Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

SUPER MARIO WORLD 2: YOSHI'S ISLAND

Here we go, the prequel/sequel to a Mario game that launched a series of spinoffs. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was a sequel to Super Mario World starring the fan favorite introduced in that game, Yoshi, and functioned as a prequel to the Mario series as a whole, telling the story of how Bowser's advisor Kamek foresaw the brothers' role in opposing his master and tried to kidnap them while they were being carried by the stork. He failed to nab Mario, who ended up falling into a herd of Yoshis, who agreed to help him save his brother.

Yoshi is our main playable character, with eight different colors for each level. His moveset is pretty much what you think of for Yoshi: eating enemies and actually turning them into eggs, getting great distance in the air with a flutter jump, throwing his eggs, pounding the ground with a butt bash, breathing fire and ice and spitting seeds. He also transforms frequently, turning into a helicopter, mole-like tank, a train, a submarine, and a skiing vehicle, all getting him through a specific course.

Baby Mario mostly rides around on Yoshi's back, floating in a bubble and crying any time he is knocked off. However, upon gaining a super cape, he can run on his own, running up walls and across ceilings, and floating through the air with his cape. Baby Luigi and the stork who was carrying them are both the token "damsel in distress" character to be rescued, so don't really do that much. Finally, we have Poochy, a very good boi who you can ride across dangerous terrain like spikes and lava.

Our villains consist of Kamek and Baby Bowser. Kamek flies around on his broom, making sweeping passes to try and hit Yoshi at times, casts magical spells made of Playstation shapes, teleports, and casts his iconic biggification spell that he uses to create the various bosses in the game. Baby Bowser appears as the final boss, stomping on Kamek and flattening him, and after being enlarged, breathes fireballs, drops rocks from the ceiling, and creates shockwaves. Kamek also has a squad of Toadies who can fly and descend on a crying baby if not picked up quickly enough.

The enemies of the game include a massive assortment of Mario series regulars as well as brand-new enemies that would soon become staples of the Yoshi series. The returning enemies include Shy Guys, who establish themselves pretty firmly as the go-to common enemies of the Yoshi series, using propellers to fly, walk around on stilts, get fat and heavy, drop bombs, carry around spears and shields, swing around a mace, and run around on fire. They also have a ghostly version.

Other returning enemies include Koopas, Goombas, Piranha Plants and Nippers, Boos, Lakitus (who like to hide behind a wall here as well as fish and do everything else they're known for), Fuzzies, Bullet Bills, Snifits, Pokeys (who bounce Needlenose enemies on top of them), Wigglers with wings, and Chain Chomps, who like to bounce up and down to make earthquakes, leap from the background to take out sections of the stage, chase you while eating up the stage, and have a frequent item called the Chomp Rock appearing in the game. Hmm, I think somebody's finally trying to make a case for themselves.

The new enemies appearing in the game include: Crazee Dayzees, singing flowers who make bubbles; Cloud Drops that fly back and forth; Lantern Ghosts, who walk around with lanterns; Bandits, who steal items and babies while in game, but also host minigames involving throwing balls back and forth and popping balloons; Sluggers and Green Gloves, very similar enemies to Bandits who deflect items with bats and can catch eggs and throw them back; Burts, bouncing enemies who come in pairs; Blarggs and Nep-Enuts, large red and blue creatures that live in lava and water respectively and try to eat you; Fangs, the resident bat enemy; Melon Bugs and Huffin Puffins that can be used as projectiles; Tap-Taps and Spiked Fun Guys, walking maces who roll over when hit; Mildes and Barney Bubbles, little bubbles who pop when stepped on; Spray Fish and Hot Lips, who spray streams of water and lava; Little Mousers, who like to steal things; Gusties, who fly around; Boo Blahs, ghosts attached to the ground; Grinders, little monkeys who like to bounce, climb on vines, eat fruit and spit out the seeds, and throw things at you; Loch Nestors, Flopsy Fish, and Piscatory Pete, the resident basic fish; Frog Pirates with long tongues; Clawdaddies, crabs with rabies; Harry Hedgehogs with spikes; Preying Mantas, who rise through the water; Lunge Fish, who will stare at you blankly before lunging at you; Cage Ghosts who try to crawl out from drainage pipes; Hootie the Blowfish (nice), which are flying ghostly piranha plants; Bumpties, little penguins who can fly or slide around, and can be bounced off of; Dr. Freezegoods, skiing snowmen; Goonies, birds who either fly or walk around and come with a skeletal version; Dangling Ghosts, who just kinda hang from the ceiling; Georgette Jellies who squish when stepped on; Sluggies who drop from the ceiling; Ravens who can walk around upside down and sideways; and Spookies, who pretend to be ghosts.

The bosses are generally regular enemies who have been enlarged by Kamek or enhanced in some way. Burt the Bashful is a Burt whose pants drop a little any time he is hit; Salvo the Slime is a giant slime who makes a bunch of smaller slimes; Bigger Boo is a giant Boo who inflates until he pops; Roger the Potted Ghost is a ghost stuck in a pot who can breathe fire at you; Prince Froggy is a frog who eats you and then you have to fight his uvula while he drops eaten Shy Guys onto you; Naval Piranha is a giant Piranha Plant who can swim, headbutt you, attack you with its vines, and drop nipper spores on you; Marching Milde is a giant Milde who can split into duplicates; Hookbill Koopa is a giant Koopa who charges, belly flops, and slams down on you; Sluggy the Unshaven is a giant Sluggy who you have to make indents in to get to his core; Raphael the Raven is a giant Raven that kicks you to the moon and then charges around and makes shockwaves; and finally, Tap Tap the Red Nose is a giant Tap Tap who jumps and rolls around.

The game is made up of six worlds, each made up of eight stages each. Although these stages have general themes and biomes, they can't quite be divided into nice clean themes per world, instead being a nice mix of all. The general biomes include plains, cave, fortress, sky, forest, lava, lake, valley, sewer, and snow.

Items vary from Chomp Rocks, stars, clouds, and eggs, and  so on.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:
Yoshi: run, jump, eat, make eggs, flutter jump, throw eggs, butt bash, breathe fire, ice, spit seeds, helicopter, mole tank, train, submarine, ski.
Baby Mario: float in bubble, cry, super cape, float with cape, run on walls and ceilings.
Kamek: fly on broom, cast spell, teleport, sweep, giant spell
Baby Bowser: stomp, shockwave, fireball, drop rocks
Poochy: walk across hazards
Shy Guy: propeller, stilts, fat, bombs, spear and shield, swing mace, fire, ghost
Koopa
Goomba
Piranha Plant
Boo
Lakitu
Wiggler: wings
Chain Chomp: bounce, incoming chomp, Chomp Rock, Chomp Shark
Bandits: steal things, toss ball, pop balloon, Green Glove, Slugger, Zeus Guy, Grunt
Little Mouser: steal
Grinder: bounce, climb vines, eat fruit and spit seeds, drop bombs

Bosses:
Burt the Bashful
Salvo the Slime
Bigger Boo
Roger the Potted Ghost
Prince Froggy
Naval Piranha
Marching Milde
Hookbill Koopa
Sluggy the Unshaven
Raphael Raven
Tap Tap the Red Nose

Stages:
plains
cave
fortress
sky
forest
lava
lake
valley
sewer
snow

Items:
Eggs
Stars
Clouds
Chomp Rock

Thanks for reading! Tomorrow, we'll cover Yoshi's Story!

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