Getting Dizzy: Let's Play Yoshi's Island

Going the correct way gives us some stars, lets us refill our eggs, and takes us past a ghost (we can shatter some blocks to give us easier passage). We eventually come to a pipe and are presented with another branching path.



Here are the two red coins we'd miss if we took the other way. After grabbing them both, heading left or right doesn't have much consequence; it only affects what rare creature you're going to see. I always go left, and I originally hadn't taken screens of the right path, but then I saw Isrieri's comment, so I went back. Because I like you guys!



We drop down, get a peek at the road not taken, and get a return of something a lot of players probably missed the first time: using the spongy ceilings to flutter across a room.



And look! It's our dear friends, the red spike cap guys! Enjoy!



We then ride the red platform express to where the paths meet.



Taking the left path, we run into a harmless and extremely friendly slimy creature (this castle has more of a slime motif than Salvo the Slime's castle). This guy is called Muddy Buddy, and it's totally awesome.



If we jump on Muddy Buddy, we stick to it. Now we can only move by jumping, but we get some serious height. Plus, we can move across spikes with impunity. Muddy Buddy also has a jumping sound effect that's very distinct from Yoshi's. Note that we can shatter the block to the far left and bypass all of these spikes, but come on! You have to enjoy what little Muddy Buddy time you get!



We get some thorns next, including a drop that can be a bit tricky without the flutter. Then we come to the point where the paths meet. You can separate from Muddy Buddy with a crouch (though it will eagerly rush toward you again).

Muddy Buddy and Red Spike Cap Dude will return in: later levels!



We emerge in this claustrophobic scenario, meeting up with that trolling staircase path from earlier.



It's time for more crazy extended jumps in wide open spaces! Climbing to the top of these stairs, we can loop around and grab the coins beneath them (there are platforms scattered below, but instant death below and between them).



Next comes a massive hanging jump. You can always stun the ghost before going to give yourself a little more breathing room. Luckily, failing this just means falling back down to the previous staircase.



This one, on the other hand, is not so kind. We have another ghost above, thorns below, and Fangs getting in our path (though they can also be life savers). It's notable that the only red coin of this trail is the very last one, so you can just focus on reaching the other side, then easily collect it.

We haven't seen a seesaw for a while. Again, we have to be mindful of what's above and below when jumping.



Reaching the upper ledge is easy, but we'd quickly see that there's stuff below. Carefully flutter down to the lower path and we get a nice haul.




We also get another jello cube to play with!




Shoving it against the wall will give it the height we need to escape. (Luckily, it won't completely flatten like it does horizontally, preventing us from getting screwed over).



Okay, time for the home stretch! This sequence is long, slow, has a lot to collect, and has lots of instant death threats. The nice thing is that it's "compartmentalized," giving us a sneak peek at what's coming next and letting us deal with one thing at a time.

It's been pointed out to me that the Support Ghost (distinct from the one we saw back in 1-8) is basically a ghost Blargg/Nep-Enut. It will move along at the bottom of the screen, then pause, open its eyes, and rise up to varying heights at each relevant location. Its eyes will start to flutter when it's ready to move on, letting us know we have to get back on board.



Just some stars and eggs available for us here.



Easy flower here, and we see that slimes will be dropping on us before we actually go among them.



Things are getting nastier, but we're safe if we duck.



We still have to contend with the Bullet Bill on the next two stops, and we have to position ourselves to avoid thorns, while collecting red coins. Plus we get warned that there's low clearance ahead. There's a lot to keep track of.



We go from a low margin of error to none, although it's still simply a matter of ducking.



This one's a bit tricky, since the Ghost doesn't actually stop at the other end, so we have to drop down at just the right time, avoiding thorns and the abyss.



There's a red coin to our left, and a flower just off-camera to the right. We have to be quick on the draw to get them both before the ride moves on.

It's not the best angle, but we can save a little time and shatter the block from the point on the left before coming up beneath it and easily getting the 1Up.



Again, we're first merely asked to avoid a block, then have to do it with life or death on the line.



THEN we have to immediately hit the deck or risk getting bashed by Mace Guy. There's no getting at it here, so we can only evade.



Last stop! If you can quickly gobble up the Shy Guy (do it right after the mace passes overhead to send it flying in the opposite direction), we're rewarded with a 1Up (that is, there's a hidden 1Up cloud above the platform). Then we can finally enjoy solid ground.



Farewell, buddy!




Finally, it's just a sprint to the boss door. Tag up to save all those precious collectibles and get ready!

We see that we're still up among the clouds.



No weak points? Well, I guess that huge stage was a waste of time, guys.




Sluggy isn't as cool as Hookbill, but it too deserves more love than it gets. It's like a more advanced version of the Potted Ghost, complete with transparency effects and a malleable boss. Rather than the ability to hold Right, however, Sluggy takes some aim, speed, and ammo conservation.

As you can see, touching the boss doesn't hurt at all. For 100 percenters, this removes a lot of stress, since you can't lose any stars in this fight.



Our objective is simply to shoot Sluggy in the heart. One egg can't penetrate far enough to do damage, but it will leave an indent, and then bounce back to the ground behind you (though a given egg seems to eventually stop being recyclable). Keep shooting at the heart, and you'll eventually reach it. Sluggy will gradually return to its normal form, so there's a bit of resource management (knowing when it's okay to bolt back for the eggs that bounced off, knowing whether you have enough eggs to start chipping away or whether you should go back to the Egg Plant on the ledge). It just takes two or three eggs to reach the heart if you're dead on and quick, but with Sluggy moving faster after each hit, it can be easy to miss, run short on eggs, and panic.

They give you a LOT of room and Sluggy's pretty slow even after the first hit or two, so the fight's winnable even for a first-timer trying to figure out what to do, but I really like the concept. It's not like they really tried to make it hard and failed; making it difficult would be a simple matter of decreasing your room or speeding up Sluggy. I do recall playing the game for the first time and having completely run out of floor space, winning the fight while struggling to stand inside the indent I had made. It felt pretty awesome.




Four hits to the heart will do the trick.

This stage is really big and varied. You get to test out your jumps in both both wide open and cramped spaces. You see a lot of unique enemies and allies. There are some branching paths and a cool Easter Egg. The boss is fun. The only possible problems with it are the way you can screw yourself over with that one staircase (I'd be curious to hear if that's something that others have run into a lot) and that the Support Ghost segment is long, slow, and life-threatening without checkpoints, so I can see there being some frustration if you get deep into it and die. It also gets away from the mountain theme a bit, but the boss fight at least brings it back to mind. Plus its own motifs of slimy objects and jumps with hazards both above and below are consistent and satisfying. I like it!

Next Time: More mountains and more birds.

When you're one of the most famous steeds in gaming history, you enjoy any opportunity you can get to take a ride of your own.



The stage didn't take long to justify its name. We've had glimpses of Goonies before (most prominently in their wingless state), but this is our formal introduction to them.

Anyone remember the one SMB3 stage in World 5 where you ride across Para-Beetles? This is basically YI's version of that.




There's a LOT going on in these first few screens. We see four different kinds of Goonies (five if you count carrying Shy Guys as its own variant), the return of bubble-spewing Dayzees, Shy Guys using flower disguises, and a Fly Guy to tempt us. Mix in a lot of pits, and this opening can really sneak up on you. After a castle, you see grass (platformer code for easy level) and relatively nonthreatening enemies, but you'll quickly find yourself either taking hits or having to put brakes on your jumps, since there's just so much going on.

To recap: Ordinary winged Goonies will flap a few times, then swoop, and repeat. If you land on them, they'll flap furiously, gradually gaining height. If you eat or shoot them, they'll lose their wings. Fat winged ones will attempt to fly, but succeed only in making massive leaps. The wingless ones will run or roll along the ground. They emerge from behind that bush in the fourth shot, so they can catch you off-guard. Even the ones up in the ceiling in the last shot can be surprising if you don't know exactly how they fall.

On top of everything, you have an awesome background, mixing the "clouds over the sea" with an enormous flock of Goonies. It's a very busy start, that's for sure.



Here we get our first test of Goonie riding. We can really get a taste of manipulating both its speed and altitude here, while also dealing with others flying at us. Jumping onto a Goonie is always a bit of a risk, since brushing with either its front or back means taking a hit and dropping like a rock.



The pipe leads to a room that's just making sure you're still paying attention. Failing to jump over the Bumpties' initial slide likely means death.



Sure, we can kill the Piranha and egg the coins, but where's the fun in that?



We can get a couple free eggs by just tonguing upward. Jumping up and then tonguing does NOT work, for whatever reason.



Oh boy, time for the toughest part. We have a wide-open expanse ahead of us, with tons of Goonies swooping in small groups. There are also a lot of red coins to get. Most of them are along one winding trail, but not all (I used the magnifying glass to help track them down).

I think the most frustrating element of this stretch is that the game screams at you to go downward and to the right (where we can transform back into Yoshi on the far end of the chasm). But there's a flower tucked in the very upper right chunk of the screen (and if you just happen to go exploring there on your own, you meet a Piranha who has a very good chance of delaying you enough to restart the section. Especially if you're not expecting it).

Getting hit as the chopper is a huge setback. You plummet straight down (regardless of speed or direction beforehand), an entire screen's height if uninterrupted. It also takes a moment to get going again, so you're wonderfully set up to take multiple hits. When you're flying against several enemies over a bottomless pit, your only hope is to get lucky and have a cloud beneath you (or a Goonie, which is pretty funny. They can screw you over or save you).

Up to this point, getting hit as the chopper has been a minor inconvenience; here, any hit is potentially lethal. On top of that, this area has the same problems as the very first chopper segment way back in 1-2: It's a huge, aimless "explore-em-up" section, but methodically searching every nook and cranny isn't easy or fun when you're on a timer.

Again, it's too many elements coming together to hurt it. Weaving through enemies in the air like this is actually more fun than simply gathering coins, but still needing to gather those coins while doing it is just overkill. Also, not knowing whether you've missed something until you've hit the end of the stage is fine in the game as a whole, but it really makes that flower in the corner feel cheap. You're supposed to go against directions (when again, you're on a timer and constantly in danger of dying) to explore every inch of this area? And if you were to miss this flower, you wouldn't know.



Moving on, we contend with more Piranhas (the Magnifying Glass revealing a hidden cloud) to get some more goods.



Now we come to the final stretch, a desperate scramble up the cliff side. Now this I can get behind. The Piranhas add an extra dose of urgency to the situation: There are enough permanent platforms to live if the switch-activated ones give out, but the switches also perfectly block the Piranhas' shots. Run out of time and not only do our footholds dramatically decrease, but we quickly find ourselves under fire from both sides.




Just like with the disappearing platforms and balloons in 4-3, we appear to have hit a dead end...until Goonies swoop in to give us a lift. Making it to safety is easy, but getting up to that higher ledge where the last of our collectibles await takes a skilled Goonie rider.

The chopper section in the middle is the only real weakness of this stage. To its credit, it is a pretty cool scene to play out, since it's basically flying through what we've seen in the background since the start of the stage.

Otherwise, Goonie riding is fun (though I wish there was more of it). The stage both begins and ends in chaotically fun style. It also continues to give us the sense of climbing at high altitudes while moving away from the snowy regions (and showing there are still patches to be found).

Next Time: Keep on climbing!

This is such a friendly game. How many times have we been welcomed by now?



We've now climbed so high (partly on the wings of goofy-looking birds) that we're breaking into the clouds. We've come across cloud platforms occasionally before this point, but these are so massive and puffy that we actually follow the contours of them (highlighted by a clearly visible path). It helps give the sensation that this really is just another (surreal) environment of the island, and not just a couple white stepping stones to bridge some long gaps.



Lakitu will show up periodically to harass us, but they lack the power of thunder, so they're easily disposed of.



Flipping Shy Guys nicely highlight the path ahead of you.



Too many cool things onscreen at once!



Yep, Baseball Boys are back in force! The stage is an autoscroller, so we can't simply run past them. Not a big deal in this case; in fact, it gives us a chance to play around and do things like try to get the Green Glove to pitch to Slugger.



This situation is a bit more dangerous. It's also interesting, since elements work both for and against you. The cloud cover makes it difficult to take out the Gloves, but their abundance can save us if we get smacked around by eggs. It can be tough to get at the coins nestled among the clouds and Gloves, but they're so near the enemies that they'll often pick them up for you.



Lakitus start appearing in pairs now. It doesn't do them much good at first...



But then they team up with several other foes. The autoscroll makes it particularly urgent to get rid of obstacles like the spike balls (which bounce when dropped, lingering longer than you may expect) and Piranhas. The scroll speed may have felt a touch too slow before, but the pace is welcome now.



Finally, we hit some solid ground, get a checkpoint, and bring the autoscrolling to an end.

We come to an apparent dead end, with only a Green Glove to keep us company. You probably could use his egg throws to bounce up to the seesaw above, but we get bailed out soon enough.



We ride the balloon up to a series of pipes, one of which is accessible and leads to a seemingly empty room.



Double-secret room!




This is great! We have the return of what for sure seemed like a one-and-done mechanic from 1-8, combined with the Baseball Boys' tendency to both help and harm you. Their ability to flip the switches is the only way we can advance, but they'll flip them right back, so we need to get to stable ground (that is, clouds) as quickly as possible.



We're hassled by Gusties, with limited room to jump. There's no actual danger from jumping too high. It's just that the path will dead end if we climb to that upper layer of cloud and we'll need to backtrack. Again, there's some emphasis on the "hanging jump" technique.




This is just simple joy. At first it seems like it could be intimidating, with Baseball Boys poised to bash us from below into the Piranhas above. But a little manipulation, and it turns into a Piranha massacre. I think it makes a difference that Piranhas are visibly "smacked" by eggs (with accompanying sound effect), sent swinging like a pendulum before shrinking and dying. It gives an extra "oomph" to fighting them, and it's somehow more satisfying when other enemies do it to them. Also, I like how jumping over ceiling-mounted enemies is the more advisable route here.



We conclude with a pair of hanging jumps (insert Piranha for difficulty; clear out with an egg if necessary).

After a few consecutive stages that were (relatively) tough, this is a great breather. It's pure joy from start to finish, with the visuals really making it look happy and fun. You wouldn't expect going in that this would be the Baseball Boys' grand return, but they show up with gusto. They blend great with other enemies, the terrain, and different mechanics. Throw in a double-secret room and the continuing sense of progression to higher altitudes, and you have one of my favorite stages of the game.

This is probably the world I remember the least about. Not because it is bad, but because few things in the different stages really stuck with me.

Sluggy, however, may be one of my favorite bosses in the game. I think the design is just great.

The Cloud Stage is one that I always forget about until I replay the game. But then I go "OH ITS THE CLOUD STAGE" and remember how it was one of the best.

I just want to say that this is analysis is fantastic. Please don't mistake lack of anything to add to the discussion for lack of interest; you're doing a bang-up job here.

Agreed, this is one of the best LPs I've read on this forum. Great job!

Thanks everybody!



Back to business!



We start out going left, with a few arrows there to let us know right away. More like Shifting Platforms Behind. Or something. Anyway, the first few are over solid ground, reminding us of the different speeds that green and yellow platforms move at.




For the first time in a while, we see rocks that will fall once you land on them. We also get three different bird species getting in our way by land and air. This is the first we've seen of the full-size Ravens. They're not edible, and will simply orbit their spheres. Jumping on them will defeat them, though it's often easiest just to leave them be.



We come to a mountainside, begin to ascend, and see a fourth species of bird in one stage.



Here's something a little trickier. We have to make quick adjustments if we want the coins and want to stay unscathed. They're just normal coins, so we can stay in the center if we want to stay safe.

I also really like how the background changes, starting with pink-hued mountain range, with some stars dotting the sky. We eventually leave the mountains behind and the sky darkens.




We use what we learned in 5-5 to reach the pipe. The room inside is mostly a chance to rack up coins, but there's also a flower nestled in there. Rocks are slowly falling, which we can use to reach the flower and a bunch of airborne coins. Then we can flip the switch to make our return trip easier and get more cash.



All platforms are welcome here! We need to keep our eye out for Goonies, since they can swoop in quickly and surprise you if you're not paying attention.




Oftentimes the "ride platforms over a massive pit" stage type is a harrowing experience where you seize any solid ground you can find. Being asked to abandon safety to make a crazy leap is something that can easily be dreaded. (The jump's a little more intense than it looks. The yellow platforms move fairly fast, so by the time you recognize the red platform's there, you have a very short window to make the decision and jump before you're too low to reach it). If you have something like a Tanooki or cape, it tends to give you (or at least me) a totally different mindset, often gliding around just because I can. Jumps like this help you appreciate you have a similar ability built in. Even stage-wide chasms are playgrounds to have fun with, not something to be timid about.

This is a fun idea that I wish we'd see more of. We can trigger three platforms (two slow, one medium) and send them all along the same track. Generally I just end up taking the yellow one, but with some obstacles in our way, it's nice to have a safety net if you fall behind. It's also cool to see platforms of varying speeds moving along the same path.



Here's a reminder that we're late in the game and on the brink of the final world. This is a tougher version of the scenario we saw earlier, except we're plummeting down this time, the coins are red, and we'll have to abandon our platform with very little warning. It's all fair, but we really have to be alert to handle this.



We get a "ride the super fast platforms just for fun" moment, like in 4-7. It really feels like this stage eclipses 4-7, including most of its tricks, plus a lot more.



With solid ground comes a checkpoint and a chance to collect ourselves.



We've been through tougher situations than this, but hitting a target while we're moving and being shot at ourselves isn't effortless. Especially if we're out of eggs and we need to snatch up projectiles on top of everything.



Hope you had at least one egg left, or no 100 percent for you! I don't think this is a big issue though, since you're very likely to have an item that gives you a full set of eggs or a green melon. If you have neither of those and you're a hardcore 100 percenter, well, we just hit a checkpoint and there's a pit to suicide in. You can stock up from the Piranha.



We're coming up on the homestretch now, using falling rocks to cross a chasm.



This is just fun. The thin rock is almost two screens long, and when it starts falling, I get a weird sensation that the rest of the stage is moving upward at first. You can either make a dead sprint and jump for the goods at the end, or use a Bumpty and bounce off it to put off triggering the fall for as long as possible.

The level as a whole is fun, but this section in particular is one of my favorites in the entire game. The sky is littered with a combination of square blocks (that are in the process of falling slowly before we even touch them), and a bunch of smaller rectangular blocks (that are arranged in zigzag patterns and won't fall until we land on them). The one-way flippers are a beautiful touch, really making you feel like you're walled off from safe ground. We really have to judge our leaps. Sometimes we need to slip under a falling square, sometimes it's worth it to stall in midair until we land on it, sometimes their slow speed is a blessing, sometimes it's a curse.

The layout of the rocks and the flutter jump means one mistake won't necessarily doom you (in less forgiving games, that can often take the air out of an otherwise thrilling platforming stretch). It also means we can pick our own route to some extent; we simply have to claw our way to the top somehow. There's just the right combination of frantic desperation and empowerment. It's beautiful.



We finally reach something that doesn't drop out on us, but we're immediately shuttled straight down with no hint of what's below. Again, this stage just hits a sweet spot of panic and confidence.




Turns out there's another dropping rock platform beneath us, but we're immediately shot at just in case we were feeling relaxed. We have to ride this one down to snag the last two red coins, then jump forward to the next platform. We have less time to react to the Bullet Bill waiting for us at that one, but since it's the same setup that we just went through, we can at least guess it's coming.

Finally, we have another sprint across a long falling platform. Even with everything collected and the goal right in front of us, the stage is still playing on our psyche. We're now near the bottom of the screen, which is extra worrisome. We have a low ceiling, so we can't prolong the falling rock like we could with the earlier long platform. It also creates a sense of claustrophobia: we desperately want to escape, but can't get any further from the pit unless we run into the unknown.

This home stretch is just wonderful. It's the kind of sequence where you just let out a "whew" when you're done. This is why I love platformers.

Next Time: Super Yoshi Galaxy!

I have a little time this morning, so let's try to wrap up world 5!




Night has fallen, and it really sets the mood.




We launch our way up to the castle. The red platforms move fast, so Goonies can be a problem.



I just love the look of this place. It's built on clouds and is run by birds that can cling to any surface, so there's no problem with it being open to the air and lacking a floor.



The Ravens' choice of architecture makes things a bit trickier for us, requiring us to dodge projectiles while navigating over a bottomless pit. The ice melon lets us clear out the ceiling, and we can use ground pounds to get a reprieve from the ones below us.



Here's a fun twist on a classic: the bouncing Bullet Bill. The cannon will constantly swivel to keep Yoshi in its sight, and a bullet will bounce around until it makes its way offscreen or we kill it. That little nook to the left contains a flower and can only be reached from below, so the bullet makes a great springboard to get in.



That scenario is immediately repeated, but it takes a bit more work, with us having to lure the bullet more than a screen away, without it getting hung up on obstacles. We can also see it has a unique death animation, opening its mouth as it falls.



We then face a gauntlet (well, that may be a little strong) of ordinary Bullet Bills and a mace-wielding Shy Guy, with another ice melon to fight them with. I like the emphasis on different blues throughout this stage. It makes it feel almost relaxing after what we've been through.

It may not be immediately apparent, but our bullet-jumping days aren't over. The tunnel that we can't access gives us a clue here. Bullet Bills can pass through walls anyway, so it's strictly there to draw our eyes. Bouncing up also neatly circumvents the Kaboombas, who can always muck things up, especially with low clearance.



We're half a stage away from the final world, and the ability to grab an Arrow Lift finally becomes mandatory. I don't know why, but it fascinates me that they wait this long to tell you. You don't NEED it at any point before, but it can save a lot of hassle, and it can make you feel smart for figuring it out early.



We carry it a short distance to the left, and then unleash absolute mayhem with rebounding eggs (that shot with two eggs flying parallel turned out surprisingly well). There are Kaboombas up in the blocks, and some may survive an egg onslaught, so proceed with caution. Once we've smashed a path through, we can ascend.



We carefully maneuver around avians.



Polygon planks return! And we actually have to clear pits using them, so I hope you're used to judging their depth (though there's usually ample room to scramble back to safe ground if you miss a landing). That third shot has a suspicious tunnel that we can't access from this angle. We saw something similar with the shooting gallery way back in 3-1, or even the Bullet Bill earlier in this level. These things are usually placed with a purpose.



Carefully dropping down the previous ledge will lead to a lower path.



A train session? Wow, it's been a long time. Unfortunately, it's a reminder of why we haven't seen these too much. Blending into background drawings is a neat concept, but we only have two options here, the right way and the wrong way, with no indicator as to which is which. Pick wrong, and we simply try again. The correct path leads us into the remaining red coins, then has us drop onto the final flower and back to the start.



And we're back.



We climb up several planks, with only these easy ghost enemies to contend with. There's nothing more to collect, so just make your way up.




Finally, we climb past several flightless Goonies. This is simple, but I like it. The small amount of room, the positioning of the platforms, and the different speed/weight of the small and fat Goonies give us little time to determine which way they're going to drop. We have to make quick decisions and always keep an eye on what's above us.

Kamek's getting nervous, and declares he's banishing us to "twinkle in the heavens." Bring it!



Well, you're still not so big.



You can body-slam like a champ, though.



Okay, a lucky first hit. But I'd like to see you come here and do it again!




Well then...

A few comments before we get started. This is one of the signature "money shots" of the game, and it's awesome (and unexpected the first time around). The full-sized Ravens have only been seen on orbs, so you'd assume your battle with a boss version would take place on one, but who expected getting knocked to the moon?

I like the brief view we get of the clouds below, including the castle and part of the mountain peeking through. The Goonie constellation is a great touch.

Finally, this is the second time (first was in World 3) that we hear the castle boss theme in its full glory. Yes, I posted it already, but it's been a long time since I've had the opportunity to post some music, so here it is again.

Castle Boss

Alright, on to the fight!




The camera will always keep you oriented normally, with everything else spinning as you travel left or right. We lost our eggs when we got knocked up here, and neither Raphael nor his projectiles are edible. Bouncing on him is harmless to both parties. Raphael can change directions on a whim, and since we have such a small surface, it can be easy to misjudge a leap or try to dodge and wind up closer to him than before.

The trick to damaging him is simple: We have to pound a post while he's on the opposite side of the moon, slamming it into him. Doing so will turn him red, speed him up, and make him more likely to use his projectile (I'm actually not sure if he uses it before taking damage).



When he stomps, he sends a pair of sparks orbiting the planet in opposite directions. They each make two laps before dispersing. A second hit will cause him to turn a brighter shade of red, and both he and his projectiles will speed up.




Well, I've seen bigger stretches as far as constellations are concerned.

Raphael is fairly easy, taking only three hits to defeat, and only really getting serious after taking two. I think the biggest thing that hurts him is that he can stop at a point where you can hit him. I can see maybe doing that before taking the first hit, but after that you should have to hit him in motion. Or maybe it'd be cool if he could do the same thing to you. Or maybe I've just played this game too much and I'm trying to make this fight more hardcore than it needs to be.

As it stands, while it's nigh-impossible to die in this fight, things do start moving very fast and it takes decent reflexes to get through without taking a hit. And really, it's all about the spectacle. This is just such a ridiculous, awesome scenario.

Despite being turned into a constellation, Raphael will return in Tetris Attack and the original Paper Mario. I looked it up to see if had any more appearances (just Smash Bros. collectibles and a cameo in the DS sequel's intro), and it turns out his sticker in Brawl gives your character Launch resistance. That's pretty good.

This is also the last we'll see of the dark blue Yoshi in the game. At first I wondered if this implied he got stuck on the moon, but I quickly realized Baby Mario made it back, so it's probably nothing that grim.

It's a very long trip to blow up Raphael's castle. But the entire island is now liberated!



What the...?

I'm not really sure what's meant to be happening here. Did we find the warp to an island the Koopas are calling home? Is this Yoshi's Island's Dark World? Is it related to SMB3's World 8 or the Valley of Bowser (the latter is just a short distance away from Yoshi's Island in SMW)? I certainly don't know! The important thing is we're on the final world!




Reaching World 6 will also impact the title screen, showing this island whenever you start the game up (unless you go to another file that isn't that far). It uses the same music, but skips the ambient waves, bird calls, and gradual fade in, going straight into the melody.

World 5 is awesome. There's just so much going on, and it builds around the theme of climbing a mountain/climbing into the sky so well. We have great enemies like the Bumpties, Goonies, and Freezegood, that are just as fun to interact with as they are to actually fight. The Baseball Boys get a triumphant return, we get a lot of use out of the fire and ice melons, we get snowballs, there's some of the most intense but rewarding platforming yet, and we have two very involved castles and great bosses, capped off with a crazy scenario.

Oh, and spoiler alert: Secret 5 is the best GBA-exclusive stage, and not in the "least terrible" sense. Extra 5 is certainly the most memorable of the Extra stages, but I don't know if I'd call it the best. But that's a ways off! For now...

Next Time: We take the fight to Kamek's turf as we begin the final world of the game!

I'd say that this is probably the most famous of the bosses in Yoshi's Island and the one people remember.

More than any other game on the SNES (or at least any action game) that I can remember, Yoshi's Island popularized the idea of set pieces in game design, both in the actual levels as well as in the boss fights. (Compared to other platformers of the time, where the bosses may have interesting attack patterns, but beating them always requires the same actions.)

Once this is done, format it as a PDF and sell it. I will buy a copy without question.

Also, consider this:

That's also another thing YI (sadly) has over STTB: other than the default Ludwig van Koopa (whose behavior all reskins inherit, you'll probably recognize him as STTB2's ShroobUFOs), bosses in SMBX don't really "evolve" like Raphael does. I guess you could use multiple NPCs (Goomba, then tweeter, then hammer bro) but there's a whole lot of bugs and unpleasantness with layer bosses.

It may be April 1st, but invading the Koopa Kingdom is no joke!



G-g-g-goonies?!



Land-bound skele-Goonies are functionally identical to their fleshy counterparts. Unlike Dry Bones, they'll crumble permanently when stomped on.



Flying skele-Goonies fly in straight lines, rather than swooping and soaring. An ability to maintain consistent altitude? Scary! They're also more frail, with a stomp shattering their wings and causing them to become flightless skele-Goonies.

I like how old assets are combined with new ones to create a completely new look. The sunset background was previously used for a pleasant-looking beach stage. The Spear Guys were of course native to the jungle. Even though we're outdoors, we have rocky ground, and the music used is the cave tune.

It's been a long time since we last heard it, so here's a refresher.

Throw in skeletal variants of previous foes and some bones on the landscape and we get a harsh, desolate environment.




We've seen the "waterfall cavern" background before, but turn it into lava and add Dancing Spear Guys to taste for a nice hellish bonus area (just ordinary coins in here). And don't forget a spike cap guy!



Honestly, we're a little beyond the "make consecutive bridges" by this point. This just slows things down.



This guy will make sure we're still paying attention! They fly faster than the dynamite-hauling Baron von Zeppelins that we're used to, and their payloads continue moving forward as they fall, so we have to adjust to the new timing.



Apparently being set ablaze greatly increases a Shy Guy's speed and agility (and gives it some nice animated flame to show off). We have a little "arena" here to give us ample room for our first encounter with this thing. Simply eating it will give us the ability to spit three flame blasts.




Said ability is very useful when running into the Zeus Guy. Man, the Bandit-based enemies are the best in this game. Zeus Guys will generate spark blasts with their hands and send them slowly across the screen. They'll move toward you in short bursts, hopping over obstacles. If they get close enough, they'll bust out some kung-fu moves (which I didn't manage to capture in this stage, but they'll show up later). Jumping, ground pounding, or egging will only briefly stun them. Fire, ice, POW blocks, or winged clouds are the only ways to permanently defeat them.



This is a rather devious scenario that reminds us to think about our actions instead of just reflexively progressing. Perhaps the rather easy "make bridges" section earlier was meant to set us up to just trigger this bridge without thinking.

Oh boy, we're back in Chomp country.




This sequence is longer and more elaborate than the previous two Chomp zones. Low ceilings and Solo Toadies limit our aerial mobility. These Toadies can fly right up to us and snatch Mario away. They're pretty easy to defeat, but if we're in mid-jump trying to avoid a Chomp and one flies into our path, it can be distracting.



We actually need the Chomps to give us access to a couple of flowers.



More Zeus Guys make it so we can't linger even on Chomp-free ground.



This can be a little intimidating, but we've made similar jumps in both of World 5's castles.




This stretch just keeps going, and gets very claustrophobic. Chomps don't actually damage you (well, not this variety, anyway). They just push you straight down. So you're perfectly safe in the position shown in the last shot above.



We finally reach safe ground again...and are immediately bombed by a flock of skele-Goonies. We're presented with one of the trickiest shots we've seen yet, with no cop-out method available to us. To make things even tougher, we're basically straddling the spawn point for those Goonies (especially if we need to go back and fill up on eggs), so it's hard to really concentrate.



Even little transitional jumps like this have us on guard.



We come to one of the last mini-game huts in the game. The key is readily available, but getting to the hut itself again requires us to think about our approach, rather than just triggering every cloud we see.

Pounding the bone down is the only way to get the bridge to completely span the gap, which is the only way the flower will grow, which we can use to reach the mini-game. I like having a "region-specific" version of the stakes we've seen all game, and I wish there were more variants like this.



It came down to the last balloon, but it was a worthy endeavor!




The Piranha may take you by surprise when you bounce, but a hidden 1Up makes a nice consolation prize.



The previous flower required a great bank shot under duress. Now we need to have fluttering mastered (particularly the ability to chain flutters together without losing too much height). This isn't very dangerous (and if you take out the Piranha, it's not dangerous at all), but again, there's no easy way around it. We're in the final world, and we simply have to be good at this point.



But if you want threatening, how's this? With nearly everything collected and just a few screens from the goal, we need to make a leap of faith over spikes, taking us toward a projectile-shooting cactus. A pit on the other side doesn't help.



Once we have solid ground beneath us, ground pounds can subdue the cactus, but again, we can't rush forward and have to proceed with caution. Even the Tap-Tap/Toady combo is more dangerous than it appears. We can jump the Tap-Tap, but the way the Toady is positioned and its erratic flight pattern gives it a great chance to snatch Mario right off our backs if we do that.



Here's another case for caution. Trying to rush past these Goonies takes us up an incline, straight into their dynamite. Wait them out and maneuver around them where the ground is lower and we actually have some room.



No rest for the wicked. Ideally one egg shot will take them both out, but there's no shame in expending multiple eggs to clear the platform. Getting knocked into a pit here isn't worth it.



One last long jump and we've finally hit the goal.



This stage took its toll on me. Fortunately, I have +10s to spare.



And the subsequent Bonus Challenge more than made up for the loss.

Coming after Raphael the Raven and with the endgame in sight, I don't usually give this stage a lot of thought. But it's a meaty one, substantially ramping up the challenge and throwing a lot of variety our way. Even when we're not in danger, we have to be at the top of our game to obtain collectibles. The emphasis is on paying attention to the order that we tackle problems, but it's just a good, tough challenge all around, really setting the tone for the rest of the world. Plus, it gives off a very fitting atmosphere.

We stick with the underground music as we enter an actual cave!



The Bandit in the first shot is hiding behind the scenery. A tongue jab will provoke it into emerging if you want the coins or the challenge. There are a few of them over the course of the stage.



A non-Bandit issue we'll be dealing with in this stage is a bunch of tight squeezes involving fireballs, lava, and bottomless pits. As a reminder, these are the borderline invulnerable fireballs that can defy gravity, not the edible lava bubbles. Incidentally, even though that lava's a lot more shallow than what we're used to seeing, it's just as lethal.



The English stage names are not the most catchy, but they're usually accurate. We have a lot of different Bandits here, including some being airlifted and one hiding in a bucket!



It's even more accurate if you consider all of the robed, masked, more durable enemies to fall under the "Bandit" banner. The Zeus Guys reveal another talent here: They can kung-fu their way through dirt. It's easiest to shoot a path through the upper left corner of the pile so you can grab the flower and bypass them, but a first-timer may not react fast enough and will have to play the positioning game with them.




Suddenly we're in Mouser territory, complete with tiny cubbyholes packed with goodies! The scenery-hiding Bandits prove a bit more threatening here, since they don't reveal themselves right away, and if you try to eat a mouse nearby, it can trigger them in a very tight space.




This is an amusing sequence. Two Sluggers are knocking a Chomp Rock back and forth. If we can stun one by jumping on it, the rock will blow by (but not harm it. Which makes sense: If they're taking swings at it, they're probably standing off to the side of the "strike zone."). If we send it left, it just falls into a pit. But if we take it to the right, we can use it to squash a Bandit and reveal a 1Up. You should know by now how I enjoy seeing different elements of a game interact, and it's cool to finally see an enemy that isn't simply killed by the rock. It's also nice to get a reward for "liberating" it. Chomp Rock really is basically Yoshi's Companion Cube.

It seems enemies that we can't kill directly have become the norm.



The Green Glove is just a bit of an annoyance, slowing our progress. But we get a nice hidden reward when we slip past it.



There are more goods to be had in the stage's nooks and crannies, and the Sluggers can help us reach them.




In a home stretch reminiscent of some of the nastier SMB3 stages, we have to use consecutive stars to run over a spike gauntlet.




The non-lethal tactics of the Baseball Boys can actually be pretty scary here, causing you to lose precious time. That fourth shot has two Sluggers hitting a Chomp Rock back and forth inside a walled-off space. It basically exists to give you a heads-up that a rock is coming your way. It's a nice way to bring back that scenario in a new light (strangely, it's much more threatening when you're invincible).



The goal comes immediately after the gauntlet.

So...Baseball Boys, cacti, Mousers and their hoards, and an invincibaby gauntlet...somehow this stage became a sequel to 2-2: The Baseball Boys. It's in a completely different context, so it manages to revisit and build on those elements while still forging a unique identity. Oddly, the plain old Bandits are probably the least interesting aspect of a fun stage.

Huh...That's not supposed to happen. It looks pretty cool though. There's something in the stage's first segment that the emulator doesn't agree with.



This time, cave textures combine with background volcanoes surrounded by clouds of ash to create a high-altitude mountain setting. The Athletic Theme makes its final appearance outside of post-game content, giving the stage a much peppier feel than its World 6 fellows.

Meanwhile, we're introduced to the eponymous spinning logs, above safe ground and with a ledge that both keeps us safe and requires us to use it to advance. It will spin rapidly for a couple seconds, then remain stationary for a couple seconds. Jumping on or touching it while spinning can send us flying. This concept was used in SMB3, although the platforms there were several small sprites stuck together. Marvel at the mighty sprite rotation effect at work here!



A few mini-Ravens put in a brief appearance.



Safe ground tends to be scarce here.



We get a chance to catch our breath and feel good about claiming some collectibles before another long chasm.




Behold! The only appearance of Koopas outside of World 4 and their debut. The platforms below are safer, but if we want red coins, we'll have to do some bouncing.



We're given an opportunity to refill our eggs.




Ah, here's your problem. The emulator's all fuzzy.

If you're SNESing it up, this is your last opportunity to get dizzy. It can be a bit tricky with uneven platforms over a bottomless pit, but you're not just gonna avoid them or anything, are you?



Things sober up around this point. Just be careful "transitioning" back to normal around all of these pits and narrow platforms.

We've hit the halfway point and get a little breather. This stage is much more about intense platforming than the hard-to-get collectibles seen in the previous two stages, so they tend to just hand stuff to us at easy points like this.



We need to start thinking a step ahead in order to proceed.




Chomp Rocks can be just as much a hindrance here as a help, with the first one pushing us toward a gap if we're not paying attention. You're likely to push the second straight into a Slugger, who will blast it back toward another gap, and if you haven't jumped clear, you're going too.




We have to work a bit harder for the projectiles in the home stretch. The red coin behind the Chomp Rock is especially devious, as we have to roll the rock off the cliff without falling below the platform, then stick the landing on said tiny platform.



Of course, you can always just shoot the coin from the ground on the right.




But no such luck when we get another one right afterward! There's no stable ground on either side. On top of that, we have to periodically dodge a fireball while peeling the rock off the ledge.



I don't do so well.



Fourth time's the charm, and the goal is just a hop, skip, and flutter away!

This is just straightforward intense platforming. It throws in a lot of variety in a short space, from multiple logs to cross, to Chomp Rocks, to Fuzzies, to fireballs in our airspace. There may be some deaths, but this one is a fast-paced obstacle course that feels refreshing after a couple of lengthy, methodical stages.

Next Time: We hit the final fortress and mid-boss!

Since you were pointing out a lot of secret rooms in other levels I'm surprised you missed this one:

If you hit a log just right, you can get massive air and fling yourself up over the ceiling in that screenshot to enter a series of hidden rooms.