LogFAQs > #914389391

#3. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
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Yoshi's Island is the only game on this list that I had absolutely no prior experience playing. I somehow went through my entire life without ever touching this game, but of course had to purchase it as soon as I realized I was really going to get through every title in the series.

I can see why this game is so polarizing. The first time I played it, I noticed a few things that I knew would be love-or-hate. The overall style is obviously a departure from the previous Mario games. On the surface, it looks like it was intentionally designed for babies--the coloring book aesthetic, the goofy character models, the literal babies... Not to say Mario was ever "badass" or anything, but in an era when Sega's marketing strategy was to make Nintendo kids feel insecure about their maturity level, I can totally see how this game could only compound that feeling. The other major love-or-hate element is controlling Yoshi itself. Right from the get-go, you understand that this is not a Mario game--it's a Yoshi game. The platforming takes a back seat to the egg mechanics, and it actually functions more like an action platformer than anything else. There is a reason why there are tutorials for basically the first 25% of the game.

As a 30 year old with some better perspective, I can look at Yoshi's Island a bit more objectively. The cartoony "childish" aesthetic not only makes sense narratively, but this is very likely the best looking game on the Super Nintendo. The hand-drawn backgrounds are gorgeous, creative, and supremely varied. And despite shifting to a more uneven plane from the very flat grounds of Super Mario World that promote superbly slick handling, the game very rarely suffers from any pitfalls you'd expect from this kind of style. There are no false platforms or poor landing detection; and only in a few instances are some of the numerous graphic elements obfuscating to enemies or obstacles. It's honestly remarkable how they were able to pull this off. The fact that this is not a "Mario" game also did not bother me once I got used to the new controls for Yoshi. In fact, the floating jump becomes quite enjoyable to play after a while and began to remind me of Dixie Kong's glide. In other words, it was really fucking fun.

I could go on and on about what this game gets so right. If anyone remembers my recent playthrough topic, the music really floored me at first. While there probably should have been double or even triple the tracks, what is in the game is some of the best on the SNES and a welcome change from the chiptuney songs of the other Mario games. The boss battles, though incredibly easy, were super fun and creative and provided some of the best 2D visuals I've ever seen (Prince Froggy, Raphael the Raven, and Bowser were particularly amazing). And while I did not subject myself to 100%ing the game, the collectibles in Yoshi's Island were done so well and absolutely would encourage me to go back every now and then when I want to just feel how well the game plays again.

In all, I am glad to say that Yoshi's Island actually lives up to the board 8 hype, which has a tendency to incorrectly single out a black sheep game and elevate it to "best ever" status (see: Crash Team Racing, et al). But Yoshi's Island is a truly unique experience that has never been replicated to my knowledge, and its sheer creativity and mechanical smoothness makes it one for the ages.
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"A more mature answer than I expected."~ Jakyl25
"Sephy's point is right."~ Inviso