Yo! Noid
Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: NES Gamepad
Genre: Platformer
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1990
Developer: Now Production
Publisher: Capcom
Players: 1
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WHAT NOIVE!

Somebody's wrecking New York City! Or maybe it's a whole gang! Wherever you go, hooligans jump out and knock you down. Can you imagine the noive!

For instance, try strolling on the wharf, and get flapped by a fish. Or go skateboarding in Central Park -- you'll get shredded by dive-bombers. And with loonies everywhere, what a time for a brownout in the Bronx!

This is what the NOID is up against, and more! In fact, it looks like his duplicate Mr. Green is causing all the antics. That's double trouble!

But the NOID's got plenty of ammo -- supernatural powers, incredible inventions, and a whiz-bang yo-yo. He just needs a pizza every now and then to keep him going!

--From the NES Yo! Noid instruction manual.

Directions:

Yo! Noid is a game of challenge, and the first indication of this is the lack of a life meter for the Noid. This means that if he's hit by an enemy, only once, he dies and you lose a life. So at times, you'll find yourself memorizing certain spots in order to overcome them easier.

But you'll need to move hastily; you have a time limit.

The Noid has a very unique means of offense to the enemies coming at him: his trusty yo-yo. With one whip of this yo-yo, he can attack enemies and cause them to fly off of the screen. Also, by collecting the scrolls in the levels, you can heighten the Noid's magic meter or find power-ups, the latter of which are found by opening large scrolls with the yo-yo.

Speaking on the magic abilities of the Noid, he can use them but at a cost. Using magic depletes the magic meter at the bottom of the screen and must be replenished with the use of scrolls: small ones filling one unit and large ones filling five units. These large scrolls could also contain the magic abilities. Amongst these are the Light Burst which kills all enemies on screen and the Dark Noid which gives our hero temporary running and jumping boosts.

What really separates this title from the rest in the NES library, or the whole video game spectrum for that matter, is the pizza-eating contests you'll find yourself in. Taking place at the end of every odd numbered stage, these serve as your bosses. The object of these card game battles is to eat more pizza than your differently colored Noid opponent. In order to win, you have to fill your pizza meter completely before your opponent does, and choosing your pizza cards wisely is how you do it. You have to choose a number of pizzas, and try to choose more than your opponent: if you choose a greater number than he does, you win the difference. To tilt the odds more in your favor, bonus cards can be found in the levels and can be useful, the pepper cards making your opponent lose a turn and the roman numeral cards multiplying their value double or triple.

Like with many games, Yo! Noid gives you the opportunity to compete in bonus levels. By access of invisible portals, you'll find yourself in games that resemble "Whack-A-Mole." You walk around an area with either 10 or 12 holes and you have to strike the moles as they pop out of their hiding places. If you hit enough during the elapsed time of 30 seconds, you get an extra continue and, if you're in an odd numbered stage, lets you skip the pizza-eating contest. Keep in mind, though: these bonus levels are nothing short of a challenge, and failure to clear these bonus levels results in the loss of a life and going back to the beginning of the level. 

Trivia:

The game is a modified version of an earlier Japanese release called Kamen no Ninja Hanamaru.

Controls:

A Button Jump
B Button Yo-Yo Attack
Down + B Use Magic
Start Button Pause Game

Reviewer: LinkOfHyrule
http://www.consoleclassix.com/nes/yo_noid.html
