Kirby's Star Stacker (SNES)
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Kirby's Star Stacker (also referred to as Kirby's Super Star Stacker[1] and Kirby no KIRAKIRA KIDS[2]) is a puzzle game of the Kirby series that was released on the Super Famicom in Japan. It was first released in 1998 through the Nintendo Power flash service, but eventually saw a physical release a year later, in 1999. It is an enhanced remake of Kirby's Star Stacker for the Game Boy, and it was eventually ported to Virtual Console for Wii, Wii U, and 3DS. All versions of the game are currently Japan-exclusive.
Story
One starry night, an alien creature named Mr. Star was zooming past Dream Land. King Dedede spots him in the air and blasts him with a cannon, causing Mr. Star to split into several pieces and fall to the ground. The principal piece of Mr. Star falls on Kirby's head, as he was out stargazing from a teepee. After learning of his predicament, Kirby and his Animal Friends help Mr. Star find his pieces again, each of which is kept by a different denizen of Dream Land.
One-by-one, Kirby and his friends trounce the baddies who were holding Mr. Star's pieces, culminating with King Dedede himself. Once Mr. Star is whole again, he returns back out into space. Shortly after, a witch named Gryll appears from where Mr. Star left to present the final challenge to Kirby.
Gameplay
The gameplay is largely similar to the original Star Stacker in terms of mechanics. This version comes with five different modes, with four of returning from the original game, and Story being brand new:
- Challenge - An endless mode in which the objective is to gain as many stars as possible before the middle stack of blocks touches the top of the screen. The player can choose between four difficulties: Normal, Hard, Very Hard and Insane. No matter which difficulty is selected, as the player progresses, blocks start to appear faster and the music changes.
- Round Clear - This mode involves completing multiple rounds, by collecting a set number of Stars. Much like Challenge Mode, there are four difficulties to be selected: Normal, Hard, Very Hard and Insane.
- Story - The main mode of the game.
- VS - A multiplayer mode for two players.
- Time Attack - As many Stars as possible must be collected within a 3-minute time limit.
In the Story Mode, Kirby faces off against an opponent, and they each get their own separate board to drop blocks in. The goal here is to prevent Kirby's board from filling up, while also causing the opponent's board to fill. To that end, the player will need to systematically remove blocks from the board as they fall down by lining them up correctly. This can be done by having an unbroken line of Star Blocks in-between two Animal Friend blocks of the same type, or by simply lining up two of the same type of Animal Friend together. If a large number of blocks are removed at once and/or a chain of block removals is caused, Kirby will be able to cause his opponent's board to start filling with blocks from the bottom-up, and vice/versa.
Story Mode Opponents
Opponents in the main story mode are fought in the following order - each one being more difficult than the previous. Additionally, after the main credits roll, and if Kirby cleared every prior match undefeated, he will compete against an additional opponent, Gryll.
Opponents | |||
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Icon | Name | ||
Waddle Dee | |||
Poppy Bros. Jr. | |||
Lovely | |||
Knuckle Joe | |||
Cook Kawasaki | |||
Meta Knight | |||
King Dedede | |||
Gryll |
Trivia
- When Kirby thwacks his opponents, he does so with the Love-Love Stick.
- Masked Dedede's theme from Kirby Super Star Ultra is a remix of King Dedede's battle theme from this game.
- Though the game was not released outside of Japan, it has been referenced several times in games that have been released internationally.
- Gryll appears as a sticker in Kirby: Planet Robobot and a spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, as well as a Stone transformation and a Celebration Picture cameo in Kirby Star Allies.
- A good deal of the music in this game was re-used in the extra stages of Kirby: Planet Robobot, while Gryll's theme reappears in Kirby Star Allies.
- In 1998, a game titled Kirby's Super Star Stacker was listed on a page of upcoming SNES releases on Nintendo's American website, suggesting that an international release may have been planned.[1]
- Most current English sources, such as Kirby: Planet Robobot and Kirby Art & Style Collection, refer to the game simply as Kirby's Star Stacker, the same as the Game Boy game. This is because both versions of the game have the same name in Japanese. The official English HAL Laboratory website refers to it as Kirby no KIRAKIRA KIDS, a literal translation of its Japanese name.[2]
Gallery
Names in other languages
Language | Name | Meaning |
---|---|---|
Japanese | カービィのきらきらきっず Kābī no Kirakira Kizzu |
Kirby's Sparkling Kids |
External links
References