Introduction to Yoshi

Yoshi is a fan-favorite character from the Nintendo universe, starring in numerous games and even having his own series of games. He is a dinosaur-like creature who started out as an enemy in the classic Super Mario Bros. game and has since gone on to unimaginable success. Yoshi has become an enduring mascot for Nintendo, appearing in an array of titles, films, and televisions shows, appearing in different styles and colors and offering a great range of abilities.

The Origin of Yoshi

Yoshi’s origins stretch back to the first Super Mario title and his classic design. Programmer Takashi Tezuka is credited with the creation of Yoshi and he has said in interviews that the idea was inspired by the movie Jurassic Park. The in-game design of Yoshi was that of a dragon-like creature with long legs and arms, large eyes and tail. In the game Yoshi could be ridden by Mario, and he could be used to eat enemies or to spit them out as projectile weapons.

The Popularity of Yoshi

The endearing character quickly amounted a strong fanbase and in the early 90s he had his own games, with Yoshi’s Cookie and Yoshi’s Safari being some of the earlier titles. Since then Yoshi has appeared in almost every major Mario title, in addition to appearing in some spin-off titles such as Mario Kart titles and its subsequent spin-offs. Yoshi himself came in a variety of colors and could represent different abilities such as allowing the user to change its color for a specific advantage.

Yoshi has been able to remain one of Nintendo’s most popular characters to this day and has appeared in television series and films such as Mario Kart: Double Dash, Mario and Luigi: Dream Team, and various movies and shorts. He is also popularized in merchandise, toys, and artwork. Yoshi’s appeal has no doubt attributed to its friendly design, likeable personality, and its ability to take on a range of powers and colors. Yoshi even has its own line of spin-off titles focusing directly on the character’s adventures and has created some of the quintessential Yoshi games.