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This review first appeared in E1, October 1993.
No veteran gamer needs telling that Hudson Soft is one of the best developers in the business, but it’s not a name that leaps to mind in conjunction with the Amiga.
Things are starting to change, though, with the release first of Amiga versions of Bomber Man (as Dyna Blaster) and Bok’s Adventure (as BC Kid) last year, and now this original platform game.
There’s nothing especially new or clever about Yo! Joe! – it’s half-a-dozen levels of pretty standard jump-around-and-hack-up-baddies fare, but the quality of execution is breathtaking. From the dazzlingly bright graphics to the fiendishly-designed maps and the clever use of power-ups, it’s all done superbly, in a way that makes you want to play it again and again just to see what you can the next time round.
Maybe that’s just as well, though – because Yo! Joe! isn’t the hardest game you’ll ever play. And then the infinite continues it gives you start to look like slightly less of a good idea. [8]