In my mind, the GOAT is a dinosaur.
In the 2D side-scrolling realm, no game is more immaculate thanSuper Mario World 2: Yoshis Island.
The perfect game may not exist, but this thing comes pretty damn close.
Yoshis Islands visuals are, in a word,ravishing.
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And by handmade, I mean literally handmade!
This depth affects gameplay too.
Look at anyYoshis Islandscreenshot andnotice how moody and evocative the color palette is.
The ombre sunset and deep blue river water in Level 3-3: Nep-Enuts Domain.
The color work is astonishing.
Many of those nuances can be attributed to the games sometimes forgotten technical innovations.
This allowed developers to display 3D, polygonal models.
They lend the game a subtle sense of physics and depth.
The effect was mind-blowing, but it wasnt just cosmetic.
The stage is more difficult to traverse, making it even more difficult to avoid the fuzzies.
Its like that last scene in Psycho where the psychiatrist explains whats going on in Norman Bates head.
If that scene wasnt in there, the film would be flawless.
Mind you,Yoshis Islandwas released in 1995.
Yet, In 2024,Yoshis Islandmostly looks marvelous, even by todays standards.
The games directors had a clear vision and committed to it.
Many gamesincluding subsequentYoshigamesare built around a core concept but dont embrace them as fully asYoshis Islanddoes.
Volumetric clouds aint got nothing on the hand-sketched poofs in Level 5-6: Welcome to Cloud World.
Difficulty level aside, the game is so much fun to play because Yoshi is a dream to control.
Likewise, the games power-ups and transformations are a blast and change how you play the game.
Many of those mechanics are on full display in the gameswonderful boss battles.
Prince Froggy eats you whole and then eats enemies you have to fight inside his belly.
The showdown with Raphael the Raven is a wonderful precursor toSuper Mario Galaxys spherical boss fights.
But nothing compares to the awesomeness that is the final boss, Baby Bowser.
Shooting eggs miles into the background, away from the camera is oddly empowering and incredibly fun.
Its a glorious way to cap off a game thats so thoroughly entertaining from front to back.
Its that its a near-perfectly realized project that the developers poured their hearts into.
Its a game that cements Yoshi as one of, if not the most likable character in Mario lore.
