50 Fun Facts About Yoshi

In which 1990 game did Yoshi make his debut?

Super Mario World arrived with the Super NES, whose extra power finally let Mario ride a dinosaur; the older NES could not manage it.

According to co-creator Takashi Tezuka, the red saddle on Yoshi's back is really what?

A shell: Tezuka pushed the redesign through by insisting Yoshi was related to the turtles, and he kept saying so for years afterwards.

Who had wanted Mario to have a dinosaur companion since the first Super Mario Bros.?

NES hardware limits kept the idea on his desk for years.

Yoshi's lineage traces back to Tamagon, a green dragon in which 1984 game?

Devil World's Tamagon also hatches from an egg, gobbles enemies with a big mouth and even makes the same hatching sound Yoshi does.

The idea of Mario riding a creature owes a debt to which NES motorcycle game?

Excitebike: its programmer went on to lead the programming of Yoshi's debut game, and he later said that letting Mario ride a creature was connected to its bike riders.

How was Yoshi's tongue attack originally conceived, according to his designer?

Surprise at a hit on the head: the designer drew Mario punching Yoshi so his tongue shot out, then the team passed it off as Mario pointing and saying go, to spare Yoshi pity.

Which signature move did Yoshi gain in Yoshi's Island?

Flutter Jump: holding the jump button makes Yoshi kick at the air for a second burst of height, which makes him easier to steer in mid-air than Mario.

In Super Mario 64, what does Yoshi give Mario for all 120 Power Stars?

100 extra lives: Yoshi also passes on a thank-you message from the developers and upgrades Mario's triple jump.

In Super Mario Sunshine, what happens to Yoshi the moment he touches deep water?

He vanishes: this Yoshi runs on fruit juice and also disappears when the juice runs out, so Mario has to go back and hatch the egg again.

In Super Mario Odyssey, Yoshi can be captured on top of which building?

Peach's Castle: Yoshi hatches from an egg on the roof, the same perch where he met players who finished Super Mario 64, and Mario can then capture him.

In Mario's 2023 game Wonder, playable Yoshis can do what for other players?

Carry them as riders: the Yoshis also take no damage from enemies, simply bumping off them, which makes them the forgiving pick for beginners.

The small studio that made the 1991 puzzle game Yoshi went on to create which giant franchise?

Pokémon was still years away: Game Freak built Yoshi for Nintendo in just six months, a quick job taken on to steady the young studio's finances.

Who directed the 1991 Yoshi puzzle title?

Satoshi Tajiri likened the job to homework: Nintendo wanted one game starring Yoshi within six months, and he set his own dream project aside to see how high a mark his team could score.

In Yoshi's debut game, holding which colour of Koopa shell in his mouth lets him fly?

Blue shells let Yoshi take to the air, red ones let him spit fireballs, yellow ones kick up dust clouds when he lands, and green ones do nothing at all.

Yoshi's Safari, played from Mario's seat on Yoshi's back, only works with which SNES accessory?

A light gun: the player looks out from Yoshi's saddle and fires the Super Scope at Bowser's army to win back Jewelry Land.

Which wizard kidnaps Baby Luigi at the start of Yoshi's Island?

Kamek divined that twins born that morning would bring disaster to the Koopa family, so he ambushed their stork but managed to snatch only one baby.

Most Yoshi's Island bosses are ordinary enemies changed how?

Made giant: a spell blows up a regular foe just before the fight, and each of the six worlds has two boss levels, a fort halfway and a castle at the end.

Yoshi's Island was the first game to use which Argonaut enhancement chip?

Super FX2 sat inside the cartridge and let sprites rotate, scale and stretch, which is how whole walls can topple into the background.

How did the artists of Yoshi's Island create its distinctive look?

Scanned marker drawings: a newly hired artist drew the scenery by hand on paper, scanned it, then rebuilt each picture one pixel at a time.

What term did advertising use for Yoshi's Island's chip-powered effects?

Morphmation was Nintendo's name for the new technique that let enemies warp, stretch and swell, some of them until they were bigger than the whole screen.

The artists of Yoshi's Island set out to do the exact opposite of which hit game's look?

Donkey Kong Country stunned Nintendo's own staff, but the project was too far along to copy it, so the team fought back by pushing its own look as far as it would go.

In Yoshi's Island, what happens to Baby Mario when an enemy hits Yoshi?

He floats off in a bubble, wailing, while a countdown runs; if it reaches zero, the villain's minions carry him away and Yoshi loses a life.

Yoshi's Island's 2002 GBA port carried which subtitle?

Super Mario Advance 3 added six secret stages that open only after the final boss falls, and swapped Yoshi's old bleeps for the voice players know today.

In Yoshi's Island, touching certain power-ups briefly transforms Yoshi into what?

Vehicles: for a few seconds Yoshi becomes a helicopter, a car, a submarine or a digging mole tank, a standout trick in a game that sold over four million copies.

Which Yoshi attack debuted in Yoshi's Island?

Throwing eggs began here: Yoshi turns swallowed enemies into eggs that trail behind him, up to six at a time, and they ricochet off walls when thrown.

Yoshi's Story was released for which console?

Nintendo 64 hardware was built for 3D, yet this game stayed a flat side-scroller, set across the six pages of a pop-up storybook.

Yoshi's Story was first planned for which add-on before moving to cartridge?

64DD disk drive plans were dropped: shown as Yoshi's Island 64 in November 1996, the game shipped on an ordinary cartridge a year later, the same switch Zelda made.

Who composed Yoshi's Story and recorded Yoshi's voice for it?

Kazumi Totaka's squeaks and hums for this game stuck: later games reused the samples, which made the composer Yoshi's regular voice in the games.

What must a Yoshi do to finish a course in Yoshi's Story?

Eat 30 fruit and the course ends; melons score highest and every course hides exactly 30 of them, so the top score means eating nothing else.

What does Baby Bowser steal from the Yoshis in Yoshi's Story?

The Super Happy Tree bears the fruit that keeps the Yoshis cheerful, so a jealous Baby Bowser makes off with it and turns their island into a pop-up storybook.

Nintendo has held Yoshi-themed contests in which aptly named North Carolina town?

Lizard Lick hosted the American pre-launch of Yoshi's Story in March 1998, and Yoshi was back in 2002 to lead a Clash of the Tongues contest there.

Which two Yoshi colours are unlockable in Yoshi's Story?

White and Black Yoshis hatch from giant eggs hidden in certain courses, and since every Yoshi doubles as a life, finding both means two extra chances.

What triggers the composer's hidden tune in Yoshi's Story?

Waiting on a menu: leave the Trial Mode course list alone long enough and the jingle its composer tucks into his games takes over.

Which studio developed Yoshi's Woolly World and Yoshi's Crafted World?

A Good-Feel founder, fresh from Konami, went to Nintendo asking for work and came away with a new Wario Land to make, the first of its Nintendo platformers.

Yoshi's Woolly World took its handcrafted look from which 2010 game by the same studio?

Kirby's Epic Yarn came from the same team, and with Yoshi the fabric look left the screen: Nintendo sold real knitted figures of him alongside the game.

In Yoshi's Woolly World, what does Yoshi produce instead of eggs?

Balls of yarn do things eggs never could: thrown at certain enemies they tie them up, and thrown at a missing platform they knit it into place.

Which dog shares the title of the 3DS port of Woolly World?

Poochy gets his own mode in Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World: he dashes through a stage collecting beads, able only to crouch and jump.

What does Mellow Mode give Yoshi in Woolly World?

Wings let less practised players fly through a whole stage without ever landing, and the mode can be turned on or off from the pause menu.

One Game Boy Advance Yoshi game had what built into its cartridge?

A tilt sensor: in Yoshi Topsy-Turvy, tipping the console left or right tilts Yoshi's whole world, so walls turn into slopes and enemies roll away.

Where do Baby Bowser and his wizard minder end up stranded at the end of Woolly World?

The moon: the villains' getaway flight ends there, and when the credits finish it spins round to show Yoshi's dog pal clinging to the far side.

What wish-granting artifact do the Yoshis reassemble in Yoshi's Crafted World?

The Sundream Stone loses its five Dream Gems when Baby Bowser and his minder try to snatch it, and the Yoshis must chase the gems across a string of handmade worlds.

Yoshi's Crafted World was built with which engine?

Unreal 4 descends from an engine first built for a 1998 first-person shooter, yet here it renders a gentle world of cardboard cut-outs.

Yoshi's Crafted World sold a million in three days on which console?

Switch: the count covers only three days because the game launched on 29 March 2019 and Nintendo closed its books on the 31st, with 1.11 million sold.

Yoshi's Crafted World lets players replay its courses from which unusual angle?

From behind the scenery: the camera flips to the far side of a handmade set, showing the backs of its props and how its contraptions work.

Which Yoshi game was released in May 2026?

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book sends Yoshi into the pages of a living encyclopaedia called Mr. E to track down and study the odd creatures inside.

Who voices Yoshi in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie?

Donald Glover is Yoshi in every language's version of the film: the character says only his own name, so no dub needed a second actor.

How was Yoshi brought to life in the 1993 live-action film?

Animatronic puppet: the small, realistic dinosaur was worked by cables and radio control, and it took nine puppeteers to run him.

In Super Mario Galaxy 2, eating a Bulb Berry lets Yoshi do what?

Reveal hidden paths: the Bulb Berry shows walkways that cannot normally be seen, but only for a short while, whereas a Dash Pepper sends Yoshi sprinting up walls.

Yoshi headlines the English localisation of which 1996 SNES puzzle game?

Tetris Attack has nothing to do with Tetris: it is the Japanese puzzler Panel de Pon with its fairy cast swapped for characters from Yoshi's Island.

A 2018 internet meme claims Yoshi committed what crime?

Tax fraud: the charge began as a one-line joke on Tumblr, fired back at a fan who insisted there was nothing whatsoever wrong with Yoshi.