Nintendo Switch Online has graced players with access to games from across the eras, be it the original NES or the 3D rendering Nintendo 64. Plenty of gamers are experiencing these classic titles for the very first time. One of those on offer is the 1997 platformer Yoshi’s Story.

Yoshi’s Story is a sequel of sorts to the SNES masterpiece Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island. In it, gamers guide the titular dinosaur on a quest to retrieve the Super Happy Tree after Baby Bowser steals it out of jealousy.

Unlike most other platformers, Yoshi’s Story isn’t as straightforward as simply running to the right and reaching a goalpost. To complete levels, players must gather up at least 30 pieces of fruit scattered across the stage. What’s more is that new levels are only unlocked by finding the hidden hearts in each level.

Yoshi’s Story is–by design–a fairly easy game to make it from beginning to end. The real challenge comes in sniffing out all of the collectibles in each stage, and earning coveted high scores. The game hints at, but doesn’t tell you directly, how to earn points. That’s where I come in to help. Follow the steps below to maximize your potential in each stage of the game!

Scoring Breakdown

When you finish a stage, you’ll be presented with a chart tallying up your points. While it may seem self explanatory, the game doesn’t tell you just how to get the most out of each category. This guide will tell you just that, but before we do so, let’s take a look at what we are aiming for:

• Fruit – These are the points you get from each piece of fruit you eat. The maximum for most levels is 1395.
• Enemies – These are points for defeating enemies.
• Coins – Every coin you collect will give you a single point.
• Hearts – There are three hearts hidden in each stage, each being worth 100 points.
• Melons – For each melon you consume, you’ll gain 100 points; eating them all will net you a cool 3,000!
• Yoshis – When you die, you will need to select another of the available Yoshis. There are six at the start, with two colors unlocked by playing the game. With all eight in tow and finishing the level without losing any, you’ll walk away with 800 points.

Eat Melons

As stated before, to complete a level you must devour 30 pieces of fruit which are placed throughout the stage. While many may eat whatever fruit they may come across, it’s much more rewarding to be a picky eater. Every Yoshi has their own favorite fruit based on their color: Red Yoshis love apples, Yellow Yoshis love bananas, and so on. Furthermore, one piece of fruit is randomly selected as a “lucky fruit,” allowing it to provide maximum points.

Points are multiplied by eating the same fruit consecutively; for each grape you eat in a row for instance, the more you’ll earn. For those looking to achieve very high scores, it’s ideal to have just one fruit in mind when going about the level, and gobbling up only those.

The problem is that there aren’t ever 30 pieces of fruit except for melons. Melons are special pieces of fruit in that every Yoshi loves them. While melons give slightly less points individually than a Yoshi’s favorite or lucky fruit, there are exactly 30 melons hidden about each stage, and when combined, they offer the highest possible fruit score which is around 1395 in each level.

Seek Out Favorite Shy Guys

Just as with fruit, Yoshi’s have a favorite type of Shy Guy that they like to defeat. This is based on their color: Red likes red, Blue likes blue, you get the picture.

You can change the color of any Shy Guy by doing a ground pound (pressing down while in the air) near it. Gamers wanting to get the most points from Shy Guys will want to be meticulous in transforming each one into their Yoshi’s favorite color.

Defeat, Not Eat, Shy Guys

Players’ first inclination when encountering enemies is to slurp them up with their Yoshi’s tongue and turn them into useful projectile eggs. Eating any color Shy Guy will give you a single point, while chomping down on a favorite will give you a total of 3!

Defeating Shy Guys by hopping or egging them will double your score though, and this is much preferred as opposed to simply licking them up. By defeating a favorite Shy Guy in this way, players will receive 6 full points!

While not always possible, defeating several enemies at once will also multiply the point total. This is primarily done by lining them up and mowing each one down with a single egg toss. Should they all be a Yoshi’s favorite color, you could net 12 points for each Shy Guy slain. That’s a load of points!

Finding the Black and White Yoshis

When beginning the game, players can choose between six colors of Yoshis: Green, Red, Pink, Purple, Blue, and Yellow. There are however Black and White Yoshis that can be uncovered during the game.

Black and White Yoshis are special in that all fruit and all Shy Guys are their favorite. This eliminates the need to carefully ground pound every Shy Guy you encounter, though you’ll still need to find the 30 melons in every level to earn maximum points.

If you lose a life playing as the Black or White Yoshi, you’ll lose access to them, and you must gather them again. This can be particularly annoying, so its best to take extra special care when guiding these rare Yoshi breeds.

Below are the places you can find these elusive dinosaurs. It should be noted that you can only have one at a time, so unfortunately you cannot gather a hoard of Black and White Yoshis.

• World 2-1 – Black Yoshi

After locating Miss Warp #4, consume the tulip located just to her left and just below an opening in the ceiling. The tulip will transform Yoshi into egg form, allowing him to be shot in any direction. Aim straight up through the opening, and toss an egg at the floating ? bubble here.

• World 2-3 – Black Yoshi

Progress until you find the floating “Help Box” that provides a tip about the “big egg.” From here, jump onto the furthest floating rock located on the left. Then, climb to the floating rock above that, and lastly hit the floating ? bubble with an egg.

• World 2-4 – Black Yoshi

After encountering Miss Warp #3 and going to the right a ways, you’ll notice green vines swinging from the ceiling. Swing from vine-to-vine all the way to the right, making sure to avoid the slug-like creatures moving up-and-down on them. The ? bubble will be located in a small alcove here. Note that you can flutter kick up to the far right vine from the ground if you time it right, but it’s difficult to see the slug enemy from here.

• World 3-2 – White Yoshi

When you reach the room where you can “leaf surf,” drop down below the very first leaf you encounter. At the bottom and to the left you’ll notice Miss Warp #2. Just above her is an opening where you can continue to the left, where the ? bubble containing the White Yoshi is located.

• World 3-3 – White Yoshi

After you find Miss Warp #3, you’ll have the choice of going through a warp vase on either the high road or the low road: choose the top vase both times. This will spit you out near a location where Poochy–Yoshi’s canine pal–is barking by a red pipe. Move to the right and go through the red pipe instead of the yellow. Here, you’ll find the ? bubble!

Those are my tips to getting the absolute most out of every level in Yoshi’s Story on the N64. Do you have any hints to add? Have you been playing this retro title since it released on Nintendo Switch Online? We want to hear your experiences in the comments below, and on our Facebook page and Discord server!

Image Source: Nintendo Insider