YL's Metroid Prime Hunters and Yoshi Site

This is the page for the Nintendo's one and only dino, Yoshi (w00t).

Yoshi is Mario's dinosaur-like friend, first appearing in Super Mario World for the Super Famicom in his Japanese release. His North American and European debuts came on the SNES in Super Mario World. Yoshi was created by Shigefumi Hino, a graphics designer and later the director of Pikmin, when Shigeru Miyamoto finished Super Mario Bros., and Nintendo's design staff expressed a desire for Mario to ride a dinosaur. In addition to the main green Yoshi, his red, blue, and yellow subspecies also appeared in the game. "Super Dragon" Yoshi would hatch immediately from his egg and grow to its current height; while his colorful friends each had to be fed five enemies (or one Mario item such as a mushroom or star) before they would grow to an "adult" size on which Mario could ride on. Each of the colored Yoshis had a special ability; blue Yoshis could fly, a yellow Yoshi caused small earthquakes when he hit the ground, a red Yoshi breathed fire, and every Yoshi did whatever abilities were directly linked to the color of the shell he swallowed as well as his own (if the shell flashed different colors, he could do all three abilities). Green Yoshis had no special abilities.

Yoshi was originally known as Super Dragon Yoshi in Japan, though even today the debate rages over Yoshi's true species. It may be helpful to note that in Super Mario World (SNES, USA), the five large Yoshi-imprinted gold coins found in each level are referred to as "Dragon Coins" within the game. However, his debut game, Super Mario World, is set in Dinosaur Land. The simplest explanation is that Yoshi, in fact, is a Yoshi, especially since Yoshi's "friends" are always referred to as "Yoshis".

In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Yoshi had a rival in the form of a bad-attitude, shade-wearing blue Yoshi named Boshi (Washi in Japan). Boshi's only appearance in a Nintendo-made game was Super Mario RPG. In the past rumors have existed concerning the existence of Boshi in other games, but these have been proven to be false. (though Yoshi can be changed into "Boshi" with a Gameshark, sans the shades and spiked collar). In Super Mario RPG, Yoshi's main task was aiding Mario and his allies by attempting to eat an enemy when Mario or an ally used a Yoshi Cookie during battle. This game also revealed that Yoshi was bilingual, as he was able to speak the Yoshi language and translate it into English for Mario.

Yoshi went on to star in two more adventure games, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, and Yoshi's Story, and three puzzle games including, Yoshi's Cookie, the simply-titled Yoshi, and Tetris Attack. Later, the Game Boy Advance re-release Super Mario Advance 3 took Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and added six new levels.

Yoshi is one of the characters in the original Nintendo 64 Super Smash Bros., and the GameCube sequel Super Smash Bros. Melee. Yoshi made a cameo in Super Mario 64, and he is rideable in Super Mario Sunshine. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, several Yoshis appear at a place entitled "Yoshi Theater." In order to obtain a piece of the Beanstar (one of the underlying goals in the game), the player is required to feed the Yoshis. A baby Yoshi is obtainable as a partner in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. This Yoshi, unlike Yoshis in other games, was not actually entitled "Yoshi" in the game, as the player can name the partner whatever he or she wishes. Yoshi is a fully playable character in Super Mario 64 DS on the Nintendo DS. Yoshi is also the star of Yoshi Topsy-Turvy for the Game Boy Advance and Yoshi Touch & Go for the Nintendo DS.

Yoshi appears in Mario Kart DS, where his trademark karts include the Egg 1, Cucumber and standard go-kart. Yoshi also appears prominently in Mario is Missing!, Yoshi's Safari, and the numerous sports and party games starring the cast of the Mario universe.

Yoshi appeared again in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, in which several Yoshis appear, along with a rather large monster Yoshi named Yoob. The green Yoshi appears to be the prominent "Super Dragon" individual, and seems to be a leader of sorts against Yoob. However, he doesn't recognize the adult Mario & Luigi and slightly grown baby versions with clothes rather than diapers.

Yoshi did not make an appearance in the story mode of New Super Mario Bros., however he did appear in the mini-games.

Yoshi will return in a starring role in Yoshi's Island 2 on Nintendo DS in Fall 2006. Yoshi's Island 2 is a direct sequel to Yoshi's Island in gameplay and content.

Super Mario 64 DS

Yoshis Island

SSMB

Super Mario World

Super Mario Strikers

Yoshi has attained popularity almost as great as that of Mario himself. While green is the standard color for Yoshi, his brethren appear with many different skin colors, including blue, red, yellow, brown, orange, pink, purple, azure, turquoise, dark blue, silver, bronze and, more rarely, black and white. (Black and white Yoshis in Yoshi's Story have the distinct ability to digest chili peppers, which others Yoshis cannot). Generally, a Yoshi's shoe color is dependent on its color: red Yoshis wear blue shoes, for example. In earlier games, different colors of Yoshis had different abilities, like fire-breathing or flying. His symbol is an egg.

Yoshis also can make a variety of sounds. In Super Mario World,0 hopping onto Yoshi's saddle made a "zip-zoo", "phwe-phwew", or "beep-boo" sound ¡ª the character's trademark noise until Yoshi's Story, when the character (voiced by Nintendo musician Kazumi Totaka) began muttering his name and unintelligible words (such as "gong" and "hup"). In Mario Kart 64, he could also make a squeaking sound.

Yoshis have a limited social structure, shown in multiple RPGs as living in villages with a few wooden constructions. Yoshis inhabit many areas of the world from the Mushroom Kingdom to Isle Delfino.

During the localization of Panel de Pon for the U.S., where the game was renamed Tetris Attack, Nintendo of America replaced the fairy-like characters with characters from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, with Yoshi stepping in for the Pon main character Lip. It is speculated that NOA did this because the Pon characters were considered too effeminate for the primarily male US video game audience. Because of these changes, the game is sometimes referred to as "Tetris A-Hack" by enthusiasts.

Yoshi's appearances in video games, usually sports, often portray him as an agile character. In Mario Kart games, Yoshi has excellent acceleration, but is more likely to skid off the track than heavier characters. In Mario Golf, his shot is straight and average in height. In Mario Tennis and Mario Power Tennis, he is a fast tennis player. In Mario Superstar Baseball, Yoshi is the speediest runner and can use his tongue to catch faraway balls. Most recently, Yoshi has appeared in Super Mario Strikers where he is a balanced captain. When Yoshi performs his superstrike, green and yellow bubbles surround the character as he kicks the ball into the back of the net, usually hitting the goalie in the stomach and taking him into the net with it.

The only Yoshi that's considered "bad" is Boshi, a blue Yoshi with a spiked collar, and the only one not wearing traditional shoes.

Also, some consider Yoshi to be the originator of the "ground pound" or "hip drop" ¡ª a move in which a character jumps into the air, flips and then slams into the ground. Yoshi first performed the move in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. The move has been performed by many characters in later games, such as Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and various entries in the Mario Party franchise.

It is highly likely that the Japanese name for Yoshi (¥è¥Ã¥·©`, [joʃ:i:] in IPA) was intended to rhyme with the Japanese pronunciation for another dinosaur-like creature, Nessie (¥Í¥Ã¥·©`, [neʃ:i:]).

The plural for Yoshi has often come up in debates. Some argue that "Yoshis" is the proper term, while others argue that "Yoshies" is correct. Japanese plurals have no indicative marks, meaning that "Yoshi" is another (unlikely) possibility. Nintendo of America has used both "Yoshies" and "Yoshis" in the Super Nintendo and Game Boy Advance versions of Yoshi's Island, respectively. It could be that both versions are canonical.

One unsettled issue surrounding Yoshi is the question of the creature's gender. All of them seem to be able to create eggs, but their eggs appear to be used as projectiles as often as ¡ª if not more often than ¡ª a means of reproduction. This has left some fans wondering about the gender of the stretchy-tongued dinosaur. The NTSC versions of Super Smash Bros. Melee attempts to clarify this; in the description of Yoshi's Trophy, it translates that "is neither male nor female" (¥ª¥¹¤Ç¤â¥á¥¹¤Ç¤â¤Ê¤¤). However, this is censored out of all the text that isn't in Japanese. This would make the Yoshi species asexual, with "he" being used for more respect rather than "it". Since there has never been an official indication of male or female Yoshis within the actual games, this is apparently Nintendo of Japan's stance on the matter. Thus, the controversy about Yoshi's gender is ultimately put to rest. As this info was only available in Japanese, most fans are unaware or refuse to acknowledge Yoshi as asexual.