Yoshi’s New Island

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 gigantic Mega Guy to get a Mega Eggdozer, a massive egg that smashes normally indestructible terrain and can earn extra lives. Its metal counterpart, the Metal Eggdozer, weighs Yoshi down and lets him explore underwater.

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. Every transformation is steered by tilting the 3DS with its gyroscope.

HelicopterFly freely in any direction within a time limit. Collect Red Coins hidden high above — tilt the 3DS to steer, and press any button to brake.

SubmarineNavigate underwater cave sections, firing torpedoes at submerged enemies and targets.

Mine CartRace through underground rail tracks at breakneck speed — jump to dodge obstacles. Intense and fast-paced.

JackhammerShatter Rock Blocks with ease to dig your way through the course.

🛷

BobsledCareen down icy mountain tracks at speed — tilt the 3DS to steer and jump to collect coins and avoid crashes.

Hot Air BalloonYoshi floats upward on his own — tilt to steer, and hold a button to slow the ascent. Drift through sky stages collecting items.

Enemies & New Creatures

Yoshi’s New Island introduces several new enemies (marked ★) alongside returning Yoshi’s Island favourites. The biggest additions are giant swallowable enemies — Mega Guys and Mega Kanteras give Yoshi a Mega Eggdozer (Giant Egg), while metal versions give a Metal Eggdozer.

Mufti Guy

Raphael the Raven

Mega Kantera (giant Lantern Ghost) ★

Tetu Kantera (metal Lantern Ghost) ★

Caged Ghost

Blarggwich

Relay Shy Guy

Bosses

Baby BowserWorld 6 Castle (phase 1)

Ground-pounds to send out shockwaves and Shy Guys, and spits fireballs once hit. Worlds 1–5 end with their own bosses (Big Beanie, Count Fang, King Clawdaddy, Furious Fred de Fillet and Punkey the Pokey Prince), and Kamek guards every fort.

Mega Baby BowserWorld 6 Castle (phase 2)

Kamek powers Baby Bowser up. Swallow the Mega Guys he spawns and hit him with three Mega Eggdozers.

Bowser (Adult)World 6 (secret final boss)

Fought only if every level is cleared without Flutter Wings — adult Bowser travels through space and time to challenge Yoshi in a climactic showdown.

Items & Collectibles

Development

Developed by Arzest — a studio founded by former Artoon staff who had worked on Yoshi’s Island DS. Takashi Tezuka and Naoto Ohshima produced, and Masahide Kobayashi directed. 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 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.

Every Whirly Gate transformation uses the 3DS gyroscope. Satoru Iwata announced a new Yoshi’s Island for 3DS in an April 2013 Nintendo Direct; its name, trailer and demo followed at E3 in June 2013, and it released in March 2014.

Reception & Sales

Despite mixed critical reception, Yoshi’s New Island sold 2.06 million copies worldwide (by December 2020). 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

• Developed by Arzest, some of whose staff had worked on the original Yoshi’s Island and Yoshi’s Island DS.
• The story is set between Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island (SNES, 1995) and Yoshi’s Island DS (2006) in the timeline.
• 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, a boss in the original Yoshi’s Island, returns as an ordinary enemy — 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.

Videos

More Yoshi’s New Island

Sources

• Super Mario Wiki: Yoshi’s New Island
• Wikipedia: Yoshi’s New Island