1993 video game
1993 video game
Yoshi's Safari
[a]
is a 1993
light gun shooter
developed and published by
Nintendo
for its
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
(SNES). It is the only
Mario
franchise game to feature
first-person shooter
gameplay and requires the SNES's
Super Scope
light gun
. As
Mario
and his pet dinosaur
Yoshi
, the player embarks on a quest to save the kingdom of Jewelry Land from
Bowser
and his
Koopalings
, who have kidnapped its rulers and stolen 12 gems. The game features 12
levels
in which the player shoots enemies like
Goombas
and
Koopas
, and collects
power-ups
and coins. At the end of each level, the player engages in a
boss fight
with an enemy, a Koopaling, or Bowser. Nintendo commissioned its
R&D1
department to develop
Yoshi's Safari
in response to the waning popularity of the Super Scope.
Yoshi's Safari
was the first Super Scope title to use the SNES's
Mode 7
graphics mode
, and the future of the peripheral depended on the game's performance.
Nintendo released
Yoshi's Safari
in Japan and North America in late 1993, and in
PAL regions
the following year. The game received positive reviews from
video game journalists
, who commended its presentation?particularly the visuals?and gameplay; some labelled it the best Super Scope title. However, it received criticism for its short length and low
difficulty level
. The game garnered little attention and failed commercially, attributed to its launch coinciding with a
controversy
surrounding the SNES rerelease of the popular
arcade game
Mortal Kombat
(1992). Most of
Yoshi's Safari
's
additions to the
Mario
lore were ignored in subsequent games, and it has never been rereleased.
Gameplay
[
edit
]
The player (from the perspective of
Mario
) and
Yoshi
fight a
Koopa Troopa
piloting a
mech
.
Yoshi's Safari
is a
light gun shooter
[1]
viewed from a
first-person
perspective.
[2]
[3]
The game features 12
levels
[2]
and requires the
Super Scope
, a
light gun
peripheral for the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
(SNES), to be played.
[3]
The player views gameplay from the perspective of
Mario
riding on his pet dinosaur
Yoshi
's back and uses the Super Scope to shoot enemies, which include the
Mario
franchise's traditional
Goombas
,
Koopas
, and Cheep-Cheeps.
[2]
As the player fires the Super Scope, a power gauge will drop; firing too rapidly will deplete it and cause long pauses between shots, making players more vulnerable to enemy attacks.
[4]
The game features a
multiplayer
mode in which one player controls Mario using the Super Scope and another controls Yoshi using an
SNES controller
. In the
single-player
mode, Yoshi is controlled automatically.
[4]
[5]
After selecting a level from the
overworld
, the player must clear it within a time limit. In addition to enemies, the player shoots blocks with question marks to earn coins,
[6]
and will earn an extra
life
by collecting 60.
[4]
The player loses lives if enemies deplete their
health bar
, if they fall down a pit with less than three coins, or if they fail to complete the level within the allotted time. Losing all lives results in a
game over
, forcing the player to restart.
[4]
[6]
The levels feature branching paths leading to different enemies and prizes, though they always end on the same path, which leads to a
boss fight
.
[7]
Bosses include the
Koopalings
piloting giant
mechs
, bigger versions of normal enemies, and
Bowser
.
[2]
[7]
Power-ups
, such as
mushrooms
,
flowers
, and
stars
, provide the player with extra health, firepower, and
invincibility
. Some power-ups can only be used during boss battles.
[6]
[7]
Yoshi's Safari
is set in Jewelry Land?a location similar to the
Mushroom Kingdom
[2]
?and features a simple story.
[7]
Series antagonist Bowser and his Koopalings kidnap Jewelry Land rulers King Fret and Prince Pine, and steal the 12 magic gems that protect the kingdom from harm, causing an earthquake that splits it in two.
[2]
[6]
One of the Koopalings, Iggy, designs powerful mechs that aid Bowser's army in their invasion.
[7]
Princess Peach
sends Mario and Yoshi on a quest to defeat Bowser, retrieve the gems, and set the two rulers free.
[2]
When the player completes the game, they will be given a
cheat code
that, when input at the
title screen
, increases the
difficulty level
.
[8]
The game also has a
leaderboard
to encourage multiple playthroughs and so players can keep track of their
scores
.
[2]
Development
[
edit
]
A
Super Scope
In February 1992,
Nintendo
released the Super Scope, a successor to its popular
NES Zapper
for the
Nintendo Entertainment System
. At the time, Nintendo was in fierce competition with
Sega
, a company known for its "
cool
" games and advertising, and needed an edge over this new rival. Unlike its predecessor, the Super Scope was only a moderate success and by 1993 risked fading into obscurity. Nintendo management realized the peripheral's relevance was waning and commissioned the company's famed
R&D1
department to develop a Super Scope game featuring Mario. The future of the Super Scope depended on the performance of this game.
[2]
Yoshi's Safari
was the first Super Scope game to use the SNES's
Mode 7
graphics mode
, which created an impression of
3D computer graphics
and made the gameplay more realistic.
[4]
Nintendo released
Yoshi's Safari
in Japan on July 14, 1993
[9]
under the title
Yoshi's Road Hunting
, and in North America the following September.
[2]
It was released in
PAL regions
in 1994.
[9]
The title did not garner much attention upon release.
[2]
[1]
Its North American launch coincided with the rerelease of the popular
arcade game
Mortal Kombat
(1992), a game
controversial for its violence
, for the SNES and Sega's
Genesis
. According to
IGN
, Nintendo's decision to soften the blood and gore in the SNES version drew public attention away from
Yoshi's Safari
.
[2]
Reception and legacy
[
edit
]
While
Yoshi's Safari
failed commercially, which
IGN
attributed to its reliance on the Super Scope and the
Mortal Kombat
debacle,
[2]
[3]
it did receive praise from
video game journalists
.
[5]
[7]
[11]
The presentation?particularly the visuals?were well received.
Joypad
[
fr
]
,
[5]
Electronic Gaming Monthly
(
EGM
),
[10]
and
Nintendo Magazine System
considered the graphics and smooth scrolling among the game's highlights.
[7]
Joypad
wrote the animation was fluid
[5]
and
Nintendo Magazine System
wrote the graphics suited the
Mario
theme,
[7]
while
Nintendo Power
called the characters colorful and bright.
[11]
The Los Angeles Times
praised the game's use of Mode 7, describing the graphics as excellent and colorful.
[4]
Joypad
and
Nintendo Magazine System
both praised the music,
[5]
[7]
with
Joypad
writing it was simple but still sounded good.
[5]
Critics also commended the gameplay, with
Joypad
and
Nintendo Magazine System
calling
Yoshi's Safari
the best Super Scope title.
[5]
[7]
Joypad
praised the multiplayer mode and wrote that while the game was somewhat expensive, it was worth buying for Super Scope owners.
[5]
The game had more depth than other Super Scope titles,
Nintendo Magazine System
wrote, because of its variety and branching level paths.
[7]
Joypad
and
Nintendo Power
respectively praised the controls as responsive and easy to use.
[5]
[11]
However, the game's short length and low difficulty were primary aspects of criticism.
[5]
[7]
[10]
Nintendo Magazine System
's
reviewers said they finished the entire game in one sitting and estimated it would provide at most a week of entertainment,
[7]
while
EGM
wrote players "may be tempted to turn your SuperScope [
sic
] on yourself and end it all!"
[10]
Nintendo Magazine System
and
Nintendo Power
suggested the game was geared toward a younger audience,
[7]
[11]
with the former stating beginning players would find enjoyment but experienced ones would be left wanting more.
[7]
Yoshi's Safari
's
failure signified that the Super Scope was commercially nonviable for Nintendo.
[2]
Mario and Yoshi creator
Shigeru Miyamoto
, who was working on
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
(1995) at the time, disliked
Yoshi's Safari
and strove to make his game feel more authentic.
[12]
Games starring Yoshi
did not gain much popularity until
Yoshi's Island
,
[13]
and
Yoshi's Safari
remains relatively obscure.
[3]
The title's additions to the
Mario
lore, such as Jewelry Land, were ignored in subsequent games.
Yoshi's Safari
is notable for being the first
Mario
game to refer to the Princess as "Peach" instead of "Toadstool" in Western territories, although this did not stick until
Super Mario 64
(1996). Nintendo would later revive old games from its back catalog through its
Virtual Console
service, but
Yoshi's Safari
has never been rereleased, and
IGN
noted its 25th anniversary passed in 2018 with little fanfare.
[2]
The game remains the sole
first-person shooter
in the
Mario
franchise.
[2]
[3]
IGN
lamented the obscurity of
Yoshi's Safari
in a 2019 retrospective and felt it deserved more recognition, writing the game was and still is a standout in the
Mario
franchise. The title's "quirky aspects",
IGN
wrote?such as its
science fiction
theme (in contrast to previous
Mario
games' fantasy one), upbeat music, and use of the Super Scope?paved way for the franchise's more experimental games such as
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
(2017): "while far from perfect, [
Yoshi's Safari
] was still ahead of its time in certain regards." The writer also called it "a shame" the game has never been rereleased.
[2]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Known in Japan as
Yoshi's Road Hunting
(
Japanese
:
ヨッシ?のロ?ドハンティング
,
Hepburn
:
Yossh? no R?do Hantingu
)
- ^
Electronic Gaming Monthly
's
five reviewers provided two 6/10 scores, two 7/10 scores, and one 4/10 score.
[10]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Barker, Sammy (November 2, 2007).
"A Brief History Of The Light Gun On Nintendo"
.
Nintendo Life
.
Archived
from the original on August 18, 2018
. Retrieved
March 18,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
Bertoli, Ben (March 13, 2019).
"Remembering the First and Only
Mario
FPS"
.
IGN
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
M. Thomas, Lucas (May 24, 2010).
"Yoshi: Evolution of a Dinosaur"
.
IGN
. p. 3.
Archived
from the original on October 23, 2018
. Retrieved
March 18,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Schiffmann, William (December 23, 1993).
"OC High / Student News & Views : video game review :
Yoshi's Safari
: From Nintendo for SNES, $39.95"
.
The Los Angeles Times
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
"
Yoshi's Safari
"
.
Joypad
[
fr
]
(in French) (23): 97. September 1993.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Yoshi's Safari
(instruction manual)
(PDF)
.
Nintendo
. 1993. pp. 1?22.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
"
Yoshi's Safari
".
Nintendo Magazine System
(12): 80?82. September 1993.
- ^
Nintendo Research & Development 1
(July 14, 1993).
Yoshi's Safari
(
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
).
Nintendo
.
Yoshi
: Congratulations! I know a secret. Press the L, R, X, Y & Start Buttons simultaneously on the Title Screen for a new quest!
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
a
b
"
Yoshi's Safari
(SNES / Super Nintendo) News, Reviews, Trailer & Screenshots"
.
Nintendo Life
.
Archived
from the original on September 9, 2018
. Retrieved
March 15,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Review Crew: Major Mike's Roundup"
.
Electronic Gaming Monthly
. No. 52. November 1993. p. 46.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Super Scope Roundup"
.
Nintendo Power
. No. 55. December 1993. pp. 42?43.
- ^
Kent, Steven L.
(2001).
The Ultimate History of Video Games
. New York:
Three Rivers Press
. p. 518.
ISBN
0-7615-3643-4
.
- ^
Calvert, Darren (March 11, 2014).
"Month of Yoshi: The Brightly Coloured History of Yoshi"
.
Nintendo Life
.
Archived
from the original on April 19, 2018
. Retrieved
March 18,
2019
.
External links
[
edit
]
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