Neither Kirby nor Donkey Kong: the Nintendo character who surprised with his own revolutionary game

The video game industry has given a lot throughout its history. You don't have to dig too deep to realize this. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, several franchises were born that today claim to be legendary, such as Super Mario or Kirby, for example.

These, as has happened with other characters such asSonic, have marked a before and after, but they are not the only ones. In fact, there are those who say that in the 1990s a secondary character managed to stand out more than anyone else.

His name was Yoshi and he made it thanks to Yoshi's Island: Super Mario World 2. Interestingly, this was not his first appearance. In fact, this little happy dinosaur debuted in 1990 with Super Mario World.

By then it was already relatively popular, but when it really broke our minds was in 1995 with Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. This is a prequel to the first Super Mario World and tells, among other things, the moment when Mario and Yoshi meet.

In this game we have the mission to protect Baby Mario from various enemies while we try to rescue Baby Luigi from Kamek, an evil being who usually acts as an antagonist in Yoshi's games. But why is it said that it surprised everyone?

The revolution of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

After the success of the first Super Mario World, Yoshi made his debut as the protagonist of the saga on Super Nintendo with a simply beautiful video game. Unlike other installments, here Mario can't do anything, as he is a baby.

All the weight of the adventure falls on our friendly dinosaur, and it is said that it was he who laid the foundations for much of Nintendo's ideology. For example, he was introduced to the world with much more accessible gameplay.

At least compared to other games in the series. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was more family-friendly and stood out thanks to its extraordinary level design and puzzles. Of course, the audiovisual section also became one of its strengths.

It was so good that there were critics, such as Diehard GameFan's Matt Taylor, who claimed that it could be the best platform game of all time back in the day. He was not the only one who praised it. Overall, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island left a very good impression.

And although it may seem silly, these details helped him to start his own little revolution within the industry. For a start, it was rare (personally, I don't know of any other title from that era that did anything similar) that they used such a similar graphic style to coloring books.

In a way, it was like the notebook of a very talented child who loved to use crayons. This detail caught the attention of many s and developers, who saw in this style a real goldmine.

It also showed that platform games could go beyond side-scrolling, jumping and skill challenges. In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, puzzles were of paramount importance, something not so common in the Mario saga.

It also incorporated other very interesting mechanics. For example, Yoshi had no health bar. If we stick to reality, he was virtually invincible, but he could be defeated. How? When an enemy managed to hit him, Baby Mario was separated from him.

He would fly away, but not too far, and if he stayed away too long, he would be kidnapped. That is to say, we had to go and save him no matter what so that the Koopas would not take him away. Losing him was the same as being defeated.

This peculiar health system moved away from the conventional "if I hit you once, you lose", "you have so many hit points before you lose" or "this is your health bar". It looked for something different that inspired quite a few developers over time. Of course, it was not the only way to lose lives, as there were various types of obstacles that could make us lose one of them.

After the tremendous success of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, a game that has sold more than four million units, Nintendo decided to go further. The dinosaur began to gain popularity, becoming the central figure in many games.

And although we cannot say that Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island revolutionized the industry to the level of the first Super Mario Bros. or The Legend of Zelda (to cite different examples from Nintendo), we can say that it did its bit to change things and that within its limits, it managed to mark a before and after. And it's a great game. A really great game.