Yoshi's New Island

Genre(s)Platform^[6]Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Yoshi's New Island^[a] is a 2014 platform video game developed by Arzest and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. First released in Europe and North America in March 2014 as the third installment in the Yoshi's Island series, Yoshi's New Island is a retcon of the events of the ending of the 1995 Super Nintendo Entertainment System game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, and is set prior to the events of the 2006 Nintendo DS title Yoshi's Island DS.

Unlike that of its predecessor, Yoshi's New Island's gameplay now solely revolves around using Baby Mario as the companion to progress through a series of levels. Players are able to use Yoshi's abilities to protect and escort Baby Mario to his brother. Like similar Yoshi games, the game features a hand-drawn art style, with level designs and backgrounds stylized as oil paintings, watercolors, and crayon drawings.^[7][8]

Yoshi's New Island received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its gameplay, art style, and overall sense of charm and nostalgia, though its level design and soundtrack received criticism. The game has sold more than two million copies worldwide and became a Nintendo Selects title in 2016.

Yoshi's New Island's gameplay is similar to that of the other Yoshi's Island games, revolving around one of multiple different colored Yoshis needing to reach the goal at the end of each level while protecting Baby Mario from enemies and other obstacles. Yoshi can hover in midair briefly (known as "flutter jumping"),^[9] swallow and spit out enemies, and attack foes by throwing eggs,^{[10][11][12][13][14]} which must be aimed manually.^[6][15] If damage is taken, Yoshi has 10–30 seconds to retrieve Baby Mario^[1] from a moving bubble^[16] before the infant is taken away by Kamek's underlings,^[14][17][18] which results in the loss of a life.^[19][20][21] If the player loses several lives in a row while attempting to complete a level, Yoshi can obtain the Flutter Wings, an item that enables indefinite hovering.^[10] Losing a life with the Flutter Wings unlocks a golden variant of the item, which provides both flight and invincibility.^[1][20][21] If all lives are lost, the player receives a game over and must start from the beginning of the level with five lives.^[22]

The game features six worlds,^[6][16][19] each consisting of eight base levels^[12][23] as well as two bonus levels, for a total of 60 courses.^[14] One of the bonus levels is unlocked by obtaining every collectible and finishing with full health in each level, while the other is opened up after 30 medals are collected from a goul roulette,^{[14][19][24][25]} which replaces post-level minigames from the previous Yoshi's Island installments.^[23] The fourth level of each world is a castle course that ends with Kamek as a mid-boss,^[10] while the eighth level concludes with a battle against a unique enemy boss^[1] enhanced and enlarged by Kamek's magic.^{[13][17][20][23]} Each level can be finished with up to five flowers, twenty red coins,^[14] and thirty stars,^[11][12] the lattermost collectible also serving as Yoshi's health meter.^[13][20][26]

Certain levels feature a section in which Yoshi transforms into one of six vehicles or objects: a bobsled, a helicopter, a hot air balloon, a jackhammer, a mine cart, and a submarine.^[11] All of Yoshi's transformations are controlled with the console's gyroscope.^{[1][10][12][17][27]} Other sections revolve around the use of a power-up known as the Yoshi Star, which briefly transforms Yoshi into Super Yoshi, which provides temporary invincibility^[28] in addition to enabling Yoshi to travel at high speeds as well as run up walls and across ceilings for a short period of time.^{[12][17][23][24]}

A notable feature introduced in Yoshi's New Island are Mega Eggdozers, which are massive eggs that can be thrown to destroy normally indestructible terrain and obstacles in the way, providing access to previously obstructed areas.^[7][13] Additionally, there is a metal variant of the Mega Eggdozer known as the Metal Eggdozer, which also clears paths in addition to weighing Yoshi down, diminishing jumps while allowing for exploration of underwater areas.^{[6][10][14][16][29]} Both Mega Eggdozers and Metal Eggdozers can be obtained by eating giant Shy Guys^[11][12][27] or hitting certain blocks.^[1]

In addition to the game's story mode, there are six cooperative two-player minigames^[24][27] centered around Yoshi's platforming skillset; for instance, one minigame tasks the player with using eggs to pop as many balloons as possible within a time limit,^[17] while another challenges the player to use Yoshi's hovering ability to travel as far as possible. Although the minigames cannot be played online,^[19] the game supports the Download Play functionality of the 3DS,^[1] allowing several people to play together using only one game cartridge.^[10][11][14]

Yoshi's New Island serves as a direct sequel to Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island,^{[1][2][4][15]} taking place immediately following the events of the game, wherein a stork delivers twins Baby Mario and Baby Luigi to a couple in the Mushroom Kingdom presumed to be their parents. The opening of Yoshi's New Island reveals that the stork had delivered the babies to the wrong couple,^[10] much to the couple's confusion and the stork's horror. The stork reclaims the babies and sets off to locate their real parents, though is ambushed by Kamek mid-flight. Kamek captures the stork and Baby Luigi, though Baby Mario falls and reunites with the Yoshi clan^[15] on Egg Island, a floating island that was once "a peaceful second home" for the Yoshis until it was taken over by Baby Bowser,^[19] who decided that it would make "an epic vacation home".^[24] It is discovered that Baby Mario can telepathically sense Baby Luigi's location, and the Yoshi clan agrees to help him rescue his brother by taking turns escorting him across the island.^{[11][12][14][20][23]}

Once Baby Mario and Yoshi reach Baby Bowser's castle, Kamek unsuccessfully attempts to stop them, and Baby Bowser is woken up. Baby Bowser, wanting to ride Yoshi, is defeated in battle. Kamek then uses his magic to greatly enlarge Baby Bowser, though he is defeated again and shrinks back to his original size. Yoshi proceeds to rescue the captured stork and save Baby Luigi.

After this point, if the player has used the Flutter Wings or the Golden Flutter Wings to clear a level, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi are delivered back home, only for the adult Bowser to abruptly tear apart the screen and challenge the player to complete every level without the power-ups in order to face him in battle.

If the player completes the final level without using either of the aforementioned power-ups, adult Bowser suddenly appears after "warping through space and time" to avenge his younger self's defeat. After the adult Bowser is defeated, Kamek once again uses his magic to make Bowser huge. Once Bowser has been defeated yet again, Yoshi reunites with the stork and Baby Luigi, and both brothers are brought back to their true home. Moreover, it is revealed that "Mr. Pipe",^[30] a moving Warp Pipe who supplied the Yoshis with items over the course of their journey,^[20] is actually the adult Mario, who returns to his own timeline.

The third entry in the Yoshi's Island series,^[7] Yoshi's New Island was developed by Arzest,^[1] with many key members having previously been involved in the development of the original Yoshi's Island.^[8] Series producer Takashi Tezuka, who also directed both Super Mario World^[31] and the original Yoshi's Island,^[32] explained: "This new 3DS game is a sequel, basically, to the first Yoshi's Island. It takes place after that."^[4] During an interview with Nintendo Life, Tezuka stated that a Yoshi's Island sequel was chosen over a Yoshi's Story successor due to being simpler in both gameplay and construction, as well as the former's hand-drawn art style being better suited for the Nintendo 3DS. The use of oil paintings, watercolors, and crayon drawings for the game's aesthetics helped its graphical style retain the "warm and friendly vibe" of the original Yoshi's Island^[8] as well as the "handicraft feel" the series had become known for.^[4]

During an interview with Nintendo World Report, Tezuka stated that Yoshi's New Island was developed in tandem with Yoshi's Woolly World, despite the latter title being developed by Good-Feel, and both games shared some level design staff.^[33] According to Tezuka, the concept of throwing giant eggs originated from the development team being interested in "creating something big and impactful".^[4] Moreover, in the Nintendo Life interview, Tezuka stated that the game's levels were made easier in comparison to those of its predecessor, though the collectibles would be difficult and time-consuming enough to provide "a nice challenge for more experienced players".^[8]

The game was first announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation in April 2013.^[34] Its name was revealed at E3 2013, where a trailer for the game was also featured.^[35] On March 5, 2014, it was announced that a special edition Yoshi-themed Nintendo 3DS XL system would be made available on the game's earliest release date.^[36] On March 9, five days before Yoshi's New Island was first released, Nintendo promoted the game by having three young actors in California (Benjamin Stockham of About a Boy, Garrett Clayton of Teen Beach Movie, and Bella Thorne of Shake It Up) pose with the special edition 3DS XL system and throw balloons containing green paint at a large egg.^[37][38] Yoshi's New Island was released in both North America and Europe on March 14, 2014,^[31][32] in Australia on March 15,^[1][24] and in Japan on July 24, 2014.^[3]

Yoshi's New Island received "mixed or average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.^[40] Several critics praised its overall sense of charm and nostalgia, finding it to be among the game's best elements.^{[1][10][15][17]}

The game's graphics and art style polarized critics.^{[6][11][12][15][27]} Alex Culafi of Nintendo World Report wrote that the game's 3D visuals were "among the best 3DS has to offer",^[1] with GameSpot's Tom Mc Shea stating that the game had an "enchanting artistic design".^[17] Conversely, Giant Bomb's Patrick Klepek wrote that the game's aesthetic style felt "half-hearted" and "lacks the sense of inspired style or flair that defined the original",^[19] while Mike LeChevallier of Slant Magazine described the visuals as "mostly vapid and stiff".^[5] Kyle Orland of Ars Technica added that the art style and animation appeared "a little overdone and lifeless" in comparison to those of prior games in the series.^[13]

Critics were also divided on the game's level design.^[15][17][19] Both IGN's Jose Otera and Ars Technica's Kyle Orland praised this aspect, having particularly enjoyed the variety and placement of collectibles.^[6][13] However, Nintendo Life's Dave Letcavage wrote that the level design "overall evokes little wonder and is often average at best".^[12]

The game's soundtrack was widely panned by critics,^[5][11] especially due to its repetitiveness and use of kazoos as a primary instrument.^[1][6][13] A handful of reviewers also criticized the game for a perceived lack of difficulty,^[13] particularly in its boss fights,^{[1][11][12][15][17]} which Jose Otero of IGN described as "shallow, simple, and uninspired, often ending before they really begin".^[6] Miscellaneous topics of criticism included the underwhelming implementation of the Eggdozer mechanic,^[11][19][20] the absence of a competitive multiplayer mode,^[12] and the use of gyroscope controls in the game's transformation sections.^[6][13]

Many reviewers compared Yoshi's New Island to its predecessors, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Island DS, both favorably and critically, ultimately being divided on whether the game succeeded in preserving the strongest features of the series.^{[1][6][11][13][27]} For instance, GameSpot's Tom Mc Shea noted that Yoshi's Island DS established an identity via its unique system of swapping babies with different abilities, whereas Yoshi's New Island recycled most of its best elements from the original game, making it "forgettable".^[17] In concluding his own review of the game for Nintendo World Report, Alex Culafi wrote: "It's completely functional and could serve as filler while waiting for the next big 3DS or Wii U release, but there's little denying that it's an underwhelming outing for Yoshi."^[12]

Despite receiving middling reviews from critics, Yoshi's New Island was added to the Nintendo Selects label in Europe on October 16, 2015, and in North America on March 11, 2016.^[43]

The game debuted at #2 on the Japanese sales charts, selling 58,000 copies.^[44] By October 2014, it had sold 197,000 copies in Japan.^[45] As of December 31, 2020, worldwide sales had reached 2.06 million copies, making Yoshi's New Island the 32nd best-selling game for the Nintendo 3DS.^[46]

• "YOSHI'S NEW ISLAND" (PDF). Nintendo. 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2024.

• Yoshi's New Island at Nintendo.com
• Official website for North America
• Official website for Europe
• Official website for Japan (in Japanese)
• Yoshi's New Island at IMDb
• Yoshi's New Island at MobyGames