Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, is a 1995 platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Acting as a prequel to Super Mario World, the game casts players as Yoshi as he escorts Baby Mario through 48 levels in order to reunite him with his brother Luigi, who had been kidnapped by Baby Bowser's minions. As a Super Mario series platformer, Yoshi runs and jumps to reach the end of the level while solving puzzles and collecting items. In a style new to the series, the game has a hand-drawn aesthetic and is the first to have Yoshi as its main character. The game introduces his signature abilities to flutter jump, produce eggs from swallowed enemies, and transform into vehicles. It also features 2D graphics with Linear transformations (similar to Super Mario World).

Yoshi's Island received "instant" and "universal acclaim", according to IGN and review aggregator Metacritic, and sold over four million copies. Both contemporaneous and retrospective reviewers offered lavish praise for the game's aesthetics, sound, level design, and gameplay, and posited Yoshi's Island as a masterpiece and the best platformer of all time. The game brought newfound renown to both Yoshi as a character and Miyamoto's artistic and directorial career. The distinct art style and Yoshi's signature characteristics established in Yoshi's Island would carry throughout a series of cameos, spin-offs, and sequels, including the 1998 Yoshi's Story, 2006 Yoshi's Island DS, 2014 Yoshi's New Island, and 2015 Yoshi's Woolly World. The next Mario 2D platform game for home consoles was New Super Mario Bros. Wii, released 14 years later.