Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - Review

(Minor spoilers) A review and analysis of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, by Casen Sperry
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Yoshi's Island was released in 1995, prime time for my childhood nostalgia. When I was trying to decide what game to review next, this one came accross my mind. After a few minutes of research, I found that I wasn't the only one who enjoyed this game. It received super high marks from almost every reviewing outlet at the time, and is widely considered to be the best 2D platformer of its generation.
Turns out, this game is exactly as good as I remembered it. The soundtrack is beautiful, the mechanics encourage players to beat levels over and over, Yoshi is awesome and the little story there is is excellent.
What impressed me the most, though, is the art style. I didn't appreciate this as much when I was a kid. The art is absolutely beautiful. It has a hand-drawn, painted feel to it. In an era where games were starting to use pre-rendered CG graphics, Yoshi's Island decided to go a different route. The art style is unique and incredible. There's nothing like it. This is typical Nintendo, today. Instead of powerful, ultra realistic looking graphics, they're content to be creative and fun. I think the development of this game is really where Nintendo's new identity began.
Photos: Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka
Music: Koji Kondo
Footage: Super Mario 2: Yoshi's Island, Donkey Kong Country, Yoshi Safari, Super Mario World, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Paper Mario 64, Mario Kart Wii, New Super Mario Bros.