The World on a String

Malin made her first appearance in The King of Fighters 2003 as part of the “High School Girls” team alongside Athena Asamiya and Hinako Shijou. According to the official King of Fighters website, the concept behind Malin’s design was “a nimble and cute girl character.” In addition to being one of the fastest characters in the series, Malin’s fighting style incorporates a variety of legal and illegal weapons. She arms herself with concealed knives, claws, swords, throwing darts, electric batons, and a giant hammer. (Don’t ask me where she hides everything.) Obviously, Malin is mentioned on this list because of the bladed yo-yos she wields. When Malin uses a yo-yo in battle, it stays spinning for a couple of seconds. This ultimately makes it very effective for setting up combination attacks.

Spinmaster (aka Miracle Adventure) is a criminally overlooked game that was released in the arcades and on the Neo•Geo AES in 1994. The game follows the exploits of two dashing desperadoes (Tom and Johnny) who journey to an uncharted island to rescue Johnny’s girlfriend. During their adventure, the pair also takes the opportunity to seek out ancient treasures. The two brothers have various weapons at their disposal during their quest (including throwing stars, boxing gloves, bombs, and fireballs) but their default yo-yos prove to be surprising useful for hitting enemies or opening treasure chests. It’s probably not a good idea to get in their way when they are on the attack, as their yo-yos are powerful enough to kill dragons, knock down hangar doors, and turn large vehicles into scrap metal in a matter of seconds.

Kirby is well-known for inhaling enemies and copying their abilities. Depending on the enemy he inhales, Kirby can gain the ability to shoot lasers, turn into a fireball, or fly around in a UFO. He’ll also gain access to a myriad of weapons that include swords, hammers, and bombs. All told, Kirby has showcased more than 50 “copy abilities” thus far. As you might have guessed, one of these abilities involves a yo-yo. Kirby can use his yo-yo to attack enemies in front of him, over top of him, or beneath him. Additionally, Kirby can swing the yo-yo in an arc in order to hit multiple foes. The yo-yo has impressive range and is extremely useful for activating switches. In addition to being useful, the yo-yo ability is also adorable. While using the yo-yo, Kirby dons a backwards cap and looks suspiciously like Ness from EarthBound.

Captain Rainbow is an obscure game that was never released outside of Japan, so a brief history lesson is in order. Captain Rainbow is basically a tokusatsu-styled superhero and the star of his own television show. In an effort to restore his popularity, he ventures to a mysterious resort island where wishes are said to come true. During his adventures, Captain Rainbow meets up with a variety of forgotten Nintendo characters and tries to help them with their problems. Captain Rainbow and his various adventures are quite peculiar to say the least, so it shouldn’t be too surprising to learn that he incorporates a bizarre weapon like a yo-yo into many of his attacks. The yo-yo is so essential to his repertoire that he keeps two of them strapped to his belt at all times. A yo-yo is even used in the official Captain Rainbow logo.

The main focus of the Rygar games is the titular character’s unique weapon. This weapon (known as a “Diskarmor”) is essentially a bladed shield with a long chain attached to it. Diskarmors are very effective for long-range attacks, and they can even be upgraded with a grapple ability that allows Rygar two swing from one platform to another. The manner in which the Diskarmor returns to Rygar after he throws it essentially makes it look like a giant yo-yo. Incidentally, I’m not the only one who made this connection. There are thousands of search results on Google in which the terms “Rygar” and “yo-yo” are linked together. The game’s developers and publishers can push their “Diskarmor” propaganda all they want, but I’m going to call a spade a spade. Rygar’s weapon is nothing more than a giant yo-yo.

The characters in the Guilty Gear games use a wide assortment of weapons in battle. Swords, chains, sickles, scalpels, maces, pool cues, guitars, giant anchors, and fireworks cannons are all featured. Bridget is a little more unorthodox, however. Instead of traditional weapons, Bridget comes equipped with a giant mechanical teddy bear and a yo-yo. You should never judge a book by its cover. Bridget has incredible power and the yo-yo is an extremely effective weapon. One of Bridget’s moves is based on the classic yo-yo trick, “Shoot the Moon.” This maneuver is so dangerous that it will literally send her opponents flying into outer space! I’d like to see Tommy Smothers try that! Bridget is one of the most controversial figures in all of gaming. I’m not entirely sure why, but it’s probably because of the yo-yo.

Ehrgeiz is a 3D fighting game that was released on the PlayStation in 1998. The game is mostly remembered for the inclusion of several Final Fantasy VII characters. (Cloud, Tifa, Sephiroth, Yuffie, Vincent, and Zack were all featured as playable characters.) There were nearly a dozen original characters in the game as well, but they were mostly forgettable. One exception was Yoko Kishibojin. Although Yoko is still in high school, her talents in Jyujutsu were recognized by Interpol and she was recruited to participate in their hand-to-hand combat research team. Yoko often faces off against opponents who arm themselves with massive swords, guns, and grenades; so Yoko’s yo-yo attacks really stand out. She relies on her yo-yo so heavily that she earned herself the nickname, “Yoyo Yoko.”

Several yo-yos are featured in EarthBound and in Mother 3, and they can typically be found in drugstores or department stores. Most characters in the games can increase their attack attributes by equipping yo-yos, but they are not exactly the most accurate weapon and they have a tendency to miss their intended target. Yo-yos can be shared among party members, but they are most closely associated with Ness because of the Smash Bros. series. The yo-yo is much more effective in the Smash Bros. games and deals out massive damage. Ness incorporates the yo-yo into several of his attacks and can even dazzle his opponents with classic yo-yo tricks like “around the world” and “walk the dog.” It’s also worth noting that a glitch in Super Smash Bros. Melee made Ness virtually untouchable when using the yo-yo.

The setting in StarTropics was much more contemporary than most adventure games, and the weapons in the game reflect this fact. Instead of typical swords and shields, Mike Jones arms himself with baseball bats and slingshots. His primary weapon is the “Island Yo-yo” that is given to him by the Cheif of CoralCola island. This yo-yo’s range is fairly limited, and it’s not as powerful as some of the other weapons in the game. Nevertheless, it’s still surprisingly effective for a toy and it can be used to dispatch bats, snakes, and even ghosts. When StarTropics was released on the Virtual Console in 2008, the Island Yo-yo was renamed the “Island Star.” This was presumably done because of trademark issues. (“Yo-yo” is apparently trademarked in some parts of the world.) It will always be a yo-yo to me.

The Noid was a villainous advertising mascot for Domino’s Pizza in the 1980s who would constantly fail in his attempts to ruin pizzas. The Noid isn’t technically a video game character, so he might seem a little out of place on the top of this list. I’m including him anyway because the only time the Noid’s yo-yo prowess were ever really displayed was in his aptly titled video game. Yo! Noid was a localized version of an obscure Famicom game called Kamen no Ninja Hanamaru. In the original game, the main character attacked his enemies by sicking his bird companion on them. The bird was nowhere to be seen in Yo! Noid, however. Instead, the Noid used a yo-yo as his primary method of attack. The play mechanics revolve around the yo-yo in many regards, and Capcom even managed to work yo-yo into the title of the game.