In Super Mario Sunshine, Yoshi is here for "hardcore" platform...
what am i reading....
you're going to have to explain me what's hardcore platform about spamming a completely busted spin jump (which is the only thing yoshi can do).
And, by the way, what you referred previously as the spin jump, for yoshi, is actually two separated moves. Yoshi's spin jump is pretty much the same as mario's. The difference is that, because yoshi can't use fluud, they gave yoshi an aditional move.
If you rotate the analog stick 360º while mario (not yoshi) is in the air, he will start spinning, but continue falling. However, if you do the same thing with yoshi, and hold the "a" button afterwards, yoshi will actually start going upwards while spinning. So, you gain a bit of heigh, and you can travel a significant horizontal distance before falling. This action can be done, with yoshi, in midair, after any of his jumps (aside from the tripple jump).
So, in sunhine, unlike in the other mario games, to extend a jump with yoshi, instead of simpy holding "a" to use yoshi's "flutter jump" (where he does his characteristic noise while moving his legs), it's better to rotate he stick 360º, right as you hold "a", to use yoshi's mid air spin instead.
What happens when you do a spin jump with yoshi, is that you're already spinning (because you've already rotated the stick, to do the spin jump from the ground) and you're also holding the "a" button already (to do a high spin jump), so, when the spin jump ends, and before you start to fall, you automatically transition into yoshi's mid air spin (which gives you an aditional bit of heigh and extends your jump horizontally even further).
So, yoshi's spin jump is not "the highest and longest jump in the game", as that's the combination of two separated actions. The second part of what you call the "spin jump", can also be used with both the regular jump and the double jump.
If the player does not realize that yoshi's "spin jump" is actually two separated actions, they will only use the second part when doing a spin jump (as it happens automatically). However, if they are aware of it being two different actions, they can also use the second one to further extend their regular or double jumps.
And when you're talking, you're telling me that Yoshi is less fun than Mario to control : I think it is always the case in all Mario games ! Yoshi is just a BONUS in the Mario games and is ALWAYS less fun to control than Mario (even in Super Mario World or Super Mario Galaxy 2). Yoshi has always been considered like a "power-up item" in all Mario games, but the gameplay's core in all Mario games has always been Mario itself without power-up.
this is a pretty weak defense, as yoshi is not a downgrade at all, in world or galaxy 2, compared to the extent that he is in sunshine.
Like you said yourself, yoshi was actually a power up in super mario world (he could spit fire, you could use him as a platform to jump from him while in mid air, sending him to his dead, but saving yourself, ect...).
Maybe you want to post a list of what moves mario lost in those games when using yoshi, and we compare it to the list a made for sunshine? lol
Moves than mario lost when using yoshi in shunshine:
- side flip
- wall kick
- the dive (the "b" button), and it's two folloups.
- dive jumps (canceling the startup of a jump with a dive)
- the water pack (both spaying water and floating in mid air)
- swimming
- being able to spray water in front of you, then dive into it, so that mario would slide super fast across the stage
- interaction with ropes
...
Yoshi was the opposite of a powerup in sunshine. You didn't gain anything from using him, and lost most of your moveset for traversal in a 3D space. You needed him for some shines, that was about it.
are we done here?

like, how is anyone defensing yoshi's inclusion in sunshine? he was so bad.