Yo, Bro
System: TG-16
Release Date: September 1991
Developer: ICOM Simulations
Publisher: NEC
Genre: Action
We’re going to have fun, fun, fun until daddy makes us play Yo, Bro! You’re Little Bro the skateboarding bear. Professor Liverhosen has unleashed his evil creations on the state of California and it’s up to you to destroy them and save the children. Are you ready for a totally heinous skateboarding adventure?
The Beach Boys welcome you to this game and it’s literally the best thing about it. I like intricate MIDIs and these fit the bill. Unfortunately, the gameplay is trash. You skate around and have two goals. The first is collecting children walking around the screen before they get killed by the enemies. The second is you need to shoot your slingshot at enemies to destroy them. Lining up your shot or getting the right distance is incredibly difficult.
While you’re trying to kill the baddies, a dog on a hoverboard with a spinning blade will come at you. He doesn’t like to get hit with the slingshot, but will take several hits to take down. There are multiple weapons that you can switch among with the Select Button, but this is not smooth like I would prefer it to be. There are multiple cities with multiple levels each. The enemies change each round, but killing them all moves you on to the next. I couldn’t stick with it.
Graphics: 1.5
The graphics are fine, but the animations are janky.
Sound: 3.0
I appreciate the MIDI renditions of the Beach Boys songs.
Gameplay: 0.5
Trying to aim the slingshot is an exercise in frustration.
Difficulty: 0.5
The overall idea of the game isn’t difficult, but the horrible controls make it hard to play.
Fun Factor: 0.5
There’s really not much enjoyment to have here.
Overall Rating: 1.2
Yo, Bro earns a D+. It doesn’t deserve the grade it gets and you shouldn’t bother playing it.