Yoshi
From Mariopedia
YOSHI [new] Occupation: Egg chucker, compulsive eater First appearance: Super Mario World (1991)
To really understand Yoshi's origin, one would have to first look at Demon World, a Pac-Man clone Nintendo of Japan released for the Famicom in 1984. The game starred Tamagon, a little lizard dude who hatched from an egg and chased demons down dot-lined corridors. Tamagon's big foe was Satan himself, and crucifixes worked as the Devil's World equivalent of Power Pills.
Nintendo's strict censors would never permit such Christian icons in an American release, Devil's World never saw the light of day stateside. In fact, Nintendo of America was so leery of pissing off American Christians that they even omitted Tamagon's trophy from Super Smash Bros. Melee nearly twenty years later in 2001.
But back to Yoshi. So maybe religious controversy prevented Tamagon from figuring into the Nintendo universe as a whole, but he seems to have influenced the creation Yoshi's creation. Also a green lizard dude, Tamagon makes the exact same noise when he hatches from his egg as Yoshi does.
While Yoshi didn't show up until Super Mario World in 1991, Miyamoto has said in interviews that he had wanted Mario mounted on a trusty steed since the days of the original Super Mario Bros. Concept sketches even show an ostrich-looking creature that programming limitations nixed from the three original Mario games.
(Or so Miyamoto says. Curiously, in the second game of the Mario Bros.-like Hudson's Adventure Island series, its hero Master Higgins rode a variety of pre-Yoshi dinosaur buddies. So Master Higgins can do it on his NES adventures, yet Mario apparently could not.)
Yoshi finally joined Mario during his journey through Dinosaur Land in Super Mario World in 1991. When Bowser stormed the prehistoric vacation spot, he magically trapped Yoshi and his friends in eggs. Mario freed Yoshi, hopped into his saddle, and employed the lizard's sticky tongue in his quest.
The dinosaur proved to be a bottomless pit; he could eat nearly any of Bowser's minions. And despite the notable handicap of being male, Yoshi could also lay eggs that could produce — perplexingly — mushrooms or smiling clouds that rained coins. Yoshi accompanied Mario through nearly every section of Super Mario World, excluding Boo Houses, fortresses, and the castles of the seven Koopalings.
While the main Yoshi was green, Mario could also unlock three other varieties: the Red Yoshi, the Blue Yoshi, and the Yellow Yoshi. In each of them the shells of Koopa Troopas had magical effects.
Ending Bowser's terrible reign over Dinosaur Land freed both kidnapped Peach and the seven Yoshi babies. The group returned to the southwestern corner of Dinosaur Land, a subcontinent called Yoshi's Island, where the Yoshies flourished in the shade of Kappa Mountain. Eggs hatched. People rejoiced.
Cuddly, cheerful, green, and jolly, Yoshi instantly became popular. He joined veterans like Toad and Donkey Kong Jr. in Super Mario Kart in 1992 and then got his name in two multiplatform puzzle games: Yoshi and Yoshi's Cookie.
The fifth installment of Super Mario Bros. is completely Yoshi's show. Its complete title is Super Mario Bros. 5: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and it tells the story of how the Yoshi clan saved the infant Mario Brothers from destruction at the hands of Kamek and his charge, the newborn Koopa King. Released ten years after Super Mario Bros. brought Mario to home video game systems in 1985, this game has Baby Mario getting bucked from the saddle of one Yoshi to another as he inches closer towards reunion with Baby Luigi.
In Yoshi's Island, Yoshi took egg production to a new level. Eating anything now forced Yoshi to poop out an egg. Up to six different eggs would trail behind the Yoshter, and he could aim them at enemies with precision. Though colors granted them no special effects, a full rainbow of Yoshies appeared in this game: green, red, light blue, yellow, purple, pink, orange, and dark blue.
The distinctively kiddy look to the game (backgrounds that charmingly resembled a child's crayon scribblings) belied the game's depth. Many argue that innovative play mechanics of Yoshi's Island make it the greatest Mario game ever — even if Mario's role is minimal. One gameplay element that never sailed off Yoshi's Island, however, was the sticky tongued one's transformation into various vehicles: helicopters, submarines, racecars, trains, mole machines… much like a child's toys. While now mostly forgotten, the Yoshicopter did make a cameo above the Baby Park racetrack in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Yoshi appeared in a third puzzle game in 1996: Tetris Attack, dubbed perfectly by the Mushroom Kingdom website as "Tetris A- Hack." Much like Doki Doki Panic's transformation into the American Super Mario Bros. 2, Nintendo of America stripped the Japanese release Panel de Pon of its original cast of cute fairies and replaced them with Yoshi's pals from Yoshi's Island. The play mechanics were virtually identical, but Nintendo figured American players would rather solve puzzles with cuddly animals than a bunch of girly-girl fairies.
(Notably, the main fairy was named Lip. While excised from American gaming, her trademark flower staff showed up in 2001 in Super Smash Bros. Melee as Lip's Stick, which made opponents sprout a flower out of their head when struck with it.)
The game itself had nothing to do with the original Tetris concept, surprisingly. Rather than arrange falling blocks, the object of Tetris Attack was to shuffle colored tiles so as to line up similar colored ones.
The whole clan showed in a second dino-only venture in 1998 in Yoshi's Story. That bratty Baby Bowser returned to Yoshi's Island and plucked the source of all happiness and fruit, the Super Happy Tree, from the ground it grew in. To really rub it in, the young king also flattened Yoshi's Island into a storybook. The core six Yoshies — green, red, yellow, blue, purple, and pink — were joined by special black and white Yoshies that could stomach even the hottest chili peppers.
(Feed your Yoshi right. Red and Pink Yoshi prefer apples, but Blue and Purple Yoshi like grapes. Green Yoshi likes watermelons (as opposed to normal melons), and Yellow Yoshi, predictably hankers for bananas. Black and White Yoshi eat anything.)
The game boasted a circular level design, wherein the same backgrounds were scroll by on an endless loop. The trick to level- beating was fruit eating. Eating each Yoshi's choice fruits earned a higher happiness rating (i.e., score) that opened up more levels accordingly. Melons earned the highest scores.
Pestering Poochy the dog to sniff out melons wasn't most players' idea of a great video game. Mixed reception, coupled with an infuriating theme song sung by what sounds like a gibberish-fluent kindergarten class, meant Yoshi didn't make a subsequent solo effort.
Nonetheless, Yoshi still makes an appearance in nearly every Mario game. Although he only made a cameo in Super Mario 64, he was ready for action in Super Mario Sunshine. Just as well as Mario's water pack, F.L.U.D.D., the orange, pink, and purple Yoshies native to Isle Delfino could clear graffiti by high-pressure vomiting their favorite fruits. Props to Nintendo for including the rare but existent tropical durian fruit as Purple Yoshi's favorite snack — a first, I'd imagine, for a video game.
Nintendo surprisingly posed Yoshi as the star of the Nintendo DS remake of Super Mario 64. The player actually starts the game as Yoshi, and rescuing Mario, Luigi and Wario is entirely optional, as Yoshi can put on their hats to temporarily borrow their abilities. Yoshi's transition into the three-dimensional world of Super Mario 64 is so seamless that one wonders why he wasn't in the original version of the game. For the first time, he can eat enemies and toss eggs in any direction. In a way, Nintendo giving Yoshi the starring role is almost an apology for his throwaway cameo in Super Mario 64. There, Mario could meet Yoshi atop Peach's castle to gain extra lives and an improved triple jump. At the beginning of Super Mario 64 DS, the camera sweeps over Peach's Castle as Mario, Luigi and Wario are entering. You can briefly spot Yoshi napping on the roof — a nod to his original cameo.
(For a detailed description of Yoshi's transformations, check the miscellaneous lists section at the end of the guide.)
- SMASH BROS. TROPHY INFO FOR YOSHI***
Yoshies are gentle, fleet-of-foot dinosaurs that make their home on idyllic Yoshi's Island. They come in a variety of colors and have evolved an interesting trait to help increase their numbers: they can transform anything they swallow into an egg. With adhesive tongues and bottomless bellies, Yoshies have been known to eat anything.
- SMASH BROS. TROPHY INFO FOR YOSHI***
- SMASH BROS. TROPHY INFO FOR MARIO & YOSHI***
Yoshi was first introduced in Super Mario World, and the sight of Mario riding the helpful character soon became an enduring image. Despite his Cape, Mario can't fly while astride Yoshi. The pair can make huge jumps and drift slowly back to earth, though. As a last resort, Mario could leap off Yoshi's back to safety.
- SMASH BROS. TROPHY INFO FOR MARIO & YOSHI***
MARIO KART: DOUBLE DASH!! DATA: Partner: Birdo Personal racecar: Turbo Yoshi Special weapon: Yoshi Egg
Yoshi's starring roles: Super Mario World (Super NES) - 1991 Super Mario Kart (Super NES) - 1992 Yoshi's Safari (Super NES) - 1993 Yoshi's Cookie (Game Boy) - 1993 Yoshi's Cookie (NES) - 1993 Yoshi's Cookie (Super NES) - 1993 Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World (Super NES) - 1994 Mario's Tennis (Virtual Boy) - 1995 Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (Super NES) - 1995 Tetris Attack (Super NES) - 1996 Game & Watch Gallery (Game Boy) - 1997 Mario's Tennis (Virtual Boy) - 1997 Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo 64) - 1997 Excitebike: Bun Bun Mario Battle 4 (Bandai Satellaview-X) - 1997 Yoshi's Story (Nintendo 64) - 1998 Picross NP Vol. 2 (Super Famicom) - 1999 Mario Party (Nintendo 64) - 1999 Mario Golf (Nintendo 64) - 1999 Game & Watch Gallery 3 (Game Boy Color) - 1999 Super Smash Bros. (Nintendo 64) - 1999 Mario Party 2 (Nintendo 64) - 2000 Mario Tennis (Nintendo 64) - 2000 Mario Party 3 (Nintendo 64) - 2001 Mario Kart: Super Circuit (Game Boy Advance) - 2001 Super Smash Bros Melee (Gamecube) - 2001 Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World (Game Boy Advance) - 2002 Super Mario Sunshine (Gamecube) - 2002* Mario Party 4 (Gamecube) - 2002 Mario Party-e (Game Boy Advance E-Reader) - 2002 Game & Watch Gallery 4 (Game Boy Advance) - 2002 Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (Game Boy Advance) - 2003 Nintendo Puzzle Collection (Gamecube) - 2003 Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (Gamecube) - 2003 Mario Party 5 (Gamecube) - 2003 Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (Gamecube) - 2003 Mario Power Tennis (Gamecube) - 2004 Super Mario 64 DS (Nintendo DS) - 2004 Mario Golf: Advance Tour (Game Boy Advance) - 2004 Mario Party 6 (Gamecube) - 2004 Mario Party Advance (Game Boy Advance) - 2005
Other appearances: Mario Paint (Super NES) - 1992 Yoshi (Game Boy) - 1992 Yoshi (NES) - 1992 Super Mario All-Stars (Super NES) - 1993* Mario vs. Wario (Super Famicom) - 1993 Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World (Super NES) - 1994 Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (Super NES) - 1995 Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64) - 1996 Donkey Kong Land 2 (Game Boy) - 1996 Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (Super NES) - 1996 Super Mario 64 Shindou Version (Nintendo 64) - 1997 Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64) - 1998** Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (Game Boy Color) - 1993 Super Mario Bros. Deluxe (Game Boy Color) - 1999 Paper Mario (Nintendo 64) - 2001* Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64) - 1998* Super Mario Advance (Game Boy Advance) - 2001* Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga (Game Boy Advance) - 2003* Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (Game Boy Advance) - 2003 Mario Pinball Land (Game Boy Advance) - 2004 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Gamecube) - 2004*
- Because Yoshi is both a unique character and a generic term for his
whole race, I decided to differentiate between his appearances in this list. Entries with an asterisk mean that Yoshi appears as a generic race — not as the specific green Yoshi character we all know and love.
- as a portrait in Hyrule Castle
