Yoshi's Cookie

Yoshi's Cookie is a puzzle game developed by Bullet-Proof Software and released by Nintendo in 1992 for the NES, SNES, and Game Boy. It was later re-released for the GameCube alongside Dr. Mario 64 (labeled Dr. Mario) and Panel de Pon (the original version of Tetris Attack) in the Japan-only game Nintendo Puzzle Collection in which a story mode is added. Though it is not a puzzle game, the mini-game Egg found in Game & Watch Gallery 3 is somewhat similar to Yoshi's Cookie as it also involves Yoshi eating cookies falling from the sky. Also bearing similarity is the mini-game Mario's Cement Factory found in Game & Watch Gallery 4, where Mario creates the Yoshi's Cookie cookies instead of cement in the modern version. The stage from the game also makes an appearance in Tetris DS.

Gameplay
The object of the game was to clear the stage of cookies, which would be coming from the top and the right of the screen. To clear cookies, the player would need an entire row of the same cookies either horizontally or vertically. To move the cookies, The player would press A on a certain cookie, and move the directional pad so the player can move the row the cookie is on either vertically or horizontally (depending on which direction on the D-pad the player presses). There were six types of cookies: a heart cookie, a sunflower cookie, a green cookie, a checkered cookie, a donut, and Yoshi Cookies (shaped like Yoshi's head which act as any cookie). The game consisted of three modes: Action, VS, and Puzzle.

Action Mode is a game consisting of 10 rounds, each round containing 10 stages. The player can set the round in which the player want to play with, how fast the player want the blocks to fall, and the type of music the player want before the game. And after the player beats a certain stage, they will be able to view a brief, humorous cutscene with Mario. Rounds 11-99 are also unlockable, and within them the cookies are replaced by Mario enemies (except for the Yoshi Cookie).

VS Mode is a simple 2 player/1 player vs. COM game. The player starts off by picking one of four characters (Mario, Peach, Yoshi, or Bowser). The goal of the game is to keep a lit fuse higher before it runs out and all the player's pieces go away. To keep the fuse higher, the player have to consistently clear rows of 5 against the player's opponent. Getting 5 Yoshi cookie's in a row would often give the player a special, such as the players covering up the player's opponent's screen with question mark blocks or taking control of the player's opponents field.

The goal of Puzzle Mode is to clear the field with a limited number of moves. The puzzles range from simple to complex.

The Nintendo Puzzle Collection version adds a story mode to the game, wherein Mario and Yoshi get exhausted from countless cookie deliveries, and Bowser steals their cookies while they sleep. The first five stages offer different opponents depending on the difficulty:


 * Easy
 * Goomba
 * Cheep Cheep
 * Paratroopa
 * Boo
 * Spiny
 * Normal
 * Koopa Troopa
 * Blooper
 * Bullet Bill
 * Eerie
 * Piranha Plant
 * Hard
 * Buzzy Beetle
 * Rip Van Fish
 * Lakitu
 * Fishin' Boo
 * Hammer Bro

Regardless of the difficulty, the final two stages offer the same opponents, though their skill differs between each difficulty. Stage 6 lets the player face off against Thwomp, followed by Magikoopa. Stage 7 is a best-three-out-of-five match against Bowser himself.

Trivia

 * In the NES and Game Boy versions, there was a cutscene at the title screen where Mario would walk onto a screen with a jar of cookies. He would then try to open it, to no avail. He then gets an idea and walks off the screen. Yoshi comes up soon afterward and eats the jar whole. Mario then reappears with a hammer and begins chasing Yoshi off the screen. Later, he returns back on screen holding the cookie jar. This, however, bears no influence on the game itself.
 * The SNES version of Yoshi's Cookie featured a slightly-updated version of Yoshi's appearance. This 'new' Yoshi features a bigger head and shorter neck. This appearance was next seen in the Super Mario All-Stars version of Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.
 * In the Nintendo DS game "Tetris DS", puzzle mode is based on Yoshi's cookie.
 * All of the opponents in the Nintendo Puzzle Collection version's story mode are taken from Super Mario World, with the exception of Blooper and Hammer Bro.
 * The music "VS Theme C" is actually a rendition of Csikos Post, a classical piece by Hermann Necke.