Screenshot of falling stone blocks inYoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3

Cascading Stones,^[1] also described asfalling stone blocks^[2] orfalling blocks,^[3] areplatforms of various shapes and sizes found in platform games of theYoshi franchise. When stood upon by the player character, they fall down into the ground or off the screen.

History

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island /Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3

Falling stone blocks first appear inSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. They initially stand in midair, but if aYoshi steps on one, it shakes and starts descending continuously. Depending on their positioning, they may either drop down into an abyss or crash onto the ground and come to a stop. The Yoshi loses a life if he is caught between a stone block and a platform. Falling stone blocks appear inVisit Koopa And Para-Koopa,Lakitu's Wall, andShifting Platforms Ahead; inYoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, they additionally appear inExercise in the Skies. The course Visit Koopa And Para-Koopa features a vertically scrolling section with stone blocks that drop by themselves from above, requiring the Yoshi to navigate them and stay on top of the continually rising tower of blocks in order to progress.

Yoshi's Island DS

InYoshi's Island DS, the typical Cascading Stones mainly appear inRock 'n' Fall, though other behaviors appear elsewhere; some fall only when terrain under them is destroyed with anegg, while others stand on solid ground and can be raised with a switch. A type known asSliding Blocks^[4] appears inTap-Tap's Sunken Cave andTeeth-Chattering Chill Zone.

Yoshi's New Island

Cascading Stones reappear inYoshi's New Island as a feature ofKoopa Canyon, where their falling behavior was slightly altered, as they shake before abruptly falling instead of a more gradual descent. Similar terrain appears inCrumble Rock Rumble.

Yoshi's Woolly World /Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World

Screenshot fromYoshi's Woolly World

InYoshi's Woolly World, Cascading Stones reappear with the same behaviors as before. As with most objects in the game, they are made out of yarn. They keep with the gradual falling from non-Yoshi's New island games. They are in the coursesLakitu Peekaboo,Vamoose the Lava Sluice!, andSkeleton Goonies' Lava Lair. They have a number of uses, as they can form one way exits, be used in an obstacle course that falls away, drop down of their own volition to crush Yoshi, or drop down of their own volition to cover up items such that the player can no longer grab them again. The last of these can also block off entrances to locations. Some Cascading Clouds only start falling when a nearbyWinged Cloud is used. Skeleton Goonies' Lava Lair consists entirely of Cascading Stones overlava, save for the course's final platform. Some items in the course are covered by Cascading Stones, unable to be seen or collected until the stone falls away from the item.

Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World retains all uses of Cascading Stones and adds a new one: the courseHotheaded Lava Fields in thePoochy Dash mode. Hotheaded Lava Fields only has separated blocks or blocks in downward staircase formations, so they can be easy crossed withPoochy's automatic movement.

Names in other languages

Notes

• During development ofSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, the stone was dubbed「テトリスブロック」(Tetorisu Burokku,Tetris Block).^[6] The way in which the multiple differently-shaped blocks fill in an empty well resembles a game ofTetris.

References

• Blocks
• Platforms
• Hazardous objects
• Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island objects
• Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
• Yoshi Touch & Go
• Yoshi's Island DS objects
• Yoshi's New Island objects
• Yoshi's Woolly World objects

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• Articles with unsourced foreign names