Original ad published in the January 1994 of EGM (no. 54)
|
Historical Background and Graphical Analysis
Candy Crush aficionados should be well served by tracking down Yoshi’s Cookie (1993), a SNES puzzle game that included the participation of famous Russian Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov.
That alone should be enough to set Yoshi’s Cookie apart from most games of the genre. But Cookie has some other layers of complexity that deserve to be mentioned.
The game was developed by now dead Bullet-Proof Software and was built on the basis of another game called Hermetica. But savvy Nintendo acquired the license of that game before its comercial release and added a Mario-themed fantasy world to make it more attractive. The game was first released for the NES and Game Boy (1992).
After Yoshi’s Cookie, countless other games have tried to modify the addictive combination of a puzzle set in a static mosaic that must be cleared with a limited number of turns. Today, Candy Saga developer King have taken this simple formula and transformed it into a multi-million dollar business only comparable to the original Tetris.
Watch the gameplay video to understand the simple but very addictive formula. Today’s touch-screens have made this type of gameplay only exponentially more accesible to anyone with a smartphone and a couple of minutes of free time.
The artwork for the ad is high-quality Nintendo goodness. Actual game screens show detailed sprites. Yoshi and Mario are prominently featured, which practically guarantees financial success for any video game, even a brain-flexer like this one (although retro game hunters will pay big time for a NIB item).
But the prettiest element of the ad has to be the variety of cookies. All of them look fantastically delicious! That kind of emotional and physical connection is what makes the ad click.
Yoshi's Cookie for SNES print ad copy
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Yoshi's Cookie
Cookie Chaos for Mario and Yoshi!
Mario and Yoshi are filling in at the Cookie Factory and the snacks are piling high!
As fresh baked cookies roll out the ovens, it's up to Mario to sort and stack 'em before they pile too high! Line up a row of the same kind of cookies either vertically or horizontally, and the vanish. Clear the screen to move on to a new leven of munchie-madness! Yoshi appears from time to time to stir things up! Play for high score or go head-to-head against a friend or the computer. The mouth-watering madness doesn't let up!
In the tradition of Tetris and Dr. Mario, Yoshi's Cookie is a heaping help of lip-Smacking, snack-stacking cookie chaos!
- 100 stages, plus bonus rounds.
- 1 or 2 players, or play against the computer
- Choose to be Mario, Yoshi, the Princess or Bowser.
- Extra puzzle game from the creator of Tetris.
It's a snack attack!
It's a heapin' helpin' of cookie crunchin' fun!
Challenge a friend or the computer for more munchie-madness!