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  • Hello, my name is SNES Man! Today's game is the classic adventure, Super Mario World 2:

  • Yoshi's Island. This one is pretty famous because instead of Mario, you get to control

  • Yoshi for the first time. I'm not talking about riding on him; you get to actually run

  • around and play as him. So, let's get down to gaming and see why everyone likes this

  • game so much.

  • Here's our intro cut scene. A long, long time ago, when baby Mario and Luigi were being

  • carried to their parents by a stork (because that's totally how nature works), the evil

  • wizard Kamek swooped in on his broomstick and snatched Luigi. Kamek did this because

  • he's pretty much a douchebag. Anyway, in the craziness, Baby Mario fell to the ground where

  • he was discovered by a pack of Yoshi's. The Yoshi's decided to save the babies and return

  • them to their rightful families. And that's our story.

  • Here's the first level playing as Yoshi, carrying Baby Mario on his back. Yoshi is a pretty

  • strong character because he can eat enemies and turn them into eggs. Then, you can press

  • 'A' to throw the eggs at your enemies and cause plenty of destruction. You can aim them

  • in any direction so they'll usually be your weapon of choice. You're only allowed to carry

  • seven eggs at a time which is a bit limited but, luckily, it's always easy to get more.

  • Now, don't ask me that tired old question: Is Yoshi is a boy or a girl? "If he's a dude

  • why does he lay eggs?" Look, Nintendo doesn't know the answer so neither should we. If you

  • want to get to sleep at night, please don't ask that question.

  • Never mind. Back to how Yoshi controls. Another thing you'll notice right away is that his

  • jump is a lot different than Mario's. This game invented a move called the flutter jump.

  • How it works is you hold down the jump button and Yoshi can stay in the air a little longer,

  • defying gravity and all manner of physics. It sounds like a tiny little gimmick but it

  • actually changes how you play the game, giving you a lot better control of Yoshi in the air.

  • No more worrying about making it to that next ledge or plummeting into the lava below. Now,

  • you can count on your little second jump to get you out of those tight spots.

  • So, what is Baby Mario's role in this game? Well, for the most part, he's just an annoyance.

  • If Yoshi gets hit by an enemy, he'll lose Mario who floats away in a bubble. If you

  • don't run after the baby and catch him before a timer runs out, then Kamek's minions will

  • swoop in and steal him and you lose a life. This really irritates me. Chasing after a

  • baby in a bubble while it yells at you "Wah, wah, wah!" isn't my idea of a heroic adventure.

  • If I wanted to put up with that, I'd work at a day care and at least get paid minimum

  • wage. This is a game! It's supposed to be fun! But oh well, other than that the game

  • doesn't have too many frustrations.

  • What are the levels like in Yoshi's Island? They're pretty great. Don't be fooled by the

  • childish graphics. This is a challenging game with lots of puzzle elements and some really

  • big, complex levels. You're not going to blaze through the whole thing in an hour because

  • it takes a lot of exploring to find out where you're supposed to go, especially the castles.

  • The combat can be a bit challenging too. Sometimes you need to smack the enemies with a lot of

  • eggs to kill them or use a special strategy like ground pounding them. The bosses are

  • pretty well made. Each one has a special weakness that you have to figure out, just like in

  • Zelda. They all look really cartoonish. The game's sense of humor is refreshing. An enormous,

  • obese clown? Awesome! A ghost in a pot? Badass. An evil frog's stomach? Legendary.

  • And of course there are some just plain weird levels like the famous Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy.

  • Here, you have to watch out for a bunch of puff ball enemies because if you hit one,

  • you don't get hurt, No, that would be too merciful! Instead, Yoshi starts tripping like

  • he just took a hit of acid. It's like the drunk scene in Dumbo and you can barely control

  • him! I'm guessing Yoshi's Island was trying to make this level into an Anti-Drug PSA.

  • Kids, say no to fuzzies!

  • Another weird part of the levels is the Yoshi vehicles. For really short sections of the

  • game, Yoshi can magically turn into a car, a plane, a submarine, and even a mole. I like

  • the submarine because it fires missiles but the other forms kind of annoy me. You're always

  • under a strict time limit when you use them so you can't relax or get used to them. And

  • a mole? Really? Does anyone actually prefer digging up dirt to playing as Yoshi? Nah,

  • they don't. You can also play as Baby Mario a couple times, when he gets a star, which

  • is pretty cool because for once, Mario is helping out on the adventure instead of being

  • a nuisance. Still, I feel like all these weird little parts of the game could have been done

  • better. They need to be longer and give you more freedom, not this constrictive time limit

  • crap.

  • I really liked the music and sounds in this game, well except the baby noises of course.

  • Shut up! The music is really cheerful and catchy on the overworld levels. Even years

  • after playing the game, it's still easy to remember that kind of melody. The castle theme

  • is pretty similar to Super Mario World's theme except it's faster and it has a waltz feel.

  • So, how does this game stack up to the first Super Mario World? That's actually a matter

  • of opinion. I preferred the first one because it had so many more levels, it had fun power

  • ups like the cape, and it was just simple, classic Mario platforming that I never get

  • tired of. Still, I do realize that Yoshi's Island made a lot of improvements. The graphics

  • are way more detailed and fancy, the levels are more complex and challenging, and it was

  • pretty creative how they turned Yoshi into a real hero instead of a glorified horse like

  • he had always been before. Yoshi's Island is a big step in the Mario series even if

  • Mario isn't the lead character. For example, it invented the flutter jump and it brought

  • back Shy Guys from Super Mario Bros 2, making them important enemies in the series. So,

  • it's up to interpretation if Super Mario World or Yoshi's Island is better,

  • THINGS TO MAKE IT BETTER

  • -Improve the vehicle segments. These are too short and awkward to be as good as they could

  • be. -Alter the Baby Mario damage system so it's

  • not as annoying. Or at least get rid of that stupid crying sound effect!

  • -Get rid of one hit deaths on spikes or lava. This isn't Mega Man! Show some mercy.

  • Overall, Yoshi's Island is an excellent game, though. It has minor flaws but that doesn't

  • ruin the fact that's a classic plat former, one of the best on the Super Nintendo. On

  • my scale, it scores a 9 out of 10. I'd recommend it to everyone.

  • So that's Yoshi's Island and I hope you enjoyed this review. Before you go, I'd like to take

  • a second to talk to you about my show. It's probably obvious to you guys that I've been

  • way slower than in the past and I'm sorry about that. As I've said before, I have a

  • lot of responsibilities now than I didn't have when I started these reviews five years

  • ago. So, it looks like progress is going to stay slow but that doesn't mean I'm done.

  • I'm SNES Man and I'll talk to you again sometime soon.

Hello, my name is SNES Man! Today's game is the classic adventure, Super Mario World 2:

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