4.5/5 ★ – philip_acquaro's review of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.

Started: April 15th 2025 Beaten: April 18th 2025 One of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played. Like man, this games art style and sprite work is breathtaking and such a treat to behold from start to finish. And on top of that, the gameplay, platforming, and puzzle design is masterful. Everything feels so fluid, polished, and super fun to play from throwing egg shells to flutter jumping to swallowing bad guys, it’s all really great. Every level almost feels like 3 levels in one with lots of actual tough puzzle solving at times, platform challenges, Yoshi vehicle transformations, and so much more. One of the levels that I loved was the snow level where Yoshi skis down a snowy mountain with baby mario wearing a beanie on his back as you speed across boulders and big jumps. The soundtrack is also amazing, it fits the adorable aesthetic perfectly. And my gosh, the bosses are both visually stunning and revolutionary for the Super Nintendo. I mean come on, a 2D Mario Galaxy styled boss that predates that game where you and the enemy move along a rotating planet in space while the camera follows?! Or a boss where you’re shrunken and eaten by a frog where you are then fighting off things the frog has eaten inside his stomach?? And do I have to mention the iconic and super stressful Baby Bowser final boss? It’s all extremely impressive. I also just really liked the story and the way it was told. Yeah it’s a pretty basic one, but seeing how the Yoshi clan are the reason why Mario and Luigi reunite and live their lives as well as how Bowser’s rivalry had begun, while also being illustrated in this hand drawn style was just really cool to me. This was my first time playing this from start to finish and I absolutely loved it. If you have any way to play this, be it an emulator, SNES Classic Edition (my method of playing), original hardware, or anything else, go and play it! It’s super cute, charming, challenging both in platforming and in puzzles, and it’s one of the best Mario games period.