History Trivia / SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland

* WorkingTitle: Early prototypes of the game featured the subtitle ''Super Mario Bros. 5'', playing off of the original ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' being subtitled ''Super Mario Bros. 4'' in Japan. The ''Super Mario World 2'' subtitle given to the game internationally carries on this idea, albeit less overtly than intended.

* WorkingTitle: Early prototypes of the game featured the subtitle ''Super Mario Bros. 5'', playing off of the original ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' being subtitled ''Super Mario Bros. 4'' in Japanese. The ''Super Mario World 2'' subtitle given to the game in English carries on this idea, albeit less overtly than intended.

* PopCultureUrbanLegends: Rumors often claim that the game's hand-drawn art style was a deliberate response to ExecutiveMeddling that pushed for pre-rendered sprites in the vein of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'', which had owed a significant amount of its success to its pseudo-3D graphics. However, [[https://www.nintendo.com/super-nes-classic/interview-super-mario-world/ a 2019 interview with the game's developers]] done to promote the release of the SNES Classic Edition revealed that ''Yoshi's Island'' was already so far into development by the time of ''Donkey Kong Country''[='s=] release-- having started production all the way back in 1991-- that it would've been unfeasible to go back and redo all the graphics that had been completed; the idea that the hand-drawn style was a WriterRevolt was the result of misinterpreting comments that the team were "fighting back" against pre-rendered graphics, and indeed the use of them in ''VideoGame/YoshisStory'' just two years later showed that Nintendo wasn't outright hostile towards the idea.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: For reasons unknown, the SNES version was never ported to the Wii Virtual Console; meanwhile, only the GBA version was ported to the Wii U Virtual Console. Eventually became averted with its re-release on the Super NES Classic and Nintendo Switch Online. The most common theories suggest that Nintendo had problems emulating and/or securing legal clearance to emulate the [=SuperFX=] chip (which was developed by the now-defunct Creator/ArgonautSoftware), as the other first-party [=SuperFX=] SNES games (''VideoGame/StarFox1'' and its [[{{VaporWare}} unreleased]] [[VideoGame/StarFox2 sequel]]) were similarly MIA until the SNES Classic.

* SpiritualAntithesis: It was this to several video games and general industry trends of the mid-1990s:
** To ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1''. That game led the charge for turning CGI models into pre-rendered sprites for a cutting-edge look, while this one used special tricks to turn hand-drawn art into sprites.
** To ''VideoGame/StarFox1'' and ''VideoGame/StarFox2''. While the SNES ''Star Fox'' games used their [=SuperFX=] Chips to allow the SNES to render 3D polygons that it otherwise wouldn't be able to, ''Yoshi's Island'' instead uses the Super FX Chip to enhance and perform effects on its emphatically 2D art.
** To ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1'', and the MascotWithAttitude in general. Sonic (and his imitators) exuded a [[BadButt family-friendly kind of edginess]] and [[TotallyRadical coolness]] and starred in games that heavily emphasized speed. Yoshi is unabashedly cute, and his game greatly de-emphasizes speed in favor of exploration.

** To ''VideoGame/StarFox1'' and ''VideoGame/StarFox2''. While the SNES ''Star Fox'' games used the SuperFX Chips to allow the SNES to render 3D polygons that it otherwise wouldn't be able to, ''Yoshi's Island'' instead uses the Super FX Chip to enhance and perform effects on its emphatically 2D art.

** To ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1'', and the MascotWithAttitude in general. Sonic (and his imitators) excluded a [[BadButt family-friendly kind of edginess]] and [[Totally Radical coolness]] and starred in games that heavily emphasized speed. Yoshi is unabashedly cute, and his game greatly de-emphasizes speed in favor of exploration.

** To ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1'', and the MascotWithAttitude in general. Sonic (and his imitators) excluded a [[BadButt family-friendly kind of edginess]] and [[Totally Radical coolness] and starred in games that heavily emphasized speed. Yoshi is unabashedly cute, and his game greatly de-emphasizes speed in favor of exploration.

* SpiritualAnthethesis: It was this to several video games and general industry trends of the mid-1990s:

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: For reasons unknown, the SNES version was never ported to the Wii Virtual Console; meanwhile, only the GBA version was ported to the Wii U Virtual Console. Eventually became averted with its re-release on the Super NES Classic and Nintendo Switch Online. The most common theories suggest that Nintendo had problems emulating and/or securing legal clearance to emulate the [=SuperFX=] chip (which was developed by the now-defunct Creator/ArgonautSoftware), as the other first-party [=SuperFX=] SNES games ''VideoGame/StarFox1'' and its [[{{VaporWare}} unreleased]] [[VideoGame/StarFox2 sequel]] were similarly MIA until the SNES Classic.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: For reasons unknown, the SNES version was never ported to the Wii Virtual Console; meanwhile, only the GBA version was ported to the Wii U Virtual Console. Eventually became averted with its re-release on the Super NES Classic and Nintendo Switch Online. The most common theories suggest that Nintendo had problems emulating and/or securing legal clearance to emulate the [=SuperFX=] chip (which was developed by the now-defunct Creator/ArgonautSoftware), as the other first-party [=SuperFX=] SNES games ''VideoGame/StarFox1'' and its [[{{VaporWare}} unreleased]] [[VideoGame/StarFox2 sequel]] were in similar MIA until the SNES Classic.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: For reasons unknown, the SNES version was never ported to the Wii Virtual Console; meanwhile, only the GBA version was ported to the Wii U Virtual Console. Eventually became averted with its re-release on the Super NES Classic and Nintendo Switch Online. The most common theories suggest that Nintendo had problems emulating and/or securing legal clearance to emulate the [=SuperFX=] chip (which was developed by the now-defunct Creator/ArgonautSoftware), as the other first-party SNES games ''VideoGame/StarFox1'' and its [[{{VaporWare}} unreleased]] [[VideoGame/StarFox2 sequel]] were in similar MIA until the SNES Classic.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: For reasons unknown, the SNES version was never ported to the Wii Virtual Console; meanwhile, only the GBA version was ported to the Wii U Virtual Console. Eventually became averted with its re-release on the Super NES Classic and Nintendo Switch Online. The most common theories suggest that Nintendo had problems emulating and/or securing legal clearance to emulate the SuperFX chip (which was developed by the now-defunct Creator/ArgonautSoftware), as the other first-party SNES games ''VideoGame/StarFox1'' and its [[{{VaporWare}} unreleased]] [[VideoGame/StarFox2 sequel]] were in similar MIA until the SNES Classic.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: For reasons unknown, the SNES version was never ported to the Wii Virtual Console; meanwhile, only the GBA version was ported to the Wii U Virtual Console. Eventually became averted with its re-release on the Super NES Classic and Nintendo Switch Online.

* DoingItForTheArt:
** A large amount of work went into making the game look the way it did, defying market expectations by straying away from the pre-rendered graphics that had risen to prominence in the wake of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry''[='s=] success. All of the game's sprites and tiles were drawn by hand with markers on paper, digitally scanned, and then traced over pixel-by-pixel to replicate the look within the confines of the SNES's graphical limitations. While this is far more work than what would be necessary even for conventional 2D spritework, the end result was a distinctly vivid art style unlike anything seen before or since.
** The game was in development for the vast majority of the SNES's lifespan as Nintendo's incumbent home console, starting development in 1991 and releasing in 1995[[note]]for reference, the SNES released in Japan in 1990 and the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 released in 1996[[/note]]. In addition to the art style, much of this time was spent cramming in as many technical tricks as possible-- to the point of reprogramming the game to support the Super FX 2 chip once that became available-- while still making a cohesive product. The result was a critical and commercial success, widely praised for its graphics and technical achievements in addition to its gameplay and design.

** All of the game's sprites and tiles were drawn by hand with markers on paper, digitally scanned, and then traced over pixel-by-pixel to replicate the look within the confines of the SNES's graphical limitations. While this is far more work than what would be necessary even for conventional 2D spritework, the end result was a distinctly vivid art style unlike anything seen before or since.

** A large amount of work went into making the game look the way it did, defying market expectations by straying away from the pre-rendered graphics that had risen to prominence in the wake of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry''[='s=] success. All of the game's sprites and tiles were drawn by hand with markers on paper, digitally scanned, and then traced over pixel-by-pixel to replicate the look within the confines of the SNES's graphical limitations. While this is far more work than what would be necessary even for conventional 2D spritework, the end result was a distinctly vivid art style unlike anything seen before or since.

** The game as a whole is rather significant compared to other ''Mario'' games in that it was in development for the vast majority of the SNES's lifespan as Nintendo's incumbent home console, starting development in 1991 and releasing in 1995 (for reference, the SNES released in Japan in 1990 and the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 released in 1996). Much of this time was spent not only meticulously working on the game's art style, but also adding in as many technical tricks as they could while keeping the game cohesive, to the point where the development team deliberately reprogrammed the game to support the Super FX 2 chip once that became available to them. By the time the game finally released, the SNES was widely recognized as being on its last legs in the wake of the UsefulNotes/PlayStation and UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn's releases and the approaching release of the N64, but despite this ''Yoshi's Island'' was still a massive critical and commercial success, selling four million copies and being praised for its art style and technical achievements in addition to its gameplay and design.

* WorkingTitle: Early prototypes of the game featured the subtitle ''Super Mario Bros. 5'', playing off of the original ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' being subtitled ''Super Mario Bros. 4'' in Japan. The ''Super Mario World 2'' subtitle given to the game in the US carries on this idea, albeit less overtly than intended.

** The game as a whole is rather significant compared to other ''Mario'' games in that it was in development for the vast majority of the SNES's lifespan as Nintendo's incumbent home console, starting development in 1991 and releasing in 1995 (for reference, the SNES released in Japan in 1990 and the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 released in 1996). Much of this time was spent not only meticulously working on the game's art style, but also adding in as many technical tricks as they could while keeping the game cohesive, to the point where the development team deliberately reprogrammed the game to support the [=SuperFX 2=] chip once that became available to them. By the time the game finally released, the SNES was widely recognized as being on its last legs, but despite this ''Yoshi's Island'' was still a massive critical and commercial success, selling four million copies and being praised for its art style and technical achievements in addition to its gameplay and design.

* DoingItForTheArt: A large amount of work went into making the game look the way it did, defying market expectations by deliberately straying away from the pre-rendered graphics that had risen to prominence in the wake of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry''[='s=] success. All of the game's sprites and tiles were drawn by hand with markers on paper, digitally scanned, and then traced over in digital software to replicate the look within the confines of the SNES's graphical limitations. While this is far more work than what would be necessary even for conventional 2D spritework, the end result was a distinctly vivid art style unlike anything seen before or since.