Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

Since I've started reviewing games, I've always made it a point to be completely honest and transparent when it comes to my opinions, even if they aren't necessarily popular.

Frankly, it rarely, if ever, even comes up. For all of the complaints I hear about mainstream gaming reviews, I feel like they usually get some semblance of close to the mark, or at the very least the same mark I have in my mind. Nine times out of 10, games that are rated highly or poorly deserve the scores they get. Maybe the big guys score a game a 10 when it really deserves a 9, but its some semblance of close.  That's why I don't like using the O word anymore. Because even if I don't like a game quite as much as more mainstream critics, I still typically like it. But even saying that about some games is bound to cause controversy. 

That's kind of the spot I find myself in with this week's title, a game I don't think needs any introduction. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was a fairly big deal when it came out, as most Mario games are. Officially the sequel to one of the absolute best video games ever created, Yoshi's island sort of also became the start of it's own side series. And it's easy to see why. This may be called Super Mario World 2, but it's so far away from the  original SMW that it absolutely doesn't feel like it. I guess its kind of par for the course in with the series. But this might have been even farther from its original title than SMB2 was from SMB. And while it wasn't necessarily a problem, Yoshi's Island caused a fair bit of controversy when it was first revealed. Remember, this is a sequel to one of gamings's critical and commercial successes, and to see such a huge pivot was genuinely shocking. That said, most people still very much enjoyed the game and it's widely considered a top end title for the SNES. Unfortunately, while I don't think the game is even close to bad, in fact it's quite good, I do have to come out and say it's definitely a title I don't like quite as much as the critics. As to why, well, it comes down to a few factors.

Before we get into the details though, I guess I should start with the story, which will lead nicely into why this game was so different from previous Mario games. Because despite still receiving top billing, our mustacheoid plumber friend is not the star of here. That would be Yoshi, who is enjoying his peaceful island life when suddenly, a baby falls from the sky and onto his back. You see, a stork delivering baby Mario and Luigi has been attacked by the evil Kamek Koopa at the behest of his master, Bowser Jr. Kamek successfully kidnaps Luigi, but is unable to abscond with Mario, who has fallen on to Yoshi's Island. The Yoshis are just a little bit perplexed by this, but they decide to help the little guy as best they can. They escort baby Mario across the island, battling Bowser Jr.'s minions in an effort to rescue baby Luigi and defeat the diminutive Koopa Prince. They will climb perilous cliffs, explore cavernous undergrounds and raid firey castles, all in an effort to help reunite the young Mario Brothers.

As Mario is a baby here, he won't be doing any of the platforming this time around. That task falls to Yoshi, as he (well, they) will traverse 48 levels across six worlds, each with different themes and enemies. Much of what constitutes Yoshi's ability set got its start here, with his now-signature floaty jump, ground pound and egg toss serving as his primary forms of both attack and exploration. He can swallow most enemies and turn them into eggs, which can then be thrown at other enemies or objects. This is done relatively simply by pressing the A button to aim, though the game does give you plenty of opportunities to perform trick shots. Still, jumping on enemies will be your primary form of attack, though some cannot be defeated this way. I think that is one of the big positives here, the SMW2 does a great job of giving you a variety of enemies to dispatch in different ways. The levels are relatively straightforward, but there is some exploring to do as well. Sometimes, eggs will open up secrets, allowing you to obtain items or collect the flowers and red coins (the birth of another series staple here) that each level provides. You are scored out of points at the end of each level, with up to 20 points for the coins, 50 for the flowers and 30 depending on how full your life bar is. Another major difference here is said life bar, it's not two hits and done anymore. Getting hit will dislodge baby Mario from Yoshi and cause him to float away, starting a countdown. If this countdown gets to zero, Kamek's minions will capture Mario and its game over. Of course, you can also die to more conventional means, like touching spikes or falling off a cliff as well.

The level design is okay here, it definitely leans more on the side of simplicity but there are plenty of challenging spots here. There is far less platforming here than a typical Mario game, with more emphasis placed on using Yoshi's abilities to dispatch enemies. The castles tend to be a little bit more difficult, they typically have quite a bit of instant death lava, but they aren't exceedingly difficult. Some of these are pretty long levels and checkpoints are relatively rare, so you are punished pretty harshly for failing, which can get very frustrating. The levels aren't inherently difficult, but there are some things we will get into later that make them harder than they need to be. I do have to give credit for a near-perfect difficulty curve though, the game starts out easy and ramps up gradually before throwing some real challenge at you in the final levels. I also think they did a really good job of creating situations that seem more dangerous than they are, which seems like a dig but is actually very important in a game that's designed to target younger or less experienced gamers. The big blue guys that pop up and block your path (the ones that are on the game's cover) make these big, loud entrances and look visually stunning, but they are really not that hard to defeat.

While we are on the subject of visuals, this whole game looks absolutely incredible and has one of the most unique art styles I've ever seen. The hand draw, pastel visuals are beautifully done and perfectly establish the whimsical feel the game is going for. It may not be my personal favorite style, but it's objectively well done and it's perfect for the target audience while also offering something to those outside that target. One might call the art style here "trippy," something that I would certainly agree with. Look, I know, that you know, that I know what was very likely going on behind the scenes here. Yoshi eats the floaty white things and the screen gets wavy while the music gets distorted? Come on man. I actually think its really cool, there are some great visual effects, like enemies jumping in or firing projectiles from the background. SMW2 has its flaws, but it is an objectively great looking title.

But now it's time to talk about those flaws, many of which I found to be incredibly problematic. Those that read my reviews frequently might have been a little bit shocked to see me skip sound when I talked about presentation. That's usually the way I do things, but I can't do that this time. Because sound is an issue here, though this one might be more on me than objectively bad. The music isn't bad, it isn't amazing but its well done and extremely fitting. But the sound effects? SMW 2 may have the worst, or at the very least the most annoying, sound effects I've ever heard. Every time you get hit, you lose Mario. As with most babies, he will cry when this happens, and boy is it obnoxious. That high pitched, constant whining is just infuriating, and I finid it even more annoying now then I did as a kid. That's one of the more commonly known issues with this game, critics have been complaining about it since the game came out. But to me its just the start. The noise Kamek makes is annoying, the noise of sloshing through the mud is annoying, the chirping sounds the rat enemies make is annoying, the random laughing noise certain enemies make is annoying, the slurping sound of Yoshi's tongue is annoying, the sound effects in general are just plain annoying. This isn't the biggest issue, but it definitely impacted my enjoyment of the game.

As for what is the biggest issue? That would have to be the controls. I have always found the controls in SMW2 to be horrendous, they aren't broken like they might be in a  bad game but I still found them to not be very good. Jumping is a problem, as it feels unresponsive  and difficult to maneuver once you do eventually leave the ground. You aren't falling through the center of platforms or anything, but I was never able to truly get down landing spots missed a lot of jumps it looked like I was going to make. The biggest issue here though is how slippery everything feels. The best way I can describe it is that it feels like almost the entire game has ice physics, like you can't ever really control your momentum. I slid off so many platforms because my momentum just didn't feel right and that was especially problematic with all the moving platforms you find in the later stages. I have absolutely seen worse, but it was extremely noticeable in a game from a series that's known for such precision.

That isn't the only issue I found with the game either. While I wouldn't call the game short, it definitely felt a little light on content and overly straightforward compared to its predecessor. Having "Super Mario World" as a title was less of a gift and more of a curse, as Yoshi's Island probably wouldn't have felt as lacking in a vacuum. 48 levels with minimal secrets wouldn't have been an issue, but when compared to the original SMW it felt incredibly truncated. Remember, that's down from more than 100 levels, many of which had secret paths within secret paths that allowed for what, at the time, was an unprecedented level of exploration for the genre. As a huge fan of SMW, this felt like a step back, both at its release and while playing today.

I also found the difficulty to be a little problematic, it never really hit the right level of balance. I get that this game was designed to be a little on the easy side and the early levels definitely reflect that. But the last world and a half are entirely too difficult for a beginner. Again, not a problem for me, but then that would make the early levels entirely too easy. The last, very minor issue was the use of 3D effects in 2D environments, which were ambitious but somewhat problematic from a gameplay perspective. It led to some unnecessary deaths and cheap hits, which is always frustrating.

Still, SMW2 was definitely a solid experience with a beautiful art style and some very creative level design. It's flaws are almost more down to ambition than they are bad design, which I can appreciate. They are still flaws though and the combination of slippery controls and obnoxious sound effects absolutely prevent this from being the all time classic it is sometimes made out to be. I think Yoshi's Island is still worth playing today and still a fun time, but I just don't think it matches up with its predecessor, or even Super Mario Bros. 3, particularly favorably. Still a solid game, but one strangely both weighed down from and carried by the Mario name.

7.75/10