Super Mario: 10 Great Songs That Defined The Franchise

9. Yoshi's Island 2 Lullaby: End Theme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAPaGu0fWDE I kind of wish they would have taken the Super Mario 2 route with Yoshi's Island for SNES and toned down the difficulty. I hate to sound like a pansy but that game, as magnificent as it is, was as hard as blazes. Thankfully, while you were losing your extra men faster than a gambler losing his nest, you had a nice soundtrack to pass the time. The main motif of the Yoshi's Island 2 soundtrack was a children's lullaby; fitting since Yoshi was tasked with protecting and essentially babysitting a pint sized toddler Mario. It's a pleasant enough theme but it only really reaches its peak during its end reprise. Here after Yoshi has defeated bowser (spoiler alert) he gives over the bundle of joy he's been protecting to the stork so he can deliver Mario (with Luigi in tow) to their would be parents. The journey that stork takes is accompanied by one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever. With every crescendo it lifts your spirits to the heights in the same way that Dire Dire Docks haunted you to the depths of your soul. The ending seconds of the song where you hear the tease of the level completion sound byte from the original game is almost enough to bring tears to your eyes. It helps if you have the visuals to go with the music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiiMtfnVhcQ