2020/11/27: NES: Yo! Noid, The Rocketeer

[VideoGameCritic]

Let me know what this about my latest set of NES reviews.

[Mpls_Vato]

I can’t blame the VGC for the less than glowing review for Yo! Noid - a game based on an absurd, yet memorable mascot that is a good representation of an era which was full of similarly goofy mascots. The game has clearly drawn colorful graphics, decent level variety (mostly platforming with the occasional flying level and a mini-game between levels) to help mix things up and also has responsive controls. That is where the praise ends for me. The cheap one hit deaths and no checkpoints mid-level make this for an unforgiving slog. It was a game that had no reason to be “Nintendo hard” but it apparently was forced into the game by what I would consider to be a poor game development decision. If it weren’t for this the game would probably be middle of the pack in the NES’s long list of platformers in its library. It’s more frustrating than fun though. I’d probably give it a D+ or C- depending on my mood and level of patience that particular day.

[DaHeckIzDat]

I watched JonTron play Yo! Noid a few years ago, and he couldn't figure out how the pizza eating minigame was supposed to work. As far as he could tell, all you have to do to win is pick a bigger number than your opponent. If that's the case, how is that a "game" at all? It sounds more like kindergarten homework.

[VideoGameCritic]

I watched JonTron play Yo! Noid a few years ago, and he couldn't figure out how the pizza eating minigame was supposed to work. As far as he could tell, all you have to do to win is pick a bigger number than your opponent. If that's the case, how is that a "game" at all? It sounds more like kindergarten homework.

That's what I thought too but I think they throw in a few wild cards you can use strategically.

[noah98]

I think Yo Noid! is weird because it was originally the Famicom game Kamen no Ninja Hanamaru and they just tried to reskin it with the Noid license.

[mbd36]

Yo Noid is a re-skin of a ninja game that has nothing to do with pizzas. It was clever how they turned the card game boss battles into a pizza eating contest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kPrENFwZO8

[Retro STrife]

My apologies for bringing Yo! Noid to your attention, but glad to see the review come out so quick! I appreciate the opening humor (necessary in any Yo! Noid review), especially the street cred line, and totally agree that the unfair difficulty kills all enjoyment. But it’s an interesting game, even if not a good one. And as others have mentioned here, it was mostly just a cheap reskin of an existing Japanese game. But Yo! Noid isn’t all bad:

My praise for Yo! Noid is that linguistically - both in how it sounds and how it looks - I think it’s the greatest video game title of all time. I could say it all day for no reason, I could greet every person passing on the street with it, and I would die a happy man if it’s my last words (family: “what’s he saying?!” ... me: “yooooooo... noooid ughhh”). They’ll probably make a Citizen Kane 2 about it. And that random! exclamation point in the middle, genius. My praise ends there- the game completely sucks! But the name alone makes Yo! Noid worth existing and owning. ..Oh, and the cover art too, I love it.

[ThePixelatedGenocide]

The Rocketeer game is the perfect tie-in to the movie. Right now, NES action games feel just as simple and nostalgic as the pulp serials it paid tribute to.

It's the best kind of "just okay."

Also, critic, if you liked this, then you might find Dark Void Zero interesting. It's practically a spiritual sequel, except you make way more use of the rocketpack and it's easier to control.

[lynchie137]

You know, Yo Noid had the potential to be a really decent game. The graphics are good, the music is catchy and the controls are very tight and responsive. Unfortunately, the one hit deaths and lack of checkpoints really hurt this one. Was it too much trouble for the programmers to give you a health bar and a few checkpoints to make things a little easier for the player? I tell ya, there's nothing more demoralizing than having gotten deep into a level, die from either being hit by an enemy onscreen or falling down into a pit and having to start the level at the very beginning. This tends to kill the replay value for me big time, and as far as I'm concerned that is a real shame. Capcom tended to make some really good games for the NES, but they missed the boat on this one.

[GeoX]

“Perhaps it was the Noid who should have avoided me.”