Yo! Noid
System: NES
Release Date: November 1990
Developer: Now Production
Publisher: Capcom
Genre: Action
If you want to ruin some pizza, you just yell out Yo! Noid! A bunch of no good hoodlums are wrecking shop in New York City. It’s up to the Noid, Domino’s pizza ruining mascot of the 1980s, to clean up the city. The Green Noid has been up to no good and 14 levels stand between you and him, so get ready to eat.
We’ve got your typical uninspired platformer here. The Noid jumps with the A Button and attacks with his yo-yo with the B Button. There’s a big emphasis on hidden blocks that need to be hit with your yo-yo. You also have to keep an eye out on enemies, like these fish, that appear where you’re not expecting them. The Noid has no ability to take a hit, so running into someone means your death. Except for the enemies that you can jump on. Trial and error is your best friend here, leading to many deaths to learn all you need to know.
There are scrolls that you collect during each stage that act as magic points. Large scrolls will either count as five MP, or can be attacked to reveal a spell. The snowflake looking icon kills most enemies on screen. The odd symbols shakes the screen and kills land based enemies. The dark Noid increases your speed and jumping ability. These are activated by pressing the B Button and down simultaneously. I didn’t use them much, but I probably should have.
Some levels have special gimmicks to them. There’s a boat level that you have to jump on them and hit icons that build bridges for you. There are a couple Ornithopter levels where you have to tap the A Button to stay flying and avoid obstacles. There’s a skateboarding level where you need to jump over and into certain baddies while trucking along. You start with three continues, but can earn an extra if you happen to find the Whack a Mole secret level. Enemies act unpredictably, like these balloons that turn to stone.
After every few levels, you face off against a counterfeit Noid in a pizza eating contest. Each Noid has 16 cards that must be chosen strategically. The computer chooses a numbered card at random. This represents how many pizzas they will eat. Choosing a card with a higher number gives you pizzas to eat, but choosing a card with a lower number gives them pizzas to eat. Your goal is to fill your pizza meter before them. This is where the special icons found in the stages come in handy because they can double or triple the number on the card, cause your opponent to not eat what he’s chosen, or even make him suffer a reversal of fortune on pies he’s already downed. Beating the final Green Noid rewards you with some scenes and more pizza.
Graphics: 2.0
Everything looks interesting enough, but I can’t call it good.
Sound: 2.0
Music and sounds are serviceable at best.
Gameplay: 2.0
Noid controls alright and there are a number of things that he can do to get through a level.
Difficulty: 1.5
There’s a lot of cheap difficulty spikes that require you to die and figure out where spawns are going to happen, or what guys you can kill or not.
Fun Factor: 1.5
I didn’t really enjoy it a lot, but it had its moments.
Overall Rating: 1.8
Yo! Noid earns a C. I wouldn’t call this much of a success, just like the mascot itself.