''Yoshi'' is a

video game series This is a list of video game franchises, organized alphabetically. All entries include multiple video games, not counting ports or altered re-releases. 0–9 *''1080° Snowboarding'' *''1942'' *'' 3D Ultra Minigolf'' *'' 3-D Ultra Pinball'' *'' ...

developed and published by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

. It is a spin-off of the ''

Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...

'' franchise. The games, primarily consisting of

platform games A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...

and

puzzle games Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, sequence solving, spatial recognition, and word completion. Man ...

featuring the

titular character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piëce. The title o ...

, have been developed by a variety of developers including Nintendo,

Game Freak is a Japanese video game developer, best known as the primary developer and co-owners of the ''Pokémon (video game series), Pokémon'' series of role-playing video games. History Predating the video game company, ''Game Freak'' was a self- ...

Intelligent Systems is a Japanese video game developer best known for developing games published by Nintendo with the ''Fire Emblem'', ''Paper Mario'', ''Wario_(series)#WarioWare_series, WarioWare'', and ''Wars (series), Wars'' video game series. The company was ...

Artoon Artoon Co., Ltd. (株式会社アートゥーン Kabushiki-Gaisha Ātūn) was a Japanese video game developer established in 1999. It became a subsidiary of AQ Interactive in May 2004 and became a wholly owned subsidiary in June 2005. The team w ...

, its successor

Arzest is a Japanese video game development company that develops games for video game consoles. It was formed on June 25, 2010 by key members of Artoon, which was also founded by Executive Vice President Naoto Ohshima, best known as the character des ...

Good-Feel (stylized as GoödFeël) is a Japanese video game developer. Good-Feel started in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, in 2005 and opened a production facility in Tokyo in the same year. Their main focus had been educational games for the Nintendo DS, whic ...

and

Bullet-Proof Software Blue Planet Software Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher founded by Henk Rogers in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1996. The company was founded as the successor to Bullet-Proof Software Inc. (BPS), founded in 1983 by Rogers in Japan ...

. ''Yoshi'' games have been released for Nintendo

video game consoles A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can typically be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location conne ...

and

handhelds A mobile device or handheld device is a computer small enough to hold and operate in hand. Mobile devices are typically battery-powered and possess a flat-panel display and one or more built-in input devices, such as a touchscreen or keypad. Mo ...

dating from the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

(NES) to the current generation of video game consoles. Some of the original NES and

Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...

(SNES) games have been ported to

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

or the

Virtual Console The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on pa ...

(both, in the case of ''

Super Mario World ''Super Mario World'', known in Japan as '' is a 1990 platform game developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The player controls Mario on his quest to save Princess Peach and Dino ...

''). The series revolves around

Yoshi Yoshi is a fictional dinosaur who appears in video games published by Nintendo. Yoshi debuted in '' Super Mario World'' (1990) on the SNES as Mario and Luigi's sidekick. Throughout the mainline '' Super Mario'' series, Yoshi typically serves ...

, a race of dinosaur-like creatures. They are first introduced in 1990 in the SNES game ''Super Mario World'', where

and

Luigi Luigi (; ) is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Part of Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise, he is a kind-hearted, cowardly Italian plumber, and the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario. Like ...

can ride on him. The first Yoshi game was the Nintendo Entertainment System puzzle game released in 1991, ''

'', which was developed by Game Freak. The first game in what is considered the main series, as well as the first to feature Yoshi in a playable main-character role, is the game released in 1995, '' Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island'', which introduces staples include colorful storybook graphics, and numerous gameplay elements, serves as a prequel to the ''Super Mario'' series alongside its sequels, where Yoshis traverse levels with Baby Mario, Luigi and other characters. The

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.Baby Bowser , also known as King Bowser or King Koopa, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise."The Top 100 Videogame Villains". IGN. Retrieved October 8, 2010. In Japan, he is titled ."Character Introduction ...

, the young king of the

Koopas are a fictional turtle-like race of characters from the ''Mario'' media franchise. They are commonly referred to as Koopas, a more broad classification of creatures that includes Bowser, his Koopalings, and Lakitu. Predecessors to Koopa Tro ...

, and Kamek, a Magikoopa who was Bowser's caretaker as a child; they recur in other ''Yoshi'' games without said ''Mario'' characters. ''

Yoshi's Story ''Yoshi's Story'' is a 1997 platform game published and developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan in December 1997, and worldwide the following year. The game has been subsequently re-released on the Wii, Wii U, and Nint ...

'', released for the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...

in 1997, took a more puzzle orientated approach was later followed by the spin-offs '' Yoshi's Universal Gravitation'' and ''

Yoshi Touch & Go ''Yoshi Touch & Go'', known in Japan as , is a video game that was developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It debuted in Japan on January 27, 2005, in North America on March 14, 2005, in Europe on May 6, 2005, and in Australia on ...

'', released on the Game Boy Advance and DS respectively. The next mainline game in the series was '' Yoshi's Woolly World'', originally released for the

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. The W ...

in 2015 and later the

3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

in 2017. The latest game, ''

Yoshi's Crafted World ''Yoshi's Crafted World'' is a 2019 platform video game developed by Good-Feel and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. The eighth main installment in the ''Yoshi'' franchise, it is the spiritual successor to '' Yoshi's Woolly World''. ...

'', was released for the

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

in 2019.

Video games

Main series

Spin-offs

Cancelled games

Reception

Reception toward ''Yoshi'' games has been largely positive. ''

Yoshi's Island ''Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island'' is a 1995 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The player controls various Yoshis on their quest to reunite baby Mario with his brother ...

'' is the most well-received entry, holding a critic score of 91/100 on the

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website

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the highest for any ''Yoshi'' game on the site. Conversely, '' Yoshi's Universal Gravitation'' is the worst-received title, holding a critic rating of 60/100 on the same site.

Notes

References

{{Main franchises by Nintendo Video game franchises

Yoshi video games

Video game franchises introduced in 1991 Nintendo franchises