Goal Ring

This article is about the goals in the Yoshi franchise. For the goals found in New Super Mario Bros. U's Challenge Mode, see goal ring (New Super Mario Bros. U).

Goal Ring
A Red Yoshi near a goal roulette in Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
First appearance	Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995)
Latest appearance	Mario Kart Tour (2019)

A Goal Ring, also called a goal roulette or GOAL! Ring, is an object first appearing in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Goal Rings are found at the ends of all levels of the game and later installments of the Yoshi's Island series (except for castles and fortresses), acting as goal points. A Goal Ring is a circle consisting of blue dots and the Smiley Flowers the player collected in a given level. When the ring is entered, the word "GOAL!" appears in the top right corner of the screen. Trees resembling Yoshi's House stand on the other side of the Goal Ring in most courses.

History

Yoshi's Island series

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island / Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3

In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and its reissue, when a Yoshi jumps through a Goal Ring and passes Baby Mario to the next Yoshi, it starts spinning slower and slower. After a few seconds, the Goal Ring stops spinning and lands on either a blue dot or a flower. If it lands on a blue dot, nothing happens, and the player continues to the scoreboard and then the next level. However, if the roulette stops on a flower, the player instead goes to a Bonus Challenge after they leave the scoreboard. After the instant Bonus Challenge, the player goes to the next level. The spots on a Goal Ring always "bloom" in the same order when flowers are collected. The spot on the top of the Goal Ring blooms for the first flower collected, and every additional flower results in the addition of one every two spots away from the previous one in a counterclockwise direction. If the player missed a flower in the stage, the matching spot in the Goal Ring does not bloom. Landing on one of these flower buds has the same result as landing on a blue dot, thus decreasing the chances of the player's being able to play a Bonus Challenge. Four tall trees stand past the Goal Ring in most courses.

A Goal Ring always loads when the player is a certain distance away from it, and it always starts spinning from the same spot upon being loaded. As a result, the player can often manipulate whether they get a Bonus Challenge or not by entering the Goal Ring a certain amount of time after loading it. If the player collects at least three flowers in a level, they can run into the Goal Ring at full speed, and the roulette always stops on the bottom left flower position of the Goal Ring, thus always giving them a Bonus Challenge.

If the player loads in an enemy right at the other Yoshi's entrance after entering, the game soft-freezes. Hacking the game reveals that the Yoshi that picks up Baby Mario out of the air can still have status effects (such as the Fuzzy effect). However, this does not change graphics or gameplay.

According to an unused object with glitched graphics found within the game's data, a Goal Ring would have been a pump-themed goal similar to the End of Level Targets from Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest with four prizes placed in different spots rather than the prizes being selected randomly. The appropriate graphics for this unused pump goal were found on July 24, 2020, alongside other unseen assets that were not in the game's data.

Yoshi's Island DS

Goal roulettes return in Yoshi's Island DS, where they have the same role as before.

Yoshi's New Island

In Yoshi's New Island, if a Yoshi lands on a Smiley Flower as he passes through a Goal Ring, all the Smiley Flowers currently blossomed on the ring turn into Egg Medals, which are then awarded to the player.

Yoshi's Woolly World / Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World

In Yoshi's Woolly World, when Yoshi jumps through a Goal Ring, it instantly stops instead of spinning slower and slower. Also, blue dots and flower buds are replaced by beads. When Yoshi lands on a bead, the player earns extra beads. When he lands on a Smiley Flower, he proceeds to a bonus game.

In Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, if the player stops a Goal Ring on a flower, they get a chance at Gold Rush in Poochy Dash instead of a bonus game.

Mario Kart series

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

A Goal Ring appears just before the finish line of the Yoshi's Island course in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Racers are able to reach the Goal Ring only by driving along the red bridge triggered by the Winged Cloud on the course. There are eight coins gathered in the middle of the ring, but it otherwise has no gameplay effect.

Mario Kart Tour

The Goal Ring is also present in the same location on the Mario Kart Tour rendition of the Yoshi's Island course. When passed through, the Goal Ring gives players bonus points.

Other appearances

A Goal Ring also appears in the Yoshi's Island Zone DLC level in the Wii U version of Sonic Lost World, functioning identically as in the Yoshi's Island series, minus providing the opportunity to play Bonus Challenges.

Profiles

Yoshi's Woolly World

• Instruction manual description: The Smiley Flowers you collected throughout a course will appear on the Goal Ring. Pass through the ring to clear the course.

Gallery

• 

  Yoshi's New Island

• 

  Yoshi's Woolly World

• 

  Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

• 

  Mario Kart Tour

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ゴールルーレット Gōru Rūretto	Goal Roulette
	ゴールリング Gōru Ringu	Goal Ring
Chinese (simplified)	终点环[?] Zhōngdiǎn Huán	Finish Ring
Chinese (traditional)	終點環[?] Zhōngdiǎn Huán	Finish Ring
French	Anneau d'arrivée[?]	Goal Ring
German	Zielkreis[?]	Goal Ring
Italian	Anello GOAL!	GOAL! Ring	Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
	Anello meta[?]	Goal ring
Korean	골인링[?] Gorin Ring	Goal Ring
Portuguese	Aro de meta[?]	Goal Ring
Spanish	Aro de meta[?]	Goal Ring