Practice Hack

What Is The Practice Hack?

Created by Arnethegreat, the practice hack is a modified version of Yoshi's Island that has save-states, slow down and many other useful tools for practicing/learning the game. More info. at: https://github.com/Arnethegreat/yoshisisland-practice-hack

How Do I Use The Practice Hack?

You will need a flash cartridge to run it on hardware with an SD card formatted to FAT32 or simply an emulator. Currently, the only devices that can run the practice hack are the Super UFO Pro 8 and the SD2SNES (now known as the FXPAK). This is because no other flash cartridges support the Super FX 2 enhancement chip.

• If you're using a Super UFO pro 8 you will need to download the version of the practice hack that matches the version of your Yoshi's Island cartridge, otherwise it won't work. Check out the version differences page to determine what version you have.
• If you're using an SD2SNES, just download the Japanese version of the game (its slightly faster than English).
• Copy the practice hack ROM from your computer and place it onto your SD card. Any SD card should work - the practice hack is only 2 MB.
• Insert your SD card into your flash cartridge.
• Play the game.

Features

The practice hack has several useful features that make practicing and learning the game easier and more efficient.

• All save files start on the hasty control style instead of patient. Check out the controls page for more information.
• A second controller may be used for easier access to certain features. Those will be pointed out when applicable.

Complete Save:

• Hold L or R when selecting file 3 to enter a fully unlocked save file.

Level Intros:

• Press any button to skip the level name text as soon as possible. This won't work for some levels like 2-2 and 6-6 because they are big and need more time to load.

Level Clear:

• Press L+select when in the pause menu during a level to leave the level and mark it as cleared. Note: this doesn't save until you beat the level legit.

Practice Hack Menu:

Default Practice Hack Menu

• Press L+R+start to open the practice hack menu at any time or just press start on controller 2.
• Press start on either controller to close the menu.
• Press up/down on the dpad to scroll through the list.
• Press any face button to activate a feature.
• ! = on
• X = off

Savestate:

• Press select to make a savestate inside of a level.
• Press X to load your savestate.
• Press L+X to do a full load (this will regenerate terrain and regular coins).
• Press R+X to reload from your last screen entrance.
• Eggs and items will be preserved when a savestate is loaded.

Disable Autoscroll:

• This will disable any currently active autoscrolling section.
• Press Y on controller 2 to activate without using the menu.

Warp To Boss:

• This will warp you to the beginning of the boss room inside of any X-4 or X-8 level.
• Press A+X on controller 2.

Music Toggle:

• This will toggle the music on and off. Note: re-enabling the music will cause the default track for the current room you're in to play. In some rooms the music might not be correct, however, loading a savestate will fix this.
• Press select on controller 2 to activate without using the menu.

Free Movement:

Menu With Several Settings Changed

• This will allow you to move around faster and easier without collision, though, Gusties can still hit you.
• Hold A to move faster.
• Press B on controller 2.

Egg Editor:

• This will allow you to edit your egg count, order and type.
• This must be done before entering a level for it to take effect, though, editing your eggs inside of a level, exiting via start+select and then re-entering will also work.
• Press up/down to move the cursor left/right respectively.
• Press A/Y to increase/decrease your egg count.
• Press A/Y while hovering over an egg slot to change its type. The available option are green, yellow, red, flashing, flashing upside down key (boss key), green/red big egg, chicken and key. Check out the eggs page and the boss key section of the null egg page for more information.

Slowdown Amount:

• This will allow you to slow the game down.
• Press A/Y to increase/decrease the speed of the game.
• Press R/L on controller 2.

Full Load As Default:

• This will toggle the way savestates are loaded between normal and full.
• When on, pressing X will do a full load and L+X will be a normal load.

Set Tutorial Flags:

• This will toggle the tutorial text boxes on/off. These are the one-time text boxes that pop up when you do things for the first time, such as getting hit, collecting a flower or entering a middle-ring.

Disable Kamek At Boss:

• This will disable Kamek's text box at the start of every boss fight.

What Is The SD2SNES?

The SD2SNES is a flash cartridge that is modeled after Super Famicom and SNES carts and is not region locked. It is basically a powerful emulator that can run 99% of SNES games (including romhacks) on an actual SNES/SFC via a micro SD card. It also supports a majority of enhancement chips [1], namely the Super FX 2 chip that Yoshi's Island uses. The firmware is free to download but the hardware is rather pricey (around $200 new). The trade-off is that its super reliable and fast, two things that the UFO lacks.

What Is The Super UFO Pro 8?

Similar to the SD2SNES, the Super UFO Pro 8 is another flash cartridge that can run ROMs on console via SD card. It is shaped very similarly to Super Famicom cartridges with a removable cap on the top that allows you to insert an SNES/SFC cartridge. Unfortunately, when running Yoshi's Island, the UFO is often unreliable and can crash at random (probably due to needing the actual cartridge plugged in on top), making it annoying to use for practice. In all honesty, its probably best to avoid this flash cart and get the SD2SNES instead. At one time this was the only way to run the practice hack on console (and it was cheaper) but that's not the case anymore.