What a cute side-scroller we got here, everything here is cute. The protagonist is cute, the enemies are cute, and the length is an adorable 20 minutes tops. You're gonna wanna give the Game Boy cartridge a bunch of head pats and tell it how cute it is. Maybe I'm biased, but Yakopoo is more adorable than Kirby. Sorry pal, get some long ears and I'll reconsider.

Yakopoo's main method of attack is a very close-range kick to the face (or nuts depending on the target), but thankfully Sunsoft had a bit of mercy and let the enemies deal no collision damage. I've always enjoyed the idea of no collision damage in a sidescroller like this, not just because it alleviates headaches with big boss characters, but I also feel it helps give more incentive to give bosses bigger and more devastating move-sets. Freedom Planet springs to mind immediately. Now are you going to get the adrenaline-pumping action of fighting Lord Brevon in Trip World? Oh god no, though there is a phase in the final boss portion where you fight a smarmy shithead version of yourself that enjoys insta-sliding into you once you're in range.

The morphing gimmick is pretty neat even if a bit odd at times, the ball one feels like speedrunning tech and the fish one is only useful for like one stage, and after that it's just a comedic ability to use a Magikarp Splash. I actually quite liked the flower power up that pacified my enemies via temporary sunflower lobotomy. It's quite a telling sign when you play as Yakopoo and kick everything in sight only to find out that some enemies are actually innocent and will only attack in retaliation. What kind of Yakopoo will you play as? The martial pacifist Yakopoo who only beats others up in self-defense, or the chaotic Majin Buu-esque force of nature that nutshots everyone they meet regardless of their allegiances?

I think it's probably just me, but this music reminds me of Sesame Street. I feel like I made that observation not long ago, and I really wouldn't be surprised if I was just losing it. Fuck it, everything is Sesame Street now!

This is also one of the few times where I massively prefer the western cover art to the Japanese one. Take a gander at that majesty! Don't work too hard boys, it's only the first thing the kids see at the game store. By the way, don't look up the price of this, you can't afford it and you're gonna blow your top especially at the difference in price and game length.

Apparently Yakopoo made an appearance as a mid-boss in Galaxy Fight, so I guess that's some interesting trivia for ya.

Can I commission someone for a Yakopoo plush? Yakopoo Yakopoo Yakopoo. Where art thou Yakopoo?

A Kirby game if Kirby was the character in "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" who turned into the flesh monster biologically unable to harm anything.

Would have loved a game that lets you choose how much you want to interact with the other sprites, but not this one. I've heard of games that give you special abilities that are suitable for different areas, but this is the first I've played that expects you to intuitively know where and when you will even have one available. What's that, you want to attack the boss? Sure, just use this kick attack with a range the length of a cut thumbnail. What, you want your long tail attack? Sorry, that was for two screens ago. Remember that level where you could turn into a fish? Now you'll just turn into a fish whenever I want, and it will be very funny watching you flop around as a fish on dry land for a moment. Hm, there's a power up there that's rather high up, I'd sure like to use my flying ability now. Too bad, suck on this fish power, bitch.