Yoshi’s Island is a spin-off, the same as Wario Land, Super Princess Peach, or Captain Toad: Treasure Trackers. So, in a way, Yoshi’s Island doesn’t even fit my first criteria. It was a marketing maneuver to more closely tie the title into the Super Nintendo’s successful launch game. Nintendo only branded the game as Super Mario World 2 outside of Japan. If it contained a power-up that turned Wario into Mario for 30 seconds, would it suddenly then qualify for the Yoshi’s Islanders?īut even then, Yoshi’s Island status is in a way more precarious than Wario Land’s. Few argue for Wario Land to be a core Mario game.
It created its own 2D mechanics that stood apart from traditional Mario games, and it spawned its own franchise that immediately dropped the Super Mario Land branding. The first Wario Land’s full title is Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3. This is actually the same trajectory that the Wario series followed. It was so distinct that it started its own series of Yoshi’s games, which include Yoshi’s Story, Yoshi’s New Island, and Yoshi’s Woolly World. Yoshi’s Island also has its own 2D physics, controls, and overall gameplay feel when compared to other core 2D Mario games. Overall, it accounts for probably less than 1 percent of the entire game. You only control him for brief periods of time. Yoshi’s Island also betrays two of mycriteria. Nor does it play like other 2D Mario games. It also disqualifies some contested titles, like the original Donkey Kong, which does not have Mario in its name. This is how I come to my list of core Mario games, which Jeff and I agreed on.
But being a core Mario game isn’t about quality. It’s one of the greatest 2D sidescrollers ever. And while I won’t be at PAX East, I want my colleagues to know that I firmly stand in the “no, it’s not core” camp. Its status is one of the most hotly contested. Or, as some would love to remind us, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island.
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