Yoshi (universe)

The Yoshi universe refers to the Smash Flash. series' collection of characters, stages, and properties that hail from the sub-franchise of the Mario series that deals with main sub-series character Yoshi. It is generally agreed on that Yoshi and related items count as Mario properties, but Yoshi has appeared in enough of his own games alongside enough original characters and properties that many consider him as holding sway over a "sub-universe" of Mario. Yoshi is also considered part of his own universe because his smasher's icon consists of a spotted Yoshi Egg rather than the iconic image of a Super Mushroom held by other Mario characters.

Franquise description
By 1990, Nintendo had established a hugely successful Mario video game franchise in a trio of NES platforming titles named Super Mario Bros., featuring Mario as a main character. Nintendo released the SNES in 1991, and Shigeru Miyamoto developed the platformer Super Mario World as a launch title. Graphics designer Shigefumi Hino, who would later direct Pikmin, created the dinosauric character Yoshi and had him and the rest of his multicolored species introduced into the Mario universe through Super Mario World because Nintendo's design staff expressed a desire to see Mario ride a dinosaur. Yoshi was instantly popular with players and soon afterwards became the protagonist of his own series of platform and puzzle games for various consoles, as well as appearing frequently in many Mario games as a co-character.

Yoshi was made the main character of his own sub-universe with the release of the 1995 SNES sequel Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, which introduced characters like Baby Mario and enemies like Raphael Raven, and the further sequel Yoshi's Story for N64 introduced a more saccharine atmosphere to the sub-universe along with more original characters like Pak E. Derm. Other games in which Yoshi has had a starring role include the puzzle games Yoshi's Egg, Yoshi, and Tetris Attack, Yoshi's Touch & Go! for the DS, Yoshi's Island DS (a sequel to the original, with more playable characters and the same art design).

The Yoshi sub-franchise is essentially the division of the main Mario franchise that focuses on being especially bright and cheery, and in various cases Yoshi-centric games are oriented more towards young gamers than the general Mario games. Yoshi itself is a frequently recurring character in many of the Mario games, however, and is practically a staple character in games where many Mario characters are available for selection, such as all of the Mario Kart series, the Mario Sports series such as Golf and Tennis, and the Mario Party series. For his repeated involvement in this multitude of Mario titles, Yoshi has become a major character in the Mario universe.

In Super Smash Flash 2
If treated separately from the Mario universe, the Yoshi universe is only about as big as most of the other franchises represented in SSF2, with one character and one stage represented (for the moment), and there is no item that can be considered Yoshi-centric.

Character
The following character is considered both part of his own universe and part of the "Marioverse."


 * Yoshi: A multicolored species of bright, optimistic asexual dinosaur first seen as a mount for Mario in Super Mario World, one particular green Yoshi, who the name Yoshi is often used to refer to, is often a costar in many Mario games, and it has also been made as the star of many of its own games, often platformers and puzzle games. Yoshi are used as a mode of transportation by Mario at times, and in other cases Yoshi take it upon themselves to transport baby versions of Mario characters in games like Yoshi's Island DS. All colored species of Yoshi have the ability to swallow up enemies with their strechable tongues and eject them as Yoshi eggs, which the Yoshi can find various uses for such as throwing the eggs as projectiles. Yoshi are also able to hover in air momentarily. These abilities are directly reflected in Yoshi's appearance as a smash fighter; however, it is one of two fighters not to have a third jump in its B-Up move, which is considered a major disadvantage.

Stage
As for now, only the Brawl's Yoshi's Island version has been told for to be in Flash 2. It seems that the other 2 Yoshi's Islands from the 2 past Smashes may appear in the game.


 * Yoshi's Island (SSBB): The first Yoshi stage to be based off Yoshi's Island instead of Yoshi's Story, this stage has the appearance of being drawn with crayons and pastels. The stage changes seasons during gameplay.