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Yoshi (game)
Encyclopedia
Yoshi, known as in Japan
and Mario & Yoshi in Europe
and Australia
, is a puzzle video game developed by Game Freak
and published by Nintendo
. The game was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System
and Game Boy
console
s. Both versions were first released simultaneously in Japan on December 14, 1991, and then released in all other regions the following year.
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 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.
The NES version of Yoshi was made available for purchase on the Wii
Virtual Console
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. Yoshi is currently planned to be made available for purchase in the Nintendo eShop
before the end of 2011.
Yoshi is a falling block game in which the player is given a playing field that is divided into four columns. 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.
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.
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. 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.
s 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.
. 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."
Reviews of Yoshis Virtual Console
release in 2007 were also critical. 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". While Provo complimented both the game's graphics and music, he stated that the gameplay didn't involve much strategy, inciting little reason to play more than a few minutes. Nintendo Life felt that Yoshi was "uninspired", rating the game 4 out of 10.
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," 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." Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com
stated that the gameplay in Yoshi was "not enough to justify the asking price [of 500 points]," though he later stated that, compared to the "uninspired" Yoshi's Cookie
, Yoshi was "decent and actually had some relationship to the Mario series."
Not all reception of Yoshi was negative. The Europress
gaming magazine N-Force 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." 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."
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Mario & Yoshi in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, is a puzzle video game developed by Game Freak
Game Freak
is a Japanese video game developer that currently creates games exclusively for Nintendo. It has developed the Pokémon series of role-playing games and several other games.-History:...
and published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
. The game was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
and Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
s. Both versions were first released simultaneously in Japan on December 14, 1991, and then released in all other regions the following year.
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 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
Score (game)
In games, score refers to an abstract quantity associated with a player or team. Score is usually measured in the abstract unit of points, and events in the game can raise or lower the score of different parties...
-focused single-player mode and a competitive two-player mode.
The NES version of Yoshi was made available for purchase on the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
in 2007. The game was then re-released on September 1, 2011 as a downloadable title on the Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo 3DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo. The autostereoscopic device is able to project stereoscopic 3D effects without the use of 3D glasses or any additional accessories. The Nintendo 3DS features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS series software, including Nintendo DSi software...
, available only to members of the Nintendo Ambassador program. Yoshi is currently planned to be made available for purchase in the Nintendo eShop
Nintendo eShop
The Nintendo eShop is an online service for the Nintendo 3DS handheld gaming system. Launched on June 6, 2011 in North America and June 7, 2011 in Europe and Japan, the eShop was enabled by the release of a system update that added the functionality to the 3DS' Home Menu...
before the end of 2011.
Gameplay
Recurring enemies in the Mario series
This is a list of common enemies in the Mario series of video games. The enemies on the list are in alphabetical order.-Bloopers:Bloopers are white, squid-like creatures that first appear in Super Mario Bros. In some Mario sports games, the Mario Kart series and Super Mario Sunshine, they are...
, 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
Game over
Game Over is a message in video games which signals that the game has ended, often due to a negative outcome - although the phrase sometimes follows the end credits after successful completion of a game...
occurs when any of the stacks crosses the black line drawn across the top of the play field.
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
Goomba
Goombas, known in Japan as , are fictional species from Nintendo's series of Mario video games. They first appeared in the NES video game Super Mario Bros. as the first enemy players encounter. They have appeared outside of video games, including in film, television, and other media...
falls directly onto a Goomba block, both will be removed. The player controls Mario
Mario
is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
, 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
Score (game)
In games, score refers to an abstract quantity associated with a player or team. Score is usually measured in the abstract unit of points, and events in the game can raise or lower the score of different parties...
are awarded for each set of monsters that are eliminated.
In addition to the four different types of monsters, two halves of a Yoshi
Yoshi
, is a fictional dragon-like character who appears in video games published by Nintendo. His debut was in Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as Mario and Luigi's sidekick , and he later established his own series with several platform and puzzle games, including Super...
eggshell
Eggshell
An eggshell is the outer covering of a hard-shelled egg and of some forms of eggs with soft outer coats.- Insect eggs :Insects and other arthropods lay a variety of styles and shapes of eggs. Some have gelatinous or skin-like coverings, others have hard eggshells. Softer shells are mostly protein....
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. 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.
Game modes
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 levelLevel (video gaming)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
s 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
Luigi
is a fictional character, featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by prominent game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the slightly younger fraternal twin brother of Nintendo's mascot Mario, and appears in many games throughout the Mario series,...
. 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.
Reception
Yoshi received generally negative reviews, with common criticism directed towards its perceived repetitive gameplay and dependence on luck, which led to short replay valueReplay value
Replay value or replayability is a term found in combination with video games, but it may be also used to describe other kinds of games, movies, music, or theater plays. In video games, the term replay value is used to describe the entertainment value of playing a game more than once...
. Brett Alan Weiss of Allgame
Allgame
Allgame is a commercial database of information about arcade games, video games and console manufacturers.Allgame is owned by All Media Guide, along with Allmusic and Allmovie....
called Yoshi a "surprisingly dull game," noting that while the game's controls are unique, "the novelty wears off after a while."
Reviews of Yoshis Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
release in 2007 were also critical. Both Frank Provo of GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
and Lucas M. Thomas of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
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". While Provo complimented both the game's graphics and music, he stated that the gameplay didn't involve much strategy, inciting little reason to play more than a few minutes. Nintendo Life felt that Yoshi was "uninspired", rating the game 4 out of 10.
Several websites that covered recent Virtual Console releases recommended that players refrain from purchasing Yoshi. Nintendo World Report
Nintendo World Report
Nintendo World Report is a Nintendo-specific video game website that covers Nintendo's current consoles, the Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi, and Wii.-History:...
stated that "there's too much luck and chance in the game to make playing it satisfying," and Joystiq
Joystiq
Joystiq is a video gaming blog founded in June 2004 that has since become one of the most successful sites within the Weblogs, Inc. family of weblogs. It is the centerpiece of WIN's own network of video gaming blogs, which also includes a blog dealing specifically with the popular MMORPG World of...
also stated that "while [the gameplay is] admittedly a pretty interesting way to spend an afternoon, it still feels like kind of a ripoff." Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
stated that the gameplay in Yoshi was "not enough to justify the asking price [of 500 points]," though he later stated that, compared to the "uninspired" Yoshi's Cookie
Yoshi's Cookie
is a puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, and SNES. It was re-released for the Virtual Console.- Overview :...
, Yoshi was "decent and actually had some relationship to the Mario series."
Not all reception of Yoshi was negative. The Europress
Europress
Europress was a British magazine and software publisher. Their magazine publishing business was previously known as Database Publications.-History:...
gaming magazine N-Force stated in a preview for the game in its September 1992 issue that "basically [the game] is great. The fun of Tetris
Tetris
Tetris is a puzzle video game originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union. It was released on June 6, 1984, while he was working for the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Academy of Science of the USSR in Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic...
, but with colour and sound effects. Just as hard, maybe harder – definitely just as addictive." 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."