Yoshi no Tamago (Yoshi Japanese Original) - Authentic Nintendo Game Boy Cartridge, Tested
The puzzle game Game Freak made for Nintendo while Pokémon was on hold: Tajiri directing, Sugimori on the concept, Masuda on music. The Japanese original of Yoshi. Japanese needed: none.
$25.00
How I grade condition: every grade is tested and plays; grades differ only in looks.
Want to see the exact copy you'd get, inside and out? Ask me for photos, board included.
The game Game Freak made before Pokémon
In the US this was just Yoshi. In Japan it was Yoshi no Tamago, “Yoshi’s Egg”, December 1991, and it was Game Freak’s first game for Nintendo. The credits read like an early Pokémon reunion: Satoshi Tajiri directing, Ken Sugimori on the concept, Junichi Masuda on music.
Tajiri told the story in a 2000 Nintendo interview. Pokémon was already planned but taking far longer than expected, so Tsunekazu Ishihara suggested Game Freak do some short-schedule games first, to steady the company’s finances and sharpen the team, then come back to Pokémon. Nintendo’s brief was simple: make a game with Yoshi in half a year. This is that game, and Tajiri said its overseas sales really helped keep the company going.
The game itself
Mario stands at the bottom swapping columns as Goombas, Boos and Bloopers fall. Stack two of the same and they vanish; catch a top eggshell over a bottom one and you hatch a Yoshi, and trap enemies between the shells for a bigger one. It is breezy and luck-heavy, a few rounds on the bus rather than a Tetris marathon. A second cart and a link cable let a friend play as Luigi. Since February 2026 it is also in Nintendo Switch Online’s Game Boy library; this is the cart.
No Japanese, no save battery, and a Yoshi game makes an easy gift.
Its follow-up, Yoshi’s Cookie, is the deeper puzzle game. For the Pokémon end of the story, there is Pokémon Card GB.
Specifications
| Authenticity | Authentic original Nintendo cartridge (DMG-YOJ) - not a reproduction |
|---|---|
| Condition | Graded on my condition scale - every copy is opened, cleaned, and tested by playing before it ships. |
| Gameplay | Falling-block action puzzle, 1-2 players (link cable, one cart per Game Boy; player 2 is Luigi) |
| Includes | Loose cartridge only (no box or manual) |
| Language | Japanese, none: a pure action puzzle |
| Region | Japanese release. Region-free: plays on any Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance or Super Game Boy |
| Save | None (no battery) |
| Title Full | Yoshi no Tamago / ヨッシーのたまご (Game Boy, Nintendo / Game Freak, Japan, 1991) |
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