♦ Livestream of 2 ZZT worlds. ♦
♦ Stream Contents ♦
• (1:09) “Yoshi 1” by Chris Kohler (1993) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/yoshi1/]
• (1:09:32) “Yoshi 2” by Chris Kohler (1993) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/yoshi2/]
Edit: Before I forget, there may be some abrupt noises early on thanks to roofers showing up just as the stream started.
The first steps in a journey to revisit some of ZZT's most iconic worlds. Chris Kohler's (yes that one) Yoshi fan games wound up becoming formative works for a number of other ZZTers, got a number of ZZTers to discover ZZT in the first place, and are pretty much assumed to have been played by everyone in the community throughout the 90s and early 2000s. These games spawned sequels and created an entire genre of Yoshi-Likes. There were earlier fan games, but Chris's marks the first one that felt connected to the source material thanks to its efforts to recreate the writing style of the Mario World cartoon, and structuring the games around the world map of the game.
The first Yoshi game looks like any other newbie game, full of yellow borders and haphazard geometry with koopa troopa lions sprinkled around. Where it stands out though, is in its character interactions. Chris's sense of humor is definitely that of a child, but a surprisingly number of gags still hold up. Everything is quite silly including Chris's non-Mario characters based on real life teachers now turned into Disco-maniacs. Thanks to viewer Zinfandel as well who comes through with plenty of info about the game's origins and character choices. We're still wondering who Yoshi's wife Paula is...
The second game follows the Mario World Map outright, providing a lot of charm with Chris's ZZT-takes on ghost houses, switch palaces, and a battle with Reznor in the northern fortress. Improved graphics are quickly noticed, with Chris's coding skills improving just as much. The song parodies, disco floors, and toilet humor continue, accompanied by more challenging gameplay with Mario World's branching paths being incorporated into the game. (Though some more ammo would be nice).
I didn't expect these games to remain so enjoyable 30 years later, but it's easy to see why the game has the legacy it does. Chris gets to do the manic creative expression of hyperfixated on Nintendo child, but is capable of sharing that joy with a way players can comprehend thanks to the anchor point of the original Mario World. Where other fan games require familiarity with the source material to make sense of how the author replicates the experience in ZZT, the Yoshi series takes advantage of the cast's then fairly undefined personalities, along with its own unique additions that make it far more approachable and a heck of a lot of fun. I mean, I didn't even mention the ferret.
♦ Play these worlds directly in your browser ♦
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/yoshi1/
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/yoshi2/
♦ Originally streamed on August 8th, 2025 ♦
