Yoshi's Island Hints/Tips

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In World 1-3, there's a hidden switch box. Go through the stage to the first flower (it's inside some breakable rocks). To the right, there's one tall post and two short posts. Pound these into the ground by jumping up and pulling down on your controller while you're in the air. You'll find a question mark cloud with wings. Hit it with an egg and a switch block. Stomp it, pull down on the arrow that appears, and you'll find a secret room.

In World 1-7, the last four red coins are kind of tough to find. Near the end of the stage, there's a log sticking diagonally from the ground. Stand on the tip of the log, then shoot an egg (or jump) straight up. A bouncy balloon will drop from the sky. Hop on and you'll bounce into a secret area. At the far left of this area, there's a rock pushed up against the wall. Jump on top of it and try to roll it back toward the right. If you get far enough, a winged cloud will appear. Hit it with an egg and you'll find a plant that'll take you into the clouds above, where you'll find the red coins.

In World 2-3 (as well as some others), you'll see some dotted-line blocks. You probably noticed in earlier levels that they're solid when Baby Mario picks up a star. Of course, in 2-3, the star wears off before he can get to the dotted blocks. Here's what you do: Wait for the star -- don't grab it when it appears. Instead, stand to the left and wait for it to start bouncing. It'll bounce down and left to the chomp rock, right below the locked door. Follow it, then touch it and turn into Super Baby Mario. Run down to the left as far as you can, then to the right, and all the dotted lines will be filled in. Time it right and you can catch stars all the way through the level.

And now here's our favorite tip: In World 4-1, work to the right until you come to two piranha plants, one coming out of a tube from the top, one from the bottom. Take those out with a couple of eggs. Suck up the nearby Koopa Troopa, and then spit him back toward the left. He'll get stuck between the piranha pipe and a shy-guy pipe. As shy-guys pop out, the bouncing turtle shell will let you rack up all the lives you want.

Question Marks At Bottom of World:
The two question marks at the end of each world will appear if you receive perfect 100's for each of the 8 levels in that world. One of the squares will become an "extra" level, and the other will become a bonus game that you can play as many times as you wish. For each "extra" level that you complete with a perfect 100, you get a gold star on the title screen.

General Tip:
Always jump into corners and high places that look like they could hold a cloud. There are many hidden in the game, and they're usually in such places. Also, breaking away spikes with eggs will sometimes reveal doors, 1UPs, or other prizes.

Patient/Hasty Controller Modes:
I recommend the "Patient" controller mode (controller mode #1). It allows for more accurate shooting of eggs.

Impatient?
When you start a level from the map screen, if you press a button repeatedly while the level name is being displayed, you can abort the wait and start the level without waiting for all of the text to be displayed.

Unlimited 1UPs:
There are an abundance of 1UPs in Yoshi's Island.

One place to get unlimited 1UPs is in world 4-1: if you bounce a turtle shell between two pipes and let shyguys come out of a pipe into the bounce area, you'll eventually get 1UPs over and over.

Another place is in world 1-8: If you bring a melon bug to the shyguy pipe just before the first ring of stars, you can allow it to destroy shyguys over and over until you get 1UPs. Once it stops rolling, simply eat it again. Then, when the next shyguy emerges from the pipe, spit it back out. Repeat the process.

Another place is in world 1-7: Yoshi can hold a melon bug in his mouth for only a short while before swallowing it and making an egg. If he can make it to the pipe that's pouring out shy-guys though, he can make as many as 999 1UPs. First use melon bug to clear the path of the wild piranha and tap-taps. Then, grab another melon bug and rush to the pipe. Avoid the tap-taps on the platform by taking the platform beneath them. Spit the melon bug at the shy-guys coming out of the pipe. If the bug rolls to the right side of the pipe, retrieve it and spit it out on the left side. After bopping the first few shy-guys out of the pipe, the melon bug will convert every subsequent one into a 1UP.

Special games:
Go through the door to the left of where you start in world 5-4. Destroy the chain chomp (the quickest way is to use a POW or a cloud maker item). A door will appear, leading you to a speech block which tells you about this super-secret feature:

Hold [SELECT] and press [X] [X] [Y] [B] [A] on the map screen

A menu will appear with all of the mini-battles that you can play against the bandit. Two of the games you can play against another person (using the second controller).

SNES Game Genie Codes for Yoshi's Island:
NOTE: You need a Game Genie (a special piece of hardware) to use these codes. Visit Galoob's Web Site for more information.
Code Effect
C2EE-649F Infinite lives
C23F-ADDD Star timer doesn't decrease when hit
D9B7-0023 Start with 5 lives
DCB7-0023 Start with 10 lives
FBB7-0023 Start with 25 lives
74B7-0023 Start with 50 lives
17B7-0023 Start with 99 lives
DC36-010D Continue with 5 lives
FB36-010D Continue with 10 lives
7436-010D Continue with 25 lives
1736-010D Continue with 50 lives
1736-010D Continue with 99 lives
CB69-006D + 3069-00AD All levels are completed with 100 points
CB8A-64D5 + 108A-6405 + 3C8A-6465 Always score 100 points
1D26-AFA1 Power-ups don't get used up
C2C8-A465 After using the magnifying glass, red coins and hidden items are always revealed
D98A-AF7B Red coins stay on for over twice as long
DB8A-AF7B Red coins stay on for over four times as long
5E8A-AF7B Red coins stay on for a very, very long time
Game Genie is a trademark of Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc.