Legacy

The Super Mario World moniker was attached to the American and European release of Yoshi’s Island to tie it directly with the uber-successful original. Like its predecessor, Yoshi’s Island was bundled with the system, this time the redesigned New-Style Super NES option.

Future Yoshi’s Island-style games would be split off into their own series, throughout which the 16-bit classic’s influence is readily apparent.

Yoshi’s Story

1997, Nintendo 64

The canonical sequel to Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, Yoshi’s sole Nintendo 64 outing stayed true to his two-dimensional platforming roots, rather than going fully 3D as Mario did. It does, however, feature pre-rendered 3D visuals a la Donkey Kong Country, as Nintendo had originally envisioned for the game. Hideki Konno, game director of Yoshi’s Island, also directed Yoshi’s Story. This was the last home console Yoshi game until Yoshi’s Woolly World in 2015.

Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3

2002, Game Boy Advance

Like with all previous Super Mario games, the Game Boy Advance received a handheld port of Yoshi’s Island. Numerous small tweaks and adjustments were made, with the most notable change being the addition of six new secret levels, bringing the grand total to 60 levels.

Yoshi Topsy-Turvy

2004, Game Boy Advance

Otherwise known as Yoshi’s Universal Gravitation in Japan, Australia, and Europe, Yoshi Topsy-Turvy used a built-in gyroscopic sensor similar to Kirby Tilt ‘n’ Tumble and WarioWare: Twisted. Tilting the Game Boy Advance shifts enemies and objects around, allowing Yoshi to solve puzzles and overcome platforming sequences.

Yoshi Touch & Go

2005, Nintendo DS

Catch! Touch! Yoshi! as it was released in Japan, focused on the Nintendo DS’s touchscreen to create clouds that guide Yoshi and Baby Mario on their journey. The game was originally planned as a Nintendo GameCube game called Balloon Trip.

Yoshi’s Island DS

2006, Nintendo DS

Originally announced as Yoshi’s Island 2, Yoshi’s Island DS followed very closely in the original game’s footsteps, both visually and mechanically. New additions included Baby Wario, Baby Peach, Baby Donkey Kong, and Baby Bowser as playable characters.

Yoshi’s New Island

2014, Nintendo 3DS

The first new Yoshi game in nearly a decade, Yoshi’s New Island is placed chronologically between Yoshi’s Island and Yoshi’s Island DS, making it another Yoshi pre-sequel. Following the events of Yoshi’s Island, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi are delivered by the stork to the wrong parents, allowing Baby Luigi to get captured once again.

Yoshi’s Woolly World

2015, Wii U

From the developers of Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Yoshi’s Woolly World is both fresh and familiar. Building off the excellent gameplay foundation established 20 years prior in Yoshi’s Island, Good-Feel overhauled the visuals from the long-running Crayola art style to one based in fabrics and knitting materials. Perhaps most importantly, however, Yoshi finally received his long-lost plane transformation.

A Nintendo 3DS port titled Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World was released in 2017.