Yoshi's Cookie (NES review)

Developer: Bullet-Proof Software

Publisher: Nintendo

Released: 1993

 

Yoshi's Cookie is a puzzle game that was also released on the Game Boy and Super Nintendo.

 

Single Player has ten rounds (with ten stages each) and the objective is to line up similar patterned cookies either horizontally or vertically to clear rows. Once you eliminate all of them from the play area you move onto the next round. Six different cookies are available including a special Yoshi cookie that can be used with any other combination; to gain the latter you must eliminate 15 of the same type to fill up the metre on the bottom right. The controls are perfect and I love that you can cycle through an entire row without selecting the cookie you want as it allows you to match things up quicker. The action feels fluid and the fact that the play area continually changes in size (depending on the amount of cookies) keeps you on your toes. In VS. mode two players battle on a 5 x 5 grid and the objective is to remove rows to fill up a point metre; the first person to do so wins. By removing an entire row you gain a Yoshi cookie and when you have five of them you can attack your opponent by obscuring part of their grid or scrambling their moves. The action is frantic and laugh-out-loud funny but it does have one annoying flaw; every time you're about to use the Yoshi cookie you have to ensure that the text at the top of the screen doesn't say your player's name as you'll inadvertently use the attack on yourself! In theory it sounds like a good idea but you end up waiting around while your friend happily clears lines; on top of this a timer constantly winds down and if you don't remove a row quick enough you forfeit the match! A option to turn this off would have been ideal so you can just pummel your friend instead!

Yoshi's Cookie is a fun and unique take on the puzzle genre that gets more addictive the more you play. The single player game is great and it also has a good multiplayer mode if you can look past the annoying flaws in the attack methods.

 

 

Random trivia: This version was re-released on the Wii Virtual Console in 2008.