Finding Christ in the Classics: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

Note: Finding Christ in the Classics will focus on finding Christian elements in old games. Not going crazy with it, such as comparing Mario's coin collecting with the Israelites collecting gold to melt into an idol, but just a general Christian theme. Hopefully I'll run this once a week.

Of all the games under the Mario umbrella, my favorite happens to be one where you don't even control the plumber himself. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island doesn't get the credit it deserves when it comes to the greatest games of all time. Beautiful graphics that looked hand drawn with crayon, relaxing music painted with the word "fun," solid controls, and an interesting way to dispose of your enemies (you can do the hop and bop, or eat them and turn them into eggs which you get to fling).



But can we find Christ in this game without reaching too far? I'd say yes, starting with:

Yoshi's quest to save the children - So here's the general storyline: Baby Luigi is kidnapped by Kamek, and all the Yoshis (yup, there's a lot more than just the green one), travel with Baby Mario throughout different levels, passing him along at the end of each of them.

In some strange way, I can see the parallel to Joseph and Mary taking baby Jesus to Egypt with them. In the Mario universe, Mario grows up to become a hero/saviour to the Mushroom Kingdom, thwarting King Koopa's kidnapping/conquering plans. In Christ's early years, Herod tried killing him because he feared that Jesus would become a mighty king and threaten his reign. No, Mario didn't die on a cross for our sins (staying away from the 1-Up jokes here), but the idea of protecting a child who would go on to become a saviour was perfected 2,000 years ago.

Plus, remember what Jesus said in Matthew 19:14: "Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." I think God would smile kindly on the entire community of Yoshis to sacrifice their lives to save two infant children.


You gotta be patient - Patience is one of the fruits of the spirit. And boy does this game test my patience when you lose baby Mario: that loud wailing might be the most annoying sound in all of video games. However, now that I play the game as an adult, I think it's a great introduction to my OWN screaming children I'll have someday. If an electronic baby Mario can annoy me to no end, what's it going to be like when I have a child with his own annoying wail that I can't silence after seven seconds or by hitting my TV's mute button. I think when my Bride and I get pregnant, I'll play this game once a day to prepare myself. Isn't that what being a good, Godly parent is all about?

And finally, Yoshi makes eggs. - Yoshi doesn't have great powers. He makes eggs that he shoots. And that's it. No fire power, no amazing weaponry. Just simple eggs that he flings through the air to destroy his enemies. Sound familiar? Like maybe a young shepherd boy using five smooth stones to slay a giant?

Actually, Yoshi's eggs bring to mind the fact that God has given all of us special talents. Paragraph 2043 of the Catechism says "The faithful also have the duty of providing for the material needs of the Church, each according to his own abilities." Remember the parable of the three servants who were given money by their masters? Two of them used it for great good, the other hid it. Like Yoshi, we all have different abilities and talents. Some of us have great math skills. Others are good athletes. And some of us blog about classic video games and try to tie them to faith.

And if your Yoshi, you fling eggs because that's what you're good at, and using that talent helps others (like saving the lives of two babies) and in turn, glorifies God.

Finding Christ in the Classics: Sonic the Hedgehog

Note: Finding Christ in the Classics will focus on finding Christian elements in old games. Not going crazy with it, such as comparing Mario's coin collecting with the Israelites collecting gold to melt into an idol, but just a general Christian theme. Hopefully I'll run this once a week.

As much as I loved Mario growing up, I have more fun playing the original Sonic the Hedgehog nowadays than I do on any of the plumber's classic adventures. And I realize that later Sonic games are vast improvements over the original (adding the spin dash, bigger levels, more characters), but there's something about the original that holds my imagination hostage.

It's your standard platformer with a speed gimmick, and looking back, there isn't anything too groundbreaking about it other than that speed. You move left to right, jump on bad guys to destroy them, collect things of value in each level, and fight a boss at the end of a section of levels. I could have just described Mario, Bonk or Sonic, so let's spare any "Sonic was innovative" arguments and just enjoy the game for what it was/is: a damn good platformer.

On the surface, there's nothing inherently Christian about the game. Sonic doesn't pray the rosary before each level. You don't visit any churches, and the game doesn't quiz you on Bible verses. But I do believe you can find spiritual themes throughout this game. Such as:

A love for animals: Other than Dr. Robotnik, there are no true villains in this game, just enslaved animals. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraph 2418) says that causing animals to suffer or die needlessly is contrary to human dignity, something Sonic fights against. He saves these animals from this suffering, acting as a good steward of Christ. And if you equate animals to human life in this game (Robotnik is the only human in the game), then you are literally saving another person's life. Very noble of the Hedgehog

Freedom from sin: If you wanted to take things a bit further, you could equate Sonic freeing animals from being captive servants to Christ freeing us from the clutches of Sin. When we walk around in sin, we're like the animals in this game: enslaved. But Sonic (Christ) sets us free and gives us new life.

Who knew that you could find similarities in Christ with a spiky haired blue hedgehog?

Failure of Technology: No I'm not going to go into this whole rant about technology being the sign of the end times. But I like that, no matter how technologically advanced Robotnik is, he's still just as weak as he was to start the game. For all of his technical prowess, it isn't enough to stop good from conquering evil.

And don't we see that in scripture? People decided to build The Tower of Babel as a monument to their own greatness, thinking so highly of themselves. And God struck them down, scattering them with different languages. Isn't it nice to see Sonic strike down Robotnik, who thought so highly of himself that he decided to try conquering Mobius?

Robotnik is a good lesson for all of us. No matter how great we as a society think we've become, no matter how advanced we think our philosophies are, we've got nothing on the Creator. Just like Robotnik, our tech and skills are no match for the power of God.

Next time you play Sonic the Hedgehog, just think to yourself: I'm playing out a really intricate Salvation story. Or just have fun playing.