''Yo! Noid'', known in Japan as is a platform video game developed by Now Production and published by

Capcom is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...

for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...

. The game was first released in Japan on March 16, 1990 and was localized in the United States to promote the Noid, the mascot of Domino's Pizza. The game is in Nintendo's PlayChoice-10 arcade series and was featured in the Japanese TV show '' GameCenter CX''.

Plot

In ''Yo! Noid'', wild creatures led by Mr. Green are running amok around New York City. As they cause havoc, the Mayor of New York decides to call upon the Noid to stop his evil duplicate, save everyone, and give him a massive

pizza Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, onions ...

reward.

Gameplay

Both games use a modified engine of ''

Wagan Land is a 1989 platform video game developed and published for the Family Computer by Namco. A port for the Game Gear The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990, in Japan, in April 1991 throughou ...

'' and share the same gameplay. The protagonist (Hanamaru or Noid) has no life meter, and loses a life by either making contact with an enemy or running out of time before completing a level. For offense, both characters use different weapons (a Hawk for Hanamaru and a yo-yo for Noid) but can gather magic points by collecting scrolls and use them for screen-clearing special attacks or very rare

power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chosen ...

s, both kinds of which are found in large scrolls opened with their weapons.

Extra lives In video games, a life is a play-turn that a player character has, defined as the period between start and end of play. Lives refer to a finite number of tries before the game ends with a game over. It is sometimes called a chance, a try, rest ...

are awarded for every 20,000 points scored. Most levels are traveled on foot, but exceptions include a skateboard and an autogyro (Hanamaru uses his hawk companion for flight). Minigames vary for each version. In ''Hanamaru'', for example, the player whacks penguins in one stage and ''Yo! Noid'' uses a "Pizza Crusher" level, as on the "Avoid the Noid" advertisements. Boss battles in ''Hanamaru'' utilize a card-based system and ''Yo! Noid'' focuses on pizza-eating contests. The instruction manual of ''Yo! Noid'' includes a $1 Domino's Pizza coupon.

Development

''Kamen no Ninja Hanamaru'' was based on the ''

'' engine. During American localization, Capcom teamed up with Domino's Pizza to promote the Noid by changing a lot of graphics, sound, and presentation. However, none of the game mechanics were changed. The localized game was released in the rest of the world as ''Yo! Noid'' in November 1990. Most of the music was reused for ''Yo! Noid'', changing a few tunes and creating a few new tracks for a more American atmosphere.

Namco Bandai Games is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and ...

published the ''Wagan Land'' series, and Capcom published both ''Hanamaru'' and ''Yo! Noid''. ''Kamen no Ninja Hanamaru'' was first released in Japan on March 16, 1990.

Legacy

On August 1, 2017, a

fan-made Fan labor, also called fan works, are the creative activities engaged in by fans, primarily those of various media properties or musical groups. These activities can include creation of written works (fiction, fan fiction and review literature), ...

sequel titled '' Yo! Noid 2: Enter the Void'' was released online as freeware. Originally developed as part of the New Jam City 2017 game jam, it features elements from fifth-generation console platform games. On July 1, 2018, a "Game of a Year Edition" was released.

Notes

References

{{Domino's Pizza 1990 video games Advergames Works based on advertisements Capcom games Domino's Pizza Video games about ninja Nintendo Entertainment System games Now Production games PlayChoice-10 games Platform games Side-scrolling video games Video games about food and drink Video games developed in Japan Video games set in New York City Single-player video games