|
Yoshi (Japanese:
ヨッシー) is a
dragon from some
Nintendo
video games. He was originally known as Super Dragon Yoshi in Japan.
He is
Mario's dino-dragon friend, first appearing in
Super Mario World for the
Super Famicom in his
Japanese release. His
North American and
European debutes came on the
SNES. Yoshi was created by
Shigefumi Hino, a graphics designer and the director of
Pikmin. The reason why he was created was that shortly after Shigeru
Miyamoto finished
Super Mario Bros, Nintendo's design staff wanted Mario to ride a dino.
That concept was technically impossible until the SNES was developed. Most
games containing Yoshi were developed for the
Nintendo 64.
After that he gained popularity, starring in two more adventure games,
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and
Yoshi's Story and three puzzle games,
Yoshi,
Yoshi's Cookie, and
Tetris Attack, as well as
Mario Is Missing and a few other games. He mainly graced the
SNES. He is one of the characters in the original
N64
Super Smash Bros. and the
GameCube version,
Super Smash Bros. Melee. Yoshi made a cameo in
Super Mario 64, and was playable in
Super Mario Sunshine. Yoshi has attained a popularity almost as great
as that of Mario himself. Yoshis appear in different colors, which are
green, yellow, red, pink, teal, orange, blue, purple, black, and white.
The black and white Yoshis are rare. Green is the standard color of a
Yoshi, so green Yoshi is simply called a plain old Yoshi. The king in the
castle World 7 of
Super Mario Bros 3 was transformed into a Yoshi on the
Super Mario All Stars SNES version, but he was transformed into a
Piranha Plant on the original NES version. Yoshi inhabit many areas of the
world from the Mushroom Kingdom to Isle Delfino and are, for some reason,
all named Yoshi.
Yoshi's appearances in video games often portray him as an agile
character. In Mario Kart games, Yoshi has very good acceleration, but is
most likely to skid off the track. In Mario Tennis, he is a very fast
tennis player.
In Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee, Yoshi is the only
character without a third jump move. He uses his trademark swallow move to
swallow his opponents temporarily encasing them in eggs. He also has an
unlimited supply of eggs. The Super Stomp move can knock out the DK Hammer
item from the opponent's grip. For a throw move, Yoshi stuffs his
opponents onto his mouth instead of grabbing them. The Egg Roll move is
exclusive to Super Smash Bros. Melee.
The name Yoshi is also a nickname or slang for the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the
Super Famicom, because Yoshi is the first major character to be
introduced by the Super NES.
It is interesting to note that in the
Chinese language, 游戏 (yóuxì in
pinyin) means "game."
|
