Mario and Yoshi

Released: December 14, 1991

Yoshi , known as Yosshi no Tamago (Yoshi's Egg) in Japan and Mario & Yoshi in Europe , is a video game released for the Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System and the Game Boy .

The player controls Mario or Luigi and tries to keep blocks with monsters inside that are falling from the top of the screen from piling up so high that they reach the top. Mario and Luigi attempt to prevent this by switching the different columns of enemy characters back and forth so that they are positioned under different falling objects. If there is a chain of monsters within two yoshi egg shells, the egg shells will merge and a Yoshi will form, adding points and eliminating a group of monsters. The larger the chain of monsters between the two eggshells, the larger the Yoshi that is created will be.

The game remains one of the more obscure titles of the Mario franchise, and has largely been overshadowed by more popular Mario/Yoshi themed puzzle games such as Yoshi's Cookie , Tetris Attack , and Dr. Mario .