Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

The pinnacle of 2D platformers and still unmatched in level design. I've never seen a game that has 56 completely unique levels with individual concepts. It's quite amazing the variety in Yoshi's Island. I'm amazed when it's not mentioned on a list or discussion of games that hold up well still today, Yoshi's Island should be THE standard answer. It's gorgeous art style, catchy music, plus brilliant controls & physics make it an absolute delight to play through from start to finish. My personal favourite game of all time!

I first played this way back as a kid, but Baby Mario's ear-piercing cries were so annoying, I couldn't finish it. I tried it again a few years later and finally got the hang of it enough to finish the game.

The story explains Mario and Luigi's origins and shows how their feud with Bowser all began and how Yoshi knows them.

Thanks to the Super FX2 chip, the games graphics are a step up from the SMW. The sprites are much better detailed and had beautifully fluid movements that reminded me of Donkey Kong Country. There were even some pre-rendered 3D graphics used cutscenes and for Baby Bowsers supersized advancing boss sprite.

I loved the cartoonish level layouts and backgrounds. The scenery is all hand drawn. The boss fights are more challenging, especially the final one where you must carefully and aim and throw red eggs at Baby Bowsers face before he destroys the platform you're standing on.

As a substitute for Mario, Yoshi really shines in this game with his very own move set that involves jumping, ground pounding, hovering, and throwing eggs at enemies. It really helped build him up as a true game character and hero instead of just a gimmick character to assist Mario.

There are more advanced and quirky vocalizations, like Yoshi's record-scratch call and tongue slurping sound, Kameks jabbering and Baby Bowser's high-pitched roars and growls. And, infamously, we've got Baby Mario's ear-piercing cries. I'm guessing the designers wanted to make him as annoying as possible to keep you on your toes and avoid losing him.

Returning composer Koji Kondo gave the game a soundtrack is as awesome as the predecessor like the catchy and playful Flower Garden and Athletic level themes. But best of all was the rapid and pulse-pounding heavy metal song played during the final battle against the super-sized baby Bowser.

Just like the prequel, Yoshi's Island is still fun to play and is available on the Nintendo Switch.

Undeniably superior to the pitiful 2D platforming attempts by developers around the world but more importantly, better than any other of Nintendo's efforts. That is no mean feat.

Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World are often cited as Nintendo's greatest 2D platformers ever but Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was a masterpiece which had no faults whatsoever! SMB 3 and SMW's main weakness were uninspired and simple bosses but Yoshi's Island in this category is highly original and keeps the challenge very high.

Of course, a great game needs more than classic bosses and Yoshi's Island naturally features the standard superb level design, gorgeous art work, amazing rotation and scaling effects and an addictive and memorable soundtrack. Add to this bigger levels (but less of them) levels than any other 2D Mario offering and you have...oh the best 2D platformer of all time! Have I mentioned that already?!?

It doesn't matter if you're a new gamer into PS2 and shooty-killy games like GTA and the rest you MUST play this game. No you don't understand...you MUST play it! Go buy a GBA and Super Mario Advance 3 (Yoshi's Island ported from SNES to GBA). Extra levels are a mere bonus to what is one of the finest games ever made on ANY platform.

I love the Super Mario games, especially 3, Mario Land 2, and this one, the prequel to all the Mario games. The music is pretty cool and I love the cave levels and the way they look. Not too hard, but there are some difficult areas. The ending is especially satisfying cause it's Mario's biggest challenge. ***** out of *****. Here's my reviews of he the other Mario games(That i've played.)Super Mario Bros. ****, Super Mario Bros. 2 ****1/2, Super Mario Bros. 3 *****, Super Mario Land ***1/2, Super Mario Land 2 *****, Warioland: Super Mario Land 3 ****, Donkey Kong ****, Super Mario Kart ****, Mario Kart 64 ****1/2, Super Mario 64 ****1/2, Super Mario World ****1/2, and Mario's Time machine ***1/2.

This one surprised me. When I heard that the next Mario game would star Yoshi, I was a bit skeptical. Sure, I like that rascal, but hey, you can't upstage Mario (unless you're Luigi. How many other people out there prefer to be player 2?)! Well, once I played it, all my doubts went out the window. Original gameplay (flawless as always for the big N), beautiful and lively graphics, and shyguys a-plenty (my personal fave). Now, for anyone that says this game is too easy, I can assure you that they did not collect all the items in the game. Each stage has a letter rating, based on the amount of red coins, flowers, etc. you collect. The process of collection is never tedious, but always challenging, especially near the end. Sure, tearing through the game from start to finish might be a medium challenge, but doing it right is a challenge worthy of most gamers, one which will be a joy to complete.