Yoshi's Cookie

Name: Yoshi's Cookie
Year: 1993
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Bullet-Proof Software
Genre: Abstract Puzzler
Hours Played: 2
Beaten: No

When Tetris first came to the States from Russia in 1984, there were a lot of legal battles over who owned the rights (in Russia, according to laws at the time, the game was owned by the government and not the creator).  After many lawsuits, Nintendo ended up with the rights to the game, but only for a limited period of time.  They used those rights to push the Nintendo and especially the Game Boy to success (as Tetris co-creator Henk Rogers stated, "Tetris made Game Boy and Game Boy made Tetris").  The downside of all this was that Nintendo knew they couldn't keep the rights forever, and so the search was on to come up with a replacement.  Hence, during the NES's lifespan, Nintendo came out with a number of abstract puzzlers, including Yoshi, Dr. Mario, and Wario's Woods.  The game we'll be looking at today is Yoshi's Cookie.

Yoshi's Cookie is neither the best nor the worst of these games released by Nintendo; what it is is the most reflex based and least contemplative of the series.  At first glance, it looks like a predecessor to Candy Crush - everything from the arranging pieces game play to the confectionery theme feels immediately familiar.  But spend a couple of rounds with the game, and the huge differences quickly become clear. The relaxed gameplay in games like Bejeweled and Candy Crush is nowhere to be found; the emphasis in Yoshi's Cookie is strictly on making matches as quickly as possible before you get overwhelmed and the screen fills up, Tetris style.

The gameplay is simple: you have cookies in a rectangle-shaped grid, and more cookies fly in from the top and the right.  Arrange a row or column so that all the cookies match, and it clears that line.  Clear all the cookies, and you progress to the next stage.  The basic problem here is that the extra cookies come flying in pretty quickly, so it's near impossible to formulate any kind of long-term strategy; your only bet is to clear the screen as quickly as possible.  From what I've been able to determine (from my own gameplay and making family and friends try it), if you can't clear a screen in less then 30 seconds from when you start, the statistical chances of you making a comeback and beating it are very low.  It stops you from ever getting into the classic puzzle-game "trance"; you're too busy staying constantly on your toes.

As an experiment, I had my wife, who's obsessed with beating Candy Crush without purchases, try the game.  To my surprise, I (who hates Candy Crush) was much better at is then her; her abstract puzzle-solving strategies weren't nearly as useful as my gamer reflexes.  The end result is that the game doesn't satisfy either audience; she'd rather be playing a game at a casual, relaxed pace, and I'd rather be shooting bugs and stomping mushrooms.

Graphics & Animation: 2 (Average)
The graphics here aren't anything to write home about, but they are a lot of fun.  Everything here is easily identifiable, especially the cookies, and Yoshi looks pretty good rendered on an 8-bit system.

Music & Sounds: 1 (Bad)
The music here is pretty forgettable.  Not to compare games, but the Super Nintendo version has an opening theme that manages to sound like a Mario game without copying music from other games; why couldn't the NES version have anything that memorable?

Controls & Level Design: 1 (Bad)
The controls in this game are frustrating.  Unlike some puzzle games which purposely limit how you can move pieces (Yoshi, Tetris Attack/Puzzle League), in Yoshi's Cookie you're free to move any piece to any spot you like; so why make the controls so awkward?  Instead of simply picking and moving a piece, you grip a piece and then use the D-pad to slide that row or column around, sort of like a 15 puzzle game.  The titular Yoshi's Cookie (a cookie shaped like Yoshi's Head) is suppose to serve as a wild card, but it's extremely difficult to get it where you want it without accidentally making a match on the way.

Story & Presentation: 4 (Excellent)
The game is called "Yoshi's Cookie", and they drive that theme home wherever they can.  Mario wears a chef's outfit to oversee the playing field, and little Pac-Man-esc cutscenes play out every ten levels where Mario opens boxes of cookies and tries to hide them from Yoshi.  It's silly, but they still went the extra mile to include it,

Length & Replayability: 1 (Bad)
Kudos to the game for having a two-player mode, but also including a puzzle mode where you clear pre-designed boards (like the Super Nintendo version of Yoshi's Cookie) would have went a long way towards giving this game more replayability.

Total: 9 (Average)

Hatris

Name: Hatris
Year: 1992
Publisher: Bullet-Proof Software
Developer: Bullet-Proof Software
Genre: Abstract Puzzler
Hours Played: Countless
Beaten: N/A

After Tetris took the world by storm (Russia: 1984, Britain: 1986, USA: 1987), every programmer and software developer was scrambling to create another abstract puzzle game that would recapture that magic and become "the next Tetris".  Alexey Pajitnov, creator of the original game, would make many attempts over the years, mostly without much sucsess.  His second game, "Welltris", was a 3D Tetris hampered by the technology of the times, and the bizarrely named "Faces ...Tris III" was an ambitious but ultimately doomed pioneer of the Columns-style matching genre.

His fourth game, Hatris, was a second attempt at a column matching game, proved much more successful in terms of gameplay, and received ports to various systems including the NES and GameBoy.  While it languishes in obscurity today, and lacks the refinement of games like Puyo Puyo, Hatris remains an interesting and enjoyable challenge.

As you may have guessed, the basic gist of the game is that hats fall from the top of the screen, and you must arrange stacks of five to clear them.  The gimmick that sets the game apart is that each type of hat has unique properties.  Top hats are very tall, but nestle very tightly.  Fast food worker hats are much shorter, but don't nestle well; thus a stack of four fast food hats is actually taller then a stack of four top hats.  Hats come down in pairs of two, and navigating around the stacks of hats to the spot you want is a big part of the gameplay.  This means there's a lot of strategy in how you arrange your hat stacks, and since different hats stack differently, your shortest can quickly become your tallest stack in just a couple of moves.

The other unique feature of the game is to call upon helpers who can alter the playing field for you.  As you play the game, Alexey Pajitnov and his (then-)frequent collaborator Vladimir Pokhilko flip switches and watch you play.  As you earn points, you unlock the ability to summon their assistance: Alexey can remove hats from the bottom of stacks (up to five times a summon), and Vladimir can switch two stacks of your choice.  These "calling cards" give you a sense of control over the playing field not usually found in puzzle games; knowing when to use them, when to save them, and when to cash them in for points is a big part of the strategy of Hatris.

Hatris was an early attempt at an abstract puzzle game; while it may lack the refinement and polish of modern games, the idea is different and intriguing enough to be worth a play or two.  It doesn't capture the magic of Tetris or Puyo Puyo, but I'd take it over Yoshi or Dr. Mario any day.

Graphics & Animation: 2 (Average)
The graphics are pretty good in Hatris.  All the hats look distinctive, and it's immediately clear what kind of hat their suppose to be (including McDonald's hats with an "H" instead of an "M"). Rather then leave it at that, the developers really put their stamp on the game, from a nicely detailed (and animated!) jukebox on the title screen, to game designer Alexey Pajitnov sliding down a pole to assist you with your hats.

Music & Sound: 3 (Good)
Hatris has some pretty enjoyable and memorable music.  The impressive thing is, while most developers feel like a puzzle game is a good excuse to only have one song, there's ten different tracks in Hatris, meaning you have to get to level 10 before the music repeats.

Controls & Level Design: 2 (Average)
The controls always go excactly where you tell them to.  The only issue I've had is accidentally hitting the summon button (B) instead of rotating the hats (A).  I kinda wish they'd made it select, but that may just be me.  The ability to summon the game designers and have them rearrange the playing field for you really helps you keep the board under control, and is the kind of limited use item I wish more old-school puzzle games had.

Story & Presentation: 2 (Average)
For an abstract puzzle game, Hatris has a very nice presentation.  Everything is themed to look like a hat factory, the menu screen looks like a factory break room, and there's cut scenes every ten levels.

Length & Replayability: 1 (Bad)
Once you understand how to play the game and when to use your calling cards, the average round of Hatris can go on for quite a while.  Unlike Tetris, where a lucky streak feels like a respite, here it starts to feel boring.  There aren't any extra modes or puzzle screens or two player mode to give you more to do; it's just you and a long game of Hatris.

Total: 10 (Average)