It is the only Mario franchise game to feature first-person shooter gameplay and requires the SNES's Super Scope light gun.

As Mario and his pet dinosaur Yoshi, the player embarks on a quest to save the kingdom of Jewelry Land from Bowser and his Koopalings, who have kidnapped its rulers and stolen 12 gems.

[4] The player loses lives if enemies deplete their health bar, if they fall down a pit with less than three coins, or if they fail to complete the level within the allotted time.

[7] Series antagonist Bowser and his Koopalings kidnap Jewelry Land rulers King Fret and Prince Pine, and steal the 12 magic gems that protect the kingdom from harm, causing an earthquake that splits it in two.

[7] Princess Peach sends Mario and Yoshi on a quest to defeat Bowser, retrieve the gems, and set the two rulers free.

Nintendo management realized the peripheral's relevance was waning and commissioned the company's R&D1 department to develop a Super Scope game featuring Mario.

According to IGN, Nintendo's decision to soften the blood and gore in the SNES version drew public attention away from Yoshi's Safari.

[2] While Yoshi's Safari failed commercially, which IGN attributed to its reliance on the Super Scope and the Mortal Kombat debacle,[2][3] it did receive praise from video game journalists.

[5] Critics also commended the gameplay, with Joypad and Nintendo Magazine System calling Yoshi's Safari the best Super Scope title.

[5] The game had more depth than other Super Scope titles, Nintendo Magazine System wrote, because of its variety and branching level paths.

[5][7][10] Nintendo Magazine System's reviewers said they finished the entire game in one sitting and estimated it would provide at most a week of entertainment,[7] while EGM wrote players "may be tempted to turn your SuperScope [sic] on yourself and end it all!

Nintendo would later revive old games from its back catalog through its Virtual Console service, but Yoshi's Safari has never been rereleased, and IGN noted its 25th anniversary passed in 2018 with little fanfare.

[2][3] IGN lamented the obscurity of Yoshi's Safari in a 2019 retrospective and felt it deserved more recognition, writing the game was and still is a standout in the Mario franchise.