The History of

Yoshi

Welcome to a page setup to inform you on how Yoshi came to be and grow throughout all the years that he's been existing in the world. This page is at least 90% factual. (The other 10% is what Shigeru Miyamato and the rest of his developers truly had in mind when they brought Yoshi in in the first place). I can pretty much say this is accurate too because I gathered the greater portion of this page from countless instruction manuals, magazines, and web-sites. I hope you enjoy learning about how our little friend came to be and of course this site will update as new games featuring the Yo'ster come into existence. Below I have prepared a partial biography for Yoshi. I encourage anyone who might have more true information or any nifty ideas about Yoshi to write me. The address can be found below. Oh, and if you desire to return to the main page, and you are not having a good day with your <- arrow, simply click on the picture above of the Pink Yoshi to return to the main page.

-=Biography=-

Name: Yoshi

Born/Created: Between 1990-91, thus making Yoshi between 7 and 8 years old. However, originally considered back after the original Mario Brothers was made. In real terms Yoshi appears to be around 16-18 years old.

Race: Dragon/Dinosaur. Yoshi seems to be a combination of the two with a few attributes of that of a frog.

Gender: The Yoshi commonly featured in the Mario games is MALE. Though there are probably females out there somewhere.

I know this is short, but its hard to make a life history for a fictional character. Though it would be nice to have Yoshies in real life. :)

More Fact than Fiction

Below are a few other bits of information about Yoshi that are, for the most part, true. However, they are very arguable due to the many changes that Nintendo has made to Yoshi over the years. The below items have been checked in a number of books and magazines for trueness.

Yoshi's speak only one word when talking and that is "Yoshi". For that matter, all of their names are Yoshi as well. The only way to distinguish their words is to simply watch for hand motions and perhaps tone of voice when they are speaking the word Yoshi.

Baby Yoshies have evolved a great deal since you first saw them back in Super Mario World. Back in Mario World, they were born fairly small without their scales or saddle on their back. Where in Yoshi's Story, Baby Yoshies seem to be a bit taller, have bigger noses, can stand easily straight up on two feet, have their scales, and their saddle. Quite a change don't you think? Below are the examples of both cases...

1991 ->1998

You've probably noticed all over the pages that Yoshi is pluralized "Yoshies". Well, as strange as it may sound, there are actually "2" ways to pluralize Yoshi. Back in Super Mario World, Yoshi was first pluralized as "Yoshis", but when Yoshi's Island came out it became pluralized as "Yoshies". If that isn't confusing enough, when Yoshi's Story came out, they once more changed it, this time back to "Yoshis". However, when this page was first created, Yoshi's Story was far from completion and we went by the pluralization from Yoshi's Island. By the time Yoshi's Story came out with the changed pluralized version, the pages were already well filled with the Yoshi's Island version so thus we stuck with it. Plus, I believe it sounds better as Yoshies.

Below is the game history, as much as I can keep up with, of Yoshi. I hope you find it informative and entertaining.

The Yoshi Years

Yoshi first appeared back around 1991 in one of Nintendo's first Super NES games, Super Mario World. In this game Mario could ride Yoshi and Yoshi graciously munched on all of Mario's foes. Not to mention Yoshi gave him a coin for each successful feast. Another neat feature this first Yoshi had was that if he ate a red, yellow, blue, or flashing shell, he could do some really cool stuff. Red let him breathe fire. Blue gave him the ability to fly with a small set of wings. And yellow let him cause earthquakes which caused massive damage when he jumped. If you were lucky enough to eat a flashing shell you could do all of these special abilities. An odd thing observed when this game came out was that Yoshi was somewhat conceived as a dragon. Some final notes on this are that throughout this game you could also feed Yoshi berries. Red berries cause Yoshi to lay an egg which hatches into a mushroom if he eats ten of them. When Yoshi consumes two pink berries he will lay an egg that hatches into a coin-giving cloud. And finally, for every green berry our little hero consumes, you will gain ten seconds on the timer.

One year later during what I call Nintendo's PUZZLE CRAZE YEARS, Yoshi returned in his first solo game conveniently titled Yoshi. In this game, which was for your regular Nintendo and Game Boy, you helped Mario put Yoshi's egg shell together to make Yoshi hatch and give you points. Within' less than a period of a year or so another puzzler came out. This one was for all the Nintendo systems and it was called Yoshi's Cookie. In this game Mario and Yoshi needed your help in organizing cookies for shipping. Some of the special features this game brought to you were the unique two player vs. mode and also one of the first ever puzzle modes was featured in it. In this mode you had a limited amount of moves to clear a given area. Some final notes about this game are that it had a funny cinema show after you completed each Stage Clear level. Everytime you cleared a complete level you got to see a different and more unique ending.

In the conclusion of 1992, Yoshi appeared in one of today's most enjoyed games, Super Mario Kart. This game featured all of your friends from the Mario games, except rather then battling it out in platform action you raced in a unique mode 7 environment. This game for how simple it was quickly became one of the best games ever made for Super NES.

Just about the same time that Yoshi's Cookie and Mario Kart were making puzzle and racing fans go nuts. Nintendo's new Super Scope 6, which was for your Super NES, came out. With it came a small handful of games. One of which was a neat game called Yoshi's Safari. In this you got a second person perspective view, "Yoshi is in front of you", as you rode on Yoshi's back and shot things with your gun. If you or Yoshi got pegged, you lost life. Also you could damage Yoshi by shooting him in the head. The main goal was to find Bowser at the end, who was in a suit of armor, and blow him up. Not a very unique game. However you did it to shoot and kill things. So I guess it was kind of fun.

Well, then both Yoshi and Mario went into a vacation of sorts. But then that brilliant designer Shigeru Miyamato came up with what we now call Yoshi's Island. This game brought in a few neat new features, one of which was a new thing called Morphmation. This helped to make all the huge bosses in which you fought really HUGE! Another neat thing Yoshi's Island had was the FX 2 chip. Though, you probably couldn't tell because they used the FX 2 chip in such a way that it actually looked crisp and brilliant instead of shapey. Other things this great game featured was a very unique coloring texture. This texture made it look like you were playing inside of a story book. This really helped with the effect of Yoshi carrying Baby Mario around. This game, which was brought out on the tenth anniversary of the Mario Brothers series, was a huge smash. And to this day, even though I own the new N 64, it is still one of my favorite games to play. Some final notes on Yoshi's Island are that it featured unique bonus games, hidden games and levels, and a scoring system. This made the game so that a person just trying to finish it would have fun. However if just beating it wasn't enough for you, then you could shoot for a 100% in each level. This accesses a secret level and opens a bonus game icon on the map. These levels featured tricky puzzles and clever traps for people that were looking for a challenge. If you are trying to get that perfect score, you need to have 30 Stars. < 30 seconds on the brat meter >, you also needed to find all 20 red coins and all five flowers.

Our hero also made an appearance in Mario's first Role Playing game, Super Mario RPG, Legend of the Seven Stars. In this game Yoshi had a VERY small plot of land to roam in which on it you had to help Yoshi defeat the bully Yoshi, Boshi, in a race. If you succeeded, you earned the ability to call Yoshi in battle with his Yoshi Cookies. < Wonder where they got that one? > One of the neatest things about it was the big fat baby, which, if fed enough, would give you goods like Red Essence and Yoshi Aid.

The latest steps for our green dinosaur hero are he hosted the newest installment in the Tetris series Tetris Attack. This game featured all of the fun features of other puzzle games. However, it also had neat detailed backgrounds and a much more fun style of play. Plus the multiple game modes made it seem like more then just a block matcher. The story mode, I would say, is the best. Also Yoshi did make a surprise appearance in Mario 64. But, don't expect it to be a happy one. You will simply receive 100 lives, star dust triple jumps, and the privilege of watching Yoshi take a dive into the moat. Not so cool, but I guess that's games eh?

Our next step up for Yoshi featured him in the sequel to Super Mario Kart entitled Mario Kart 64. In this game Yoshi showed his own style as having an awesome power-slide and a superb top speed! The Yo'ster in many places that I visited has won the "BEST DRIVER" in SMK64 Award. Also Yoshi has his own course. In this course you'll cruise through a mountain-valley maze as you attempt to make your way through to the giant egg and back to the finish line. And speaking of the giant egg, what Yoshi do you think could've possibly laid that one??

About a month after the release of Mario Kart 64, another game by Nintendo featuring Yoshi came into the market. This game which is purely for the Game Boy is a collection of some of Nintendo's finest first games. In this game entitled Game and Watch Gallery, you can play four games in which in two, from what I've seen, you can either play as or use Yoshi. These games are Manhole and Oil Panic. This game is expected to sell at a very reasonable low price and is enhanced by the super Game Boy.

Yoshi's Story is not only Yoshi's first big appearance on the N64, but it is also the first whole game dedicated to just Yoshi. In this game you control any of six differently colored baby Yoshies, (There are two more hidden ones), in a quest to retrieve the Yoshi's beloved SUPER HAPPY TREE. This game features many of the same mechanics as the original Yoshi's Island, but also adds and removes a few as well. For example, you can still flutter to gain that extra height you need in a jump, the egg throw is still there, but now it is controlled analogy for more precise shooting, and as well you can still eat things to have Yoshi lay an egg to use as future ammunition. However, Yoshi's Story adds a few things such as "!" Balls which Yoshi can lick to pull himself up to higher ground. Also you can extend your tongue in any direction through use of the analog stick. Another cool feature put into this game is the ability for Yoshi to sniff. Through this ability you can locate hidden treasures and secret locations. However, sadly gone are the abilities to morph into vehicles, as well Yoshi's near immortality is gone as well. Now you have a life gauge called a "Mood Flower". If you get hit or eat something that disagrees with Yoshi, you will lose petals off of the Mood Flower, but if you eat fruits, collect special hearts, eat enemies that agree with your Yoshi, or eat a Power Bee you can regain petals on the Mood Flower. Another thing is that there is no set goal to a level, instead you must eat 30 fruits dropped from the SUPER HAPPY TREE to clear a level. A cool thing about Yoshi's Story though is the way that the levels are actually set up. Rather than just going in a straight line, (1-1, 1-2, 1-3, etc.), Each of the six worlds, or "Pages" as they're often known as, consists of four levels, or "Chapters" as they go by, and when you play, you get to plot the story in any way you want by choosing which chapters to go through to finish the book. You may now be thinking, "This game is way too easy to beat, you only play six fraggin'' levels!" Well, that's another neat thing about Yoshi's Story, in a way you can set your own difficulty by choosing how you want to complete the book and what fruits you want to eat and such in each level. If you choose to eat all 30 Melons in a level, you will probably be playing for a straight two hours to finish the game at the least! Setting your own goals in Yoshi's Story is alot of fun and really ups the already high replay value. All in all, Yoshi's Story is a very good game which shouldn't be missed and a great addition to any Yoshi fans collection.

Nintendo releases yet another title full of some of its old games from back in the 80's. However, this time around it is enhanced by the Game Boy COLOR and also features five games instead of the four which were in the original Game and Watch Gallery. In this title you can find Yoshi in both Chef and Vermin. In Vermin, your goal is to protect a nest full of Yoshi eggs from Shy Guys and other such villains in a game which very much resembles Whack-A-Mole. As for Chef, you take the role of Princess Peach as she flips breakfast foods about in an attempt to feed Yoshi. There is also said to be a secret game that can be opened by getting enough high scores. This game, known as Classic Ball, starts out in its original version. However, if you get a high enough score in it you'll be able to play the modern version which also features Yoshi.

Mario Party is a twist from the usual puzzle or action game that you/ve come to know Yoshi and friends to star in. This game, which seems exclusively made for those multi-player events, is a combination of both board game and mini-events. The main object of Mario Party is to obtain the most stars of all the other 4 players to prove that you are the SUPER STAR. On average a game can last between 40 minutes to a 2 hours and is great to play with all of your friends. Especially if you are looking for something fun to do with your spare time. Another interesting aspect is that there are multiple game boards which each has its own special features and events. Also, through earning coins in the game you can go and buy special items which you can use to enhance the game play. Overall this game is a great buy, especially if you are known for having friends over a lot; However, if you are an avid game player which prefers skill over chance then this game may not be for you. But, if you like games which anything can happen and that involve all your friends then this game is sure to keep you happy for a very long time.

Have you ever been caught in the debate where people argue over whether Link or Mario would win a fight? Well, now this long argued contest can finally be settled once and for all. In Super Smash Bros. you can choose between 8 of Nintendo's finest mascots, (There are four hidden ones), and battle it out to see who truly is the best. This game is ideal for multiplier play and a great pak for parties. The one player is okay, but unless you have the difficulty setting on Very Hard your likely to find it too easy. An excellent choice for anyone who has followed Nintendo or anybody who is looking for a fighting game that truly is revolutionary.

Looking for a game of golf which won't put you to sleep or aggravate you?  Then Mario Golf is definitely the game for you.  Mario Golf is the next installment in Nintendo's porting of its trademark characters over to different game genres and, like all the others, this one is a sure hit.  Not only does Mario Golf feature colorful graphics and true golf mechanics, but it also includes multiple game modes and the enjoyable fun of Nintendo.  Oh, and it can't be neglected that there are real human based characters in this game too.  This should make Mario Golf pleasing to just about any gamer.  About the only downside to this game is that you only start with four people to choose from in the 1 player mode (Yoshi is unfortunately not one of em).  Though, this can be fixed by playing the game's GET CHARACTER mode and within' a few matches you should be able to retrieve at least one of your favs.   Another downside, in my opinion, is the mini golf resembles a chess board rather than a mini golf course.  The mini golf is also missing out on all the fun little booby traps we all know common to mini golf games.  However, the games SIX 18 Hole courses should make up for it.  These courses also each include a theme and therefore are a lot of fun to play on.  One which is very enjoyable is Yoshi's Island.  Though, DK's bablings in the background can get a bit annoying at times.  Now if only Nintendo would give us another Yoshi game...

It is practically becoming tradition that Nintendo releases an installment in its Game and Watch series every year. This time around though it seems to have games that are a lot more familiar like Donkey Kong Jr. and Mario Bros. Now, before you wonder if it is THE original Mario Bros. game from the arcade I will tell you that it doesn't appear to be. In it you must help them keep stuff on conveyor belts and it appears Bowser is on top of the screen instead of ol' Donkey Kong. Well, enough on that and now onto the Yo'ster. This time around, Yoshi seems to have landed a role in two of the five games featured. In Egg, (a fitting game for Yoshi eh?), you must help Yoshi catch eggs before they fall upon the ground and in Turtle Bridge you must help Yoshi deliver packages across a bridge by riding on the back of a turtle. Oh, I would also like to mention a neat thing about the Game and Watch Gallery packaging. If you look at the original's box you'll see the classic Yoshi pictured. However, looking at the second G&W title's box you'll notice a baby Yoshi from Yoshi's Story on it. Now look at the last box which is pictured above. Notice how we once again are back to the original Yoshi? Pretty nifty eh?

One of the most unique titles to hit the N64 makes a triumphant return in Mario Party 2. However, this time around, the game board and characters have greatly improved graphically. There is also the insertion of brand new spaces such as Battle, Item, and the Bank. Not to mention, a slew of new mini-games for the players to test their skills. For the most part a very exciting game. Personally, I like the idea of having themes behind each board where you wear costumes and, at the end of the game, you see a little movie where the winner battles Bowser. I also felt that the mini-games they kept were well updated. About the only thing that may be bad is that the 1 VS 3 games seem to be unfairly stacked against the 1 player. An example is Crane Game, in it the person on the crane must get EVERYONE in the pipe or they lose. It doesn't matter if you put two people in, you still lose and everyone on the three person team gains 10 coins. Overall though, this is a fine game for all of you that are looking for a good time with your friends or family.

With the success of Mario Golf, it was only fitting that Mario and his friends try to expand into other sports, which in this case is tennis.  And, just like with Mario Golf, this title proves to be yet another fun and addictive game.  It even can link up with Mario Tennis for Game Boy COLOR so you can open up special games and features.  Although I haven't gotten the chance to play this game yet, I really would like to.  When I do, I'll put up a more accurate description and synopsis of the game.  :)

Discover a new colony of Yoshies in Nintendo's superb sequel to the hit Super Mario RPG, which is Paper Mario!  This time around, Mario must save Princess Peach from the clutches of King Bowser, who has made himself invincible through use of the Star Rod that he stole from Star Haven.  Throughout your quest to save the fair Princess and reclaim the Star Rod, Mario will encounter many familiar faces and be accompanied by a total of EIGHT party members.  Each colleague, once foes of Mario in past games, brings a unique ability to the team which helps you progress through the adventure.  Add to that the game's clever battle-system and level-up methods and you have perhaps one of the finest games to ever grace the N64.  Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this game features one of the finest villains ever created in a video game, Jr. Troopa!  Over the past fifteen years that I've been playing video games, I've never bumped into a more hilarious or unique character.  I greatly hope to see him re-appear in an upcoming Mario game.  :)