Nintendo gave the SNES about as strong a start as you could hope for with Super Mario World. A continuation of its most popular series, the game built on everything that was already working for the series while introducing an overwhelming amount of new mechanics and fresh ideas. So how do you follow up what’s clearly one of the best platformers ever made, released at the very beginning of the console’s life? If you’re Nintendo, you spend four years developing a sequel that’s nothing like the original and doesn’t even star the same character — and somehow end up with another of the best platformers ever made.
Released on August 5, 1995, in Japan, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island is an incredibly bold swing. Where a straightforward rehash of Super Mario World with new levels would have worked, Nintendo instead went in an entirely different direction. In Yoshi’s Island, Mario has been turned into a baby, putting his dinosaur companion in charge. The powerups from Super Mario World are absent, giving Yoshi an entirely different set of abilities, and the game’s art style is entirely different. Yoshi’s Island was the final game in the Mario series on SNES, and the last before it transitioned to 3D on the Nintendo 64, and as unexpected of a sendoff as it is, it’s hard to imagine a better one now.
