Sentences written about this title, gathered by type from the Japanese and English Wikipedia articles (as of 2026-8-30).
It was the first title Game Freak, known for developing the Pokemon series, was involved in developing as a game published by Nintendo.
On the Wii U it was offered for 30 yen from 2013-6-12 to 7-11 as part of the "Famicom 30th Anniversary Wii U Virtual Console Trial Campaign". It was the only one of the 7 campaign titles in which Luigi appears, and so the only one that also tied in with the "Year of Luigi".
Both versions were first released simultaneously in Japan on December 14, 1991, and released in all other regions the following year.
Yoshi was the first collaboration between developer Game Freak and publisher Nintendo.
Nintendo had previously passed on publishing Game Freak's first title, Mendel Palace for the NES.
The game was then re-released on September 1, 2011, as a downloadable title on the Nintendo 3DS, available only to members of the Nintendo Ambassador program.
Yoshi sold 500,000 copies in Japan on its first day on sale.
Masuda stated that he spent an extensive amount of time programming the movement of the game's menu items to its music.
Upon release, the game received a positive review from the Europress gaming magazine N-Force, which stated in a preview for the game in its September 1992 issue that "basically [the game] is great.
While Provo complimented both the game's graphics and music, he stated that the gameplay did not involve much strategy, inciting little reason to play more than a few minutes.
Nintendo Life felt that Yoshi was "uninspired", rating the game 4 out of 10.
Nintendo World Report stated that "there's too much luck and chance in the game to make playing it satisfying," and Joystiq also stated that "while [the gameplay is] admittedly a pretty interesting way to spend an afternoon, it still feels like kind of a ripoff.
Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com stated that the gameplay in Yoshi was "not enough to justify the asking price [of 500 points]," though he opined that, compared to Yoshi's Cookie which he considered "uninspired", Yoshi was "decent" and claimed it "actually had some relationship to the Mario series.
Hardcore Gaming 101 considered Yoshi the weakest Nintendo puzzle game out of Dr. Mario and Yoshi's Cookie, deeming that it "is far lacking in challenge and catchiness" compared to them.
On the Wii U it was offered for 30 yen from 2013-6-12 to 7-11 as part of the "Famicom 30th Anniversary Wii U Virtual Console Trial Campaign". It was the only one of the 7 campaign titles in which Luigi appears, and so the only one that also tied in with the "Year of Luigi".
Game magazinesIn the "Cross Review" of Famitsu it scored a total of 24 out of 40. In the "Game Report Card" reader poll run by Family Computer Magazine, it scored 22.2 out of 30, as shown below.
In the "Cross Review" of Famitsu it scored a total of 22 out of 40. In the "Game Report Card" reader poll run by Family Computer Magazine, it scored 22.6 out of 30, as shown below.
Yoshi sold 500,000 copies in Japan on its first day on sale.
In the United Kingdom, the Game Boy version still sold 100,000 copies in 1997, years after release.
Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com stated that the gameplay in Yoshi was "not enough to justify the asking price [of 500 points]," though he opined that, compared to Yoshi's Cookie which he considered "uninspired", Yoshi was "decent" and claimed it "actually had some relationship to the Mario series.
It was produced for the Super Famicom as Super Yoshi no Tamago, but became an unreleased title.
In 2024, a prototype of an unreleased Nintendo DS remake was discovered as part of the October 2024 Game Freak leak, hidden in the source code of Pokémon Black and White; evidence led some to believe that the prototype may have been based on an unreleased Super Famicom version.
Upon release, the game received a positive review from the Europress gaming magazine N-Force, which stated in a preview for the game in its September 1992 issue that "basically [the game] is great.
It later rated the game 4 out of 5 in the Buyers' Guide for its January 1993 issue, summarizing that "Yoshi is great fun.
The title "Yoshi no Tamago" was also named by Yokoi. In the same interview it is said that Hiroshi Yamauchi, then president of Nintendo, was surprised when he first heard the title, but later accepted it, saying "it is a good name".
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