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Yo! Noid

Yo! Noid
North American cover art
North American cover art
Developer(s) Now Production
Publisher(s) Capcom
Platform(s) Nintendo Entertainment System, PlayChoice-10
Release
  • NA: November 22, 1990
  • JP: March 16, 1990
Genre(s) Platform game
Mode(s) Single-player

Yo! Noid, known in Japan as Kamen no Ninja Hanamaru (仮面の忍者 花丸?, Kamen no ninja Hanamaru, lit. "Masked Ninja Hanamaru") is a 2D action platform game developed by Now Production and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was first released in Japan on March 16, 1990 and was localized in the United States to promote the Noid, the claymation mascot of Domino's Pizza in the late 1980s. The game is also released as part of Nintendo's PlayChoice-10 series and featured in the Japanese TV show GameCenter CX.

Despite having the same gameplay, both games were different in terms of storyline.

In Yo! Noid, Wild Slime-like creatures led by Mr. Green were running amuck around New York City as they cause havoc. The Mayor of the city decided to call the Noid to stop his evil duplicate who is causing all the trouble on the city to save everyone, and get his massive pizza reward.

Both games use the modified engine of Wagan Land and shared the same gameplay. Hanamaru/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 while a yo-yo for Noid) but they can gather magic points by collecting scrolls and use them for screen-clearing special attacks or very rare power-ups, both kinds of which are found in large scrolls opened with their weapons. Extra lives are awarded for every 20,000 points scored. Most levels are traveled on foot, but some exception in levels varies which includes a skateboard and an autogyro (In Hanamaru, Hanamaru uses his hawk companion for flight). Minigames vary for each version. In Hanamaru, for example, the player whacks penguins in one stage while Yo! Noid uses a "Pizza Crusher" level, as seen on the "Avoid the Noid" commercials. Boss battles in Hanamaru utilize a card-based system while Yo! Noid focuses on Pizza-eating contests.


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