Story

Yoshi and Baby Mario — reunited and ready to rescue Baby Luigi from Kamek’s clutches

The Baby Bros — the whole adventure exists to bring these two back together

Kamek and Baby Bowser — the scheming duo behind Egg Island’s troubles

Set immediately after Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island and before Yoshi’s Island DS, the story begins with a delivery gone wrong. The stork delivers Baby Mario and Baby Luigi — but to the wrong parents. Bewildered, the couple turn the babies away, and the poor stork heads back into the skies to find the real family.

High above the clouds, Kamek and his Toadies ambush the stork once more. Baby Luigi is snatched away, while Baby Mario tumbles down onto Egg Island — a peaceful place ruled by a proud Yoshi clan. They take Baby Mario in and vow to reunite the brothers and defeat Baby Bowser, who has a villainous plan: demolish Egg Island and build his own personal holiday resort.

Six worlds across Egg Island follow. After Baby Bowser is defeated at his castle, a dramatic twist unfolds — a full-grown adult Bowser bursts through space and time itself to challenge Yoshi to one final, enormous showdown before the brothers can be properly reunited.

Gameplay

Classic egg-throwing platforming — now with Giant Eggs for maximum destruction

Lush hand-drawn levels filled with secrets, Red Coins and Flowers at every turn

Different Yoshi colours take turns carrying Baby Mario through the game’s six worlds

Yoshi’s New Island follows the Yoshi’s Island formula faithfully — side-scrolling platforming where Yoshi swallows enemies, produces eggs and throws them at targets and foes. The headline new mechanic is the Giant Egg: swallow a large Eggdozer enemy to produce a massive egg that smashes through terrain, walls and enemies and fills a destruction gauge for bonus lives. Metal Eggdozers produce special Metal Giant Eggs that break through surfaces ordinary eggs can’t crack.

Controls

Worlds & Levels

6 worlds across Egg Island, each with 8 stages (6 regular + 1 fortress mid-boss + 1 boss castle), plus unlockable extra stages. Every stage has a distinct hand-crafted art style — watercolour, oil paint, crayon — and three hidden Winged Clouds to find. Collect 20 Red Coins and 5 Flowers per stage for a perfect clear.

Whirly Gate Transformations

Touch a Whirly Gate hidden in stages and Yoshi transforms into a special vehicle for a brief timed challenge section. Each transformation controls differently and is used to reach otherwise-inaccessible areas, collectibles and shortcuts. The Hot Air Balloon famously uses the 3DS microphone — you literally blow into the system to rise.

HelicopterFly freely in any direction within a time limit. Collect Red Coins hidden high above. Tilt or use Circle Pad to steer. Great for airborne secrets.

SubmarineNavigate underwater cave sections, shooting torpedo eggs at submerged enemies and targets. Found in coastal World 2 stages.

Mine CartRace through underground rail tracks at breakneck speed — duck and jump to dodge obstacles. Intense, fast-paced and found in World 3 cave stages.

JackhammerBounce along a pogo-stick drill, smashing ground enemies and uncovering buried secrets with each powerful downward bounce. World 4’s signature transformation.

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BobsledCareen down icy mountain tracks at speed — tilt or steer left and right to collect coins and avoid crashes. World 5’s slippery highlight.

Hot Air BalloonBlow into the 3DS microphone (or hold A) to make Yoshi rise. Drift through sky stages collecting items. The most unique use of 3DS hardware in the game.

Enemies & New Creatures

Yoshi’s New Island introduces several new enemies (marked ★) alongside returning Yoshi’s Island favourites. The biggest additions are the Eggdozer variants — giant swallowable enemies that produce Giant Eggs when ingested. Metal variants produce Metal Eggs that break surfaces normal eggs can’t crack.

Mufti Guy ★

Raphael the Raven

Big Lantern Ghost ★

Metal Lantern Ghost ★

Caged Ghost ★

Blarggwich ★

Relay Shy Guy ★

Bosses

Baby BowserWorld Castles (×6)

Baby Bowser confronts Yoshi directly each world. Kamek uses magic to make him giant-sized in later worlds. Attacks with charges and small fireballs.

Giant Baby BowserWorld 6 Castle (phase 1)

Kamek enlarges Baby Bowser to enormous size for the penultimate battle. Stomp on his giant head by jumping on moving platforms while dodging his attacks.

Bowser (Adult)World 6 Castle (true final)

Adult Bowser travels through time to challenge Yoshi in a spectacular multi-phase showdown. The climactic finale of the whole adventure — enormously dramatic in scale.

Items & Collectibles

Development

Developed by Arzest — a studio founded by former Artoon staff who had worked on Yoshi’s Island DS. This was the first mainline Yoshi’s Island title developed outside Nintendo EAD, with Nintendo’s Takashi Tezuka producing. The team deliberately returned to the single-Baby-Mario formula from the original SNES game, stepping back from Yoshi’s Island DS‘s multi-baby complexity.

The art direction leaned into the original’s hand-drawn aesthetic but pushed further — different worlds use genuinely different visual media: watercolour paint, oil paint, pencil sketch and crayon, giving each world a distinct tactile feel. The Giant Egg mechanic was the headline new feature: the team wanted something uniquely Yoshi-like that added new puzzle and combat interactions without changing the core formula.

The Hot Air Balloon transformation’s microphone mechanic — literally blowing into the 3DS to make Yoshi rise — was one of the more unusual hardware integrations of any 3DS game. The gyroscope for egg-throw aiming was kept optional after playtesting revealed it divided players. The game was announced at E3 2013 and released just nine months later in March 2014.

Reception & Sales

Despite mixed critical reception, Yoshi’s New Island sold 1.93 million copies worldwide. Critics consistently praised the art direction and accessibility. For younger players and Yoshi newcomers it delivers a charming, well-crafted adventure — veterans of the SNES original may find it lacking ambition.

Trivia & Notable Facts

• First Yoshi’s Island game not developed by Nintendo EAD — Arzest (former Artoon staff) developed it under Nintendo supervision.
• The story is set between Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island (SNES, 1995) and Yoshi’s Island DS (2006) in the timeline.
• The Hot Air Balloon transformation uses the 3DS microphone — blow into the system to make Yoshi rise. One of the most memorable hardware interactions on 3DS.
• Giant Egg impacts cause 3DS vibration — the system’s motor is used for impact feedback, making throws feel physical.
• The original Yoshi’s Island composer Koji Kondo was not involved — the new soundtrack received criticism from fans for lacking the SNES game’s iconic style.
• Raphael the Raven returns as a mid-boss from the original Yoshi’s Island — one of several nostalgic throwbacks.
• Adult Bowser’s appearance explicitly involves time travel — one of few Mario games to use this as an actual plot device.
• StreetPass unlocks extra bonus stages — a creative use of the feature beyond simple profile swapping.

Videos

More Yoshi’s New Island