NES – Yoshi (Tetris Clone)
November 8, 2008 - 9:50 am - Posted by Sean
You might be expecting a side-scrolling romp, but Yoshi for the NES is actually a well-constructed Tetris clone.
The Yoshi game “board” features four slots, with objects like ghosts, squid, eggshells, and plants falling from the top.
When you stack two of the same type, they disappear and you score but instead of moving the falling pieces, you swap the columns using Mario on the bottom of the screen.
As with Tetris, the game demands fast reflexes and quick thinking, especially as columns begin to grow. It sounds simple enough, but there’s one little wrinkle.
If you allow the top half of an egg to fall on a column that contains a bottom half, the two will join and eliminate everything in between – resulting in a nice bonus. This not only adds strategy, but also encourages a certain degree of risk-taking.
Yoshi for the Nintendo Entertainment System isn’t much to look at and the music is only fair, but a game like this doesn’t require a lot of flare.
Several skill levels and speed variations are available. There’s a two-player head-to-head mode, but it’s flawed. Instead of competing for score, the winner is the player who lasts longest, which does not encourage competitive play.
Overall I think Yoshi is a charming little title that should appeal to fun-loving gamers of all ages. You can pick it up for less then $6.00 USD on eBay.
I had no idea that Yoshi was a Tetris puzzle style game. Damn. I’ve seen this game a few times at my local thrift store and passed it up and now that I want it, I probably won’t ever see it again.
@Rob: I’ve never actually seen this game a thrift store but doing another quick check on eBay and I see the 90 day average for this game is less then $4.00 right now, which is about what it would cost at a thrift store. I say check eBay if you really want this game. It’s a lot of fun for sure.
I so played this and I thought it was really hard.
@Karissa: I agree, Yoshi is a lot more difficult verses Tetris but it’s still a lot of fun to play.
Yoshi was a fun one. Great for two-players. My brother and I would get pretty intense on this one.