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Yo! Noid 2: Enter the Void

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Yo! Noid 2: Enter the Void
Developer(s)Dustin Bragg
SeriesYo! Noid
EngineUnity
Platform(s)
Release
  • Windows
    • WW: August 1, 2017
  • Remastered Build
    • WW: June 28, 2018
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Yo! Noid 2: Enter the Void is a freeware platformer fangame developed by Dustin Bragg and a team of indie developers for Waypoint's 2017 New Jam City game jam.[1] It was released on August 1, 2017, and received a remastered update titled Yo! Noid 2: Game of a Year Edition on June 28, 2018.[2] The game is a parody of, and unofficial sequel to, Yo! Noid, a 1990 platformer redesigned as an advergame for American audiences to promote Domino's Pizza.

Gameplay

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The game is heavily based around fifth-generation console platformers, such as Super Mario 64 and Tomb Raider.[3] The game also utilizes movement options like wall running, wall jumping, and swinging and grappling with a Yo-yo item, and introduces gravity effects resembling Super Mario Galaxy's planetoids, and puzzle platforming sections. If using a controller, the player can perform a pressure-sensitive dab move.[4]

Plot

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The game's opening, presented as a live-action FMV cutscene shows Domino's Pizza mascot, The Noid returning from his adventures in Yo Noid, but discovering that his "Super yo-yo" has been stolen. He finds himself cast into an empty zone referred to by the game as the "Noid Void": a cosmic realm full of sentient pizza toppings and ingredients. The Noid learns that the Heavenly Spire, a tower constructed from boxes of Domino's pizza, has been stolen. With the denizens of the Noid Void living in a world without pizza, The Noid takes it upon himself to find the stolen pizzas and return them to the Noid Void.

Upon reconstructing the Heavenly Spire, The Noid climbs it to discover a small planetoid above the Noid Void. The location is illuminated by television screens depicting a shadowy figure: 'Mike Hatsune', a blue-haired corporate official. Upon reaching Hatsune, he reveals that he stole The Noid's Yo-yo and the pizzas that composed the Heavenly Spire in order to replace The Noid with a new icon: a "Vocal-Noid" implied to be Hatsune Miku. The Noid defeats Mike in combat, though he reveals that this was ultimately futile: as The Noid's replacement is "out for delivery". The room becomes overrun with visual glitches and cuts to black, as a digital voice says "Domino’s Pizza".

Development

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Yo! Noid 2: Enter the Void was completed in one month, from June 30, 2017, to August 1, 2017. The name used on platform itch.io comes from Episode 58 of the Waypoint Radio Podcast, titled "Yo! Noid Was Ahead of Its Time", following one of the game jam's rules that the title had to come from a Waypoint Radio title.[5][1]

The visual style of the Noid Void was inspired by the backgrounds of Will Vinton's Noid advertisements.[6]

The game's plot, including its antagonist Mike Hatsune, is based on vocaloid Hatsune Miku, and uses elements of the 2013 Domino's App feat. Hatsune Miku, a Japan-only food delivery app that gained notoriety in the west after its commercial, featuring president and CEO of Domino's Pizza Japan, Scott Oelkers, went viral.[7] The idea of a vocaloid replacing The Noid as a mascot comes from the discontinuation of Domino's Noid mascot in America.[8]

Reception and legacy

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The game had overall positive reception, with critics noting its surreal, but lighthearted tone, but occasional brutal difficulty.[4]

The game was featured in Summer Games Done Quick 2018, as speedrunner AlucardX60 completed the game in 13:15.[9]

The game was featured on the WWAYTV3 news channel, as a review on the Gaming Trends segment, with critic David Lewis noting its surreal nature and work of love from fans.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b "New Jam City". itch.io. Archived from the original on February 12, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  2. ^ "Yo! Noid Was Ahead of its Time by DustinBragg, Levi Davis, Quade Zaban, Harrison Bright, breadotop, ompu co, Dozzyrok, Nick, myles, Baycunn". itch.io. Archived from the original on August 6, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  3. ^ "Yo! Noid 2: Enter the Void – Game Jam Build Download | Alpha Beta Gamer". www.alphabetagamer.com. August 7, 2017. Archived from the original on February 12, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Someone made a Yo! Noid sequel and it's shockingly good". Destructoid. August 4, 2017. Archived from the original on February 12, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  5. ^ "Waypoint Radio: Episode 58: Yo! Noid Was Ahead of Its Time". vicegamingnew.libsyn.com. Archived from the original on February 14, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  6. ^ Dominos Avoid The Noid 80's Commercial, archived from the original on February 12, 2022, retrieved February 12, 2022
  7. ^ "A Truly Bizarre Domino's Pizza Commercial". Kotaku. March 7, 2013. Archived from the original on February 12, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  8. ^ "A void: The Noid". The World from PRX. Archived from the original on February 12, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  9. ^ Yo! Noid 2 by AlucardX60 in 13:15 - SGDQ2018, archived from the original on February 12, 2022, retrieved February 12, 2022
  10. ^ Gaming Trends Yo Noid 2 Live Archive. Retrieved February 12, 2022.