Yoshi (video game)

Last updated

Yoshi
Yoshi game cover.png
North American NES box art
Developer(s) Game Freak
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Director(s) Satoshi Tajiri [1]
Producer(s)
Designer(s) Satoshi Tajiri
Artist(s) Ken Sugimori [2]
Composer(s) Junichi Masuda
Series
Platform(s) Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy
ReleaseNES
  • JP: December 14, 1991
  • NA: June 1992
  • EU: December 10, 1992
Game Boy
  • JP: December 14, 1991
  • NA: July 10, 1992
  • EU: December 17, 1992
Genre(s) Puzzle
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Yoshi, [lower-alpha 1] known as Mario & Yoshi in PAL regions, is a puzzle video game developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo. It was released for the NES and Game Boy platforms. Both versions were first released simultaneously in Japan on December 14, 1991, and released in all other regions the following year.

Contents

In Yoshi, the player is tasked with clearing monsters from the on-screen playing field. The monsters fall in from the top of the screen to build vertical stacks; the player must prevent a stack from growing too high such that it exits the play field. In order to do so, the player swaps and moves the stacks about such that falling monsters collide with identical monsters stationed atop the stacks, causing them to be removed from play. Yoshi offers both a scoring-focused single-player mode and a competitive two-player mode.

Gameplay

The playing field is divided into four columns in which blocks fall from the top to the bottom. Yoshi for NES screenshot.png
The playing field is divided into four columns in which blocks fall from the top to the bottom.

Yoshi is a falling block game in which the player is given a playing field that is divided into four columns. The objective is to match Yoshi egg shells to hatch them and prevent the four stacks, which pile up from the falling monsters, from growing too tall. The player character, Mario, swaps the stacks around such that the falling monsters will be eliminated by coming into contact with the blocks they match.

Monsters, which consist of various Mario enemies, appear at the top of the screen and fall into each the columns, turning into blocks as they land and creating stacks that incrementally grow in height. The main objective is to prevent the four stacks from growing too high by eliminating blocks from the field; a game over occurs when any of the stacks crosses the black line drawn across the top of the play field. [3] A stack can hold up to eight objects in the NES version or seven in the Game Boy version.

To eliminate a block from the top of a stack, it must come in contact with a falling monster that matches it. For example, if a Goomba falls directly onto a Goomba block, both will be removed. The player controls Mario, who resides below the playing field and has the ability to swap the positions of any two adjacent stacks at a time. Thus, the player is required to switch around the stacks to ensure that the monsters fall into the correct places. Points are awarded for each set of monsters that are eliminated. [3]

In addition to the four different types of monsters, two halves of a Yoshi eggshell will also fall. The bottom eggshell half behaves like a monster: it disappears when it comes into contact with another bottom half. However, if a falling top half comes into contact with a bottom half, the two will join and hatch a Yoshi, earning the player bonus points. Furthermore, if a stack of monsters grows atop a bottom half and a top half is then added, all monsters between the halves will be encased and eliminated. Larger Yoshi characters will hatch depending on the number of monsters encased, which also increases the number of bonus points awarded. [3] If a falling top half does not have any bottom half to join to in the stack it touches, it is automatically removed and no points are awarded.

The single-player mode has two variations: A-Type and B-Type. In A-Type, the game is played indefinitely until the player receives a game over. In B-Type, the player plays a series of levels in which the player is required to completely clear the playing field of all the blocks. The initial number of blocks inside the playing field grows as the player progresses. In multiplayer mode, a second player controls Luigi. The two players play simultaneously in separate playing fields using the traditional rules. A player wins the match by clearing all the blocks in the field or when the other receives a game over; the first player to win three matches wins overall. [3]

Development

Yoshi was the first collaboration between developer Game Freak and publisher Nintendo. [4] Nintendo had previously passed on publishing Game Freak's first title, Mendel Palace for the NES. After the smaller company incorporated and began work on its second release, Smart Ball for the SNES, Nintendo made Game Freak the offer to develop Yoshi. [5] It was suggested by Tsunekazu Ishihara, an associate of Game Freak co-founder Satoshi Tajiri, that they develop smaller games like Yoshi in order to give the company the financial backing to eventually realize its larger-scale project, the RPG series Pokémon . [6] Yoshi was developed in six months with Tajiri as its director. [6] Ken Sugimori came up with the gameplay concept. [7] Ishihara and Yoshi creator Shigeru Miyamoto served as producers. [6] Tajiri explained that it was during the development of Yoshi that he learned the "wave" design of game difficulty in which the player is presented with an easy stage directly after a challenging one to allow them to savor their accomplishment. [7] Junichi Masuda composed the game's music and sound. Masuda stated that he spent an extensive amount of time programming the movement of the game's menu items to its music. Game Freak had also wanted to add in a realistic-sounding Yoshi voice, but Nintendo disapproved of it. [7] In 2024, a prototype of an unreleased Nintendo DS remake was discovered as part of the Game Freak "teraleak", hidden in the source code of Pokémon Black and White ; evidence led some to believe that the prototype may have been based on an unreleased Super NES version. [8]

Release

The NES version of Yoshi was made available for purchase on the Virtual Console for the Wii in 2007. The game was then re-released on September 1, 2011, as a downloadable title on the Nintendo 3DS, available only to members of the Nintendo Ambassador program. [9] Yoshi was made available for purchase in the Nintendo eShop on August 22, 2012, in Japan, on February 21, 2013, in North America and on May 2, 2013, in Europe. It was also released for the Wii U on June 12, 2013, as the part of the 30th anniversary of the Famicom with the price of 30 cents which become the regular price starting on July 12, 2013. The NES version was also released on Nintendo Switch Online on September 18, 2018.

Reception

Contemporary

Yoshi sold 500,000 copies in Japan on its first day on sale. [11] In the United States, the game topped Babbage's NES sales charts for two months in 1992, from August to September. [12] [13] In the United Kingdom, the Game Boy version still sold 100,000 copies in 1997, years after release. [14]

Upon release, the game received a positive review from the Europress gaming magazine N-Force, which stated in a preview for the game in its September 1992 issue that "basically [the game] is great. The fun of Tetris, but with colour and sound effects. Just as hard, maybe harder – definitely just as addictive." [15] It later rated the game 4 out of 5 in the Buyers' Guide for its January 1993 issue, summarizing that "Yoshi is great fun. Gameplay's nothing new – Tetris all over again! Graphics are a treat. Lots of fun – in short bursts." [10]

Retrospective

Yoshi received mixed reviews from retrospective critics, with common criticism directed towards its perceived repetitive gameplay and dependence on luck, which led to insufficient replay value. Brett Alan Weiss of Allgame called Yoshi a "surprisingly dull game," noting that while the game's controls are unique, "the novelty wears off after a while." [16]

Reviews of Yoshi's Virtual Console release on Wii in 2007 were also mixed. Both Frank Provo of GameSpot and Lucas M. Thomas of IGN rated Yoshi 5 out of 10. Thomas regarded the gameplay as "slow" and the controls "cumbersome," and concluded that the game is a "beginner's puzzler, holding little appeal for experienced players". [18] While Provo complimented both the game's graphics and music, he stated that the gameplay did not involve much strategy, inciting little reason to play more than a few minutes. [17] Nintendo Life felt that Yoshi was "uninspired", rating the game 4 out of 10. [19]

Several websites that covered recent Virtual Console releases recommended that players refrain from purchasing Yoshi. Nintendo World Report stated that "there's too much luck and chance in the game to make playing it satisfying," [20] and Joystiq also stated that "while [the gameplay is] admittedly a pretty interesting way to spend an afternoon, it still feels like kind of a ripoff." [21] Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com stated that the gameplay in Yoshi was "not enough to justify the asking price [of 500 points]," [22] though he later stated that, compared to the "uninspired" Yoshi's Cookie , Yoshi was "decent and actually had some relationship to the Mario series." [23] Nintendo Life placed Yoshi last in its ranking of 13 Yoshi games, writing: "Yoshi is hardly the most scintillating of puzzlers, but we've played worse tile-matching games in our time and it does have a relatively unique plate/column switching mechanic." [24]

Notes

  1. ↑ Known in Japan as Yoshi no Tamago (Japanese: ヨッシーのたまご, Hepburn: Yosshī no Tamago, Yoshi's Egg)

Related Research Articles

<i>Pokémon</i> Japanese media franchise

Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of video games, animated series and films, a trading card game, and other related media. The franchise takes place in a shared universe in which humans co-exist with creatures known as Pokémon, a large variety of species endowed with special powers. The franchise's target audience is children aged 5 to 12, but it is known to attract people of all ages.

<i>Dr. Mario</i> 1990 video game

Dr. Mario is a 1990 puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy. It was produced by Gunpei Yokoi and designed by Takahiro Harada. The soundtrack was composed by Hirokazu Tanaka.

<i>Mario Bros.</i> 1983 video game

Mario Bros. is a 1983 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for arcades. It was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi, Nintendo's chief engineer. Italian twin brother plumbers Mario and Luigi exterminate creatures, like turtles (Shellcreepers) and crabs emerging from the sewers by knocking them upside-down and kicking them away. The Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System version is the first game to be developed by Intelligent Systems. It is part of the Mario franchise, but originally began as a spin-off from the Donkey Kong series.

<i>Super Mario World</i> 1990 video game

Super Mario World, known in Japan as Super Mario World: Super Mario Bros. 4, is a 1990 platform game developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The player controls Mario on his quest to save Princess Peach and Dinosaur Land from the series' antagonist Bowser and the Koopalings. The gameplay is similar to that of earlier Super Mario games; players control Mario through a series of levels in which the goal is to reach the goalpost at the end. Super Mario World introduces Yoshi, a ridable dinosaur who can eat enemies.

<i>Yoshis Island</i> 1995 video game

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is a 1995 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The player controls Yoshi, a friendly dinosaur, on a quest to reunite baby Mario with his brother Luigi, who has been kidnapped by Kamek. Yoshi runs and jumps to reach the end of the level while solving puzzles and collecting items with Mario's help.

<i>Yoshis Cookie</i> 1992 video game

Yoshi's Cookie is a 1992 tile-matching puzzle video game developed by Tose and published by Nintendo for the NES and Game Boy platforms in 1992. A Super NES version was released the following year, developed and published by Bullet-Proof Software.

<i>Tetris Attack</i> 1995 video game

Tetris Attack, also known as Panel de Pon in Japan, is a puzzle video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. A Game Boy version was released a year later. In the game, the player must arrange matching colored blocks in vertical or horizontal rows to clear them. The blocks steadily rise towards the top of the playfield, with new blocks being added at the bottom. Several gameplay modes are present, including a time attack and multiplayer mode.

<i>Warios Woods</i> 1994 video game

Wario's Woods is a puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo. It was released in Japan and North America in 1994 and Europe in 1995 for both the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. A spin-off of the Mario series, players control Toad in his mission to defeat Wario, who has taken control of the Peaceful Woods. Gameplay revolves around clearing each level by using bombs to destroy groups of enemies. The game also features a multiplayer mode that allows two players to compete against each other.

<i>Pokémon Red</i>, <i>Blue</i>, and <i>Yellow</i> 1996 video games

Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Blue Version are 1996 role-playing video games (RPGs) developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. They are the first installments of the Pokémon video game series, and were first released in Japan as Pocket Monsters Red and Pocket Monsters Green, followed by the special edition Pocket Monsters Blue later that year. The games were released internationally in 1998 and 1999 as Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue, while an enhanced version named Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition, was released in Japan in 1998 and in other regions in 1999 and 2000.

Game Freak Inc. is a Japanese video game developer, best known as the primary developer of the Pokémon series of role-playing video games, and as one of the co-owners of the Pokémon series.

Satoshi Tajiri is a Japanese video game designer and director who is the creator of the Pokémon franchise and the co-founder and president of video game developer Game Freak.

<i>Mario & Wario</i> 1993 video game

Mario & Wario is a 1993 puzzle video game developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Super Famicom. Mario & Wario requires the Super Famicom Mouse accessory to play. Despite being a Japanese-only release, the game is entirely in English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junichi Masuda</span> Japanese video game developer

Junichi Masuda is a Japanese video game composer, director, designer, producer, singer, programmer and trombonist, best known for his work in the Pokémon franchise. He was a member of Game Freak where he was an employee and executive at the company since 1989 when he founded it alongside Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori. In 2022, Masuda was appointed to be Chief Creative Fellow at The Pokémon Company.

The Virtual Console is a defunct line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on past home and handheld consoles and were run in their original forms through software emulation, therefore remaining mostly unaltered, and could be purchased from the Wii Shop Channel or Nintendo eShop for between 500 and 1200 Wii Points, or using real currency, with prices depending on the system, rarity, and/or demand.

<i>Super Mario</i> Video game series

Super Mario is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario franchise. At least one Super Mario game has been released for every major Nintendo video game console. However, there have also been a number of Super Mario video games released on non-Nintendo gaming platforms. There are more than 20 games in the series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nintendo video game consoles</span>

The Japanese multinational consumer electronics company Nintendo has developed seven home video game consoles and multiple portable consoles for use with external media, as well as dedicated consoles and other hardware for their consoles. As of September 30, 2021, in addition to Nintendo Switch, Nintendo has sold over 863.07 million hardware units.

<i>Yoshi</i> (video game series) Video game series

Yoshi is a video game series of platform games and puzzle games that is a spin-off of the Mario franchise published and produced by the Japanese video game company Nintendo. The games have been developed by a variety of developers including Nintendo, Game Freak, Intelligent Systems, Artoon, its successor Arzest, Good-Feel and Bullet-Proof Software. Yoshi games have been released for Nintendo video game consoles and handhelds dating from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) to the current generation of video game consoles. Some of the original NES and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) games have been ported to Game Boy Advance or the Virtual Console.

The Nintendo data leak, also known as the Nintendo Gigaleak, is a series of leaks of data from the Japanese video game company Nintendo on the anonymous imageboard website 4chan. The leak started in March 2018, but became most prominent in 2020. Ten main sets of data leaked on 4chan, ranging from game and console source code to internal documentation and development tools. The name "Gigaleak" mainly refers to the second leak on July 24, 2020, which was 3 gigabytes in size. The leaks are believed to have come from companies contracted by Nintendo in the design of these consoles, and/or from individuals previously convicted of intrusion into Nintendo systems. An earlier, much smaller leak had also occurred in 2018 which contained the Nintendo Space World 1997 demos for Pokémon Gold and Silver.

References

  1. ↑ Peterson, Helen (November 15, 1999). "King of Craze Too Shy For Spotlight Pifather Is an Introvert". Daily News . Mortimer Zuckerman. Archived from the original on August 15, 2011. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Game Freak Director Junichi Masuda on the Making of Yoshi and Pokemon". May 25, 2019. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Yoshi Instruction Booklet. Nintendo. 1992. NES-YM-USA.
  4. ↑ Nutt, Christian (April 3, 2009). "The Art of Balance: Pokémon's Masuda on Complexity and Simplicity". Gamasutra . Informa. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  5. ↑ Hilliard, Kyle (August 9, 2017). "Game Freak's Origins And Its Pre-Pokémon Games". Game Informer . GameStop. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 Nintendo staff (July 2000). "田尻智さん（ゲームフリーク）ＶＳ石原恒和さん（クリーチャーズ）対談" [Satoshi Tajiri (Game Freak) vs. Tsunekazu Ishihara (Creatures) Talk]. Nintendo Online Magazine (in Japanese). Nintendo. Archived from the original on November 13, 2015. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 Wong, Alistair (May 24, 2019). "Game Freak Director Junichi Masuda On The Making Of Yoshi And Pokemon". Siliconera. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  8. ↑ McFerran, Damien (October 16, 2024). "Unreleased Yoshi's Egg Remake For Nintendo DS Breaks Cover Online". Time Extension. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  9. ↑ Thomas, Lucas M. (August 3, 2011). "Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors, Behold Your Final Five NES Rewards – DS Feature at IGN". Archived from the original on March 17, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  10. 1 2 "Christmas Crackers!". N-Force (7). Europress: 64. January 1993.
  11. ↑ "Season 1 Special Episode: Pokémon - Satoshi Tajiri interview". GameCenter CX . Fuji Television.
  12. ↑ "EGM Top Ten". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 39. October 1992. pp. 44–45.
  13. ↑ "EGM Top Ten". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 40. November 1992. pp. 40–41.
  14. ↑ "Christmas Editorial: Nintendo's Blue-Eyed Boy". Computer and Video Games . No. 194 (January 1998). December 12, 1997. p. 6.
  15. ↑ "Pre-Play! NES Yoshi". N-Force (3). Europress: 28–29. September 1992.
  16. 1 2 Weiss, Brett Alan. "Yoshi – Review". Allgame. Archived from the original on December 11, 2014. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  17. 1 2 Provo, Frank (July 26, 2007). "Yoshi". GameSpot.
  18. 1 2 Thomas, Lucas (July 17, 2007). "Yoshi Review". IGN. Archived from the original on August 9, 2007.
  19. 1 2 Calvert, Darren (May 17, 2007). "Yoshi (Wii Virtual Console/NES) Review". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on December 22, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  20. ↑ Rodriguez, Steven (July 10, 2007). "Virtual Console Mondays: July 9, 2007". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on July 26, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  21. ↑ McElroy, Justin (July 9, 2007). "Mach Rider, Yoshi and Air "Zonk" appear on Virtual Console". Joystiq. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
  22. ↑ Parish, Jeremy (July 23, 2007). "Retro Roundup 7/23: Paper Mario, Kirby, Zonk, Shining Force". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  23. ↑ Parish, Jeremy (April 8, 2008). "Retro Roundup 4/8: Yoshi's Cookie and Bases Loaded". 1UP.com.
  24. ↑ Gray, Kate; Nintendo Life Staff (February 22, 2023). "Every Yoshi Game Ranked". Nintendo Life . Gamer Network . Retrieved October 4, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.