in which it is possible to abuse a character in such a sinister way. Naturally, just taking a hit riding Yoshi will do run away in tears: of course, it is possible that the idea behind this game design choice was to create some difficulty by forcing the player to suddenly face those dangers that he previously ignored, in order to get back on his friend’s saddle. But the side effect (or not?) of this gameplay element is also that of not taking it for granted such a servile character.
Which forces us to also mention one of the most unintentionally cruel elements ever put into a platformer. Yoshi can do many things, it’s true, but there are also moves exclusive to human heroes. To give an example like another, we have climbing on tendrils: we have to leave the beast on the ground to chase that elevated area, also paying attention not to isolate it too much from the frame so as not to lose it. But it is also possible jump off the saddle into the air: from here was born one of the most sinister survival instincts with which players have ever saved themselves from an abyss. And to think that the port for GET he even inserted an audio clip for this “double jump”…
All Colors – Yoshi Month: Super Mario World Retro Review
Before the spinoff gave the dinosaur the same distinction between “Toad (character)” and “Toad (species)”, the (few) in-game dialogues in Yoshi’s debut made things quite confusing. That is, the story seems to speak of only one character, yet he is part of a whole category of creatures; how does it work? Of course, the Big N is never used to shed too much light on its lore, but the gameplay clearly establishes that, in addition to the “canonical” Yoshi, there are many others with more or less the same identical qualities. Or at least, “the exact same qualities” depending on the reference chapter…
For example, Super Mario World has come up with a color coding which inextricably links the Yoshis to the Koopas (which makes sense, given what we said at the beginning). Ingesting a green-shelled Koopa Troopa allows it to spit and roll just as if Mario had kicked it away, but suddenly the red specimens allow the reptile to spit three fireballs, all different from the ones Fire Mario uses. Yellow shells and the rarer blue shells result in a shockwave landing and limited time flight respectively. One of the rewards for completionists, in this sense, is access to the Yoshis of the other three primary colors, which adapt each shell to the power related to their color!
Sauri aside – Month of Yoshi: Super Mario World retro-review
Okay, let’s talk about the gameplay game general. In order to be able to speak of a “review” and not just a “retrospective” (the project was born as a simple serial discussion on the character), one important detail must be mentioned. In this game, Yoshi is born as mere side dish. If his name is not in the title, on the other hand, the character only acts as a mount, which puts the two brothers in the role of real protagonists. Luigi has alternated two identities over the years: on the one hand, a character with peculiar abilities, such as sliding on the ground and mighty leaps in the air. On the other hand, alas, simple and optional “player 2”, or “Mario with another color”.
At present, the port for GBA of the game (introduction to the title for myself, as well as the source of the screenshots here) remains his in many respects better incarnation, but it will take some time for the Nintendo Switch Online selection to adjust accordingly. In any case, you can already experience the adventure on the hybrid console thanks to the Super Nintendo app, and we can already guarantee you now that you won’t regret it. Of course, on GBA it is possible to enjoy Luigi’s aerial prowess, but for what are his merits the game is literally unable to disappoint. Expect the best platforming that 1991 (or 1992 for us) has to offer.
But in the end…?
One of the details that has always been a little up in the air is establishing what exactly Yoshi was. Is it a dinosaur or a dragon? What are we talking about exactly? Difficult to say, when in a game world canonically called Dinosaur Land we have a character whose “recorded message on the answering machine” sees him signed as Super Dragon Yoshi. If it flies, and it’s great flying when the feather-derived cape and a blue specimen are combined, it can’t breathe fire; if it can, it cannot fly. It was already certain on day one of the Super Nintendo that the Colossus of Kyoto had clear ideas on what to do with the character, but the players’ ideas were not equally clear.
What is certain is that from this egg a character was born to whom, as we will see next Sunday, dedicate a separate game: Yoshi’s Island, which expands the homeland of the character from the first world of the title dusted off today at the scene of the entire adventure. On Thursday 9 we will see, in addition to the final trailer of the film adaptation of Mario, also the new tracks of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, among which the first circuit inspired by our topic will also peep out for the coming weekend. What can I say, a perfect timing with which to celebrate a character who will give us many surprises between now and Easter.
- Easter Egg: Make your way to the Special world of Super Mario World and listen to the map music for a while…
Now it’s up to you to have your say: what memories do you have of this game? Let us know below, and as always, don’t forget to stay on tuttotek for all the most important news for gamers and more. For your purely gaming needs, you can instead find the best discounts in digital format on Kinguin.