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Kirby’s Star Stacker

Developed by HAL Laboratory, inc.
Published by Nintendo
System: Gameboy
Copyright 1997

I’ve decided to start the feature off with one of my favorite puzzle games on the Gameboy system, and one of my favorite puzzle games of all time. Despite being a major Nintendo franchise, Kirby’s Star Stacker has never seen a huge amount of attention anywhere I’ve looked. This would be understandable if it were a mediocre title (Tilt N’ Tumble, nice try), but the gameplay of KSS alone should have made it a hit, with or without the Kirby template.

At its core, KSS is a semi standard falling block puzzle game. Your goal is to clear a set number of points without letting the two center lanes touch the top of the screen. Like Dr. Mario or Puyo Puyo Pop, the playing area already starts out with pre-set blocks laid out, which feature the likeness of Rick the Hamster, Coo the Owl, and Kine the Fish (you may remember them from Kirby’s Dreamland 2). In order to remove blocks from the field, you must combine blocks of the same type (ex: two Ricks). However, the only way to score points is to sandwich the blocks between star blocks. The more stars you sandwich in, the more points you get (Rick+Star+Rick = one point, R+S+S+S+R = three points).

The first stage could very well be the most boring stage in puzzle game history.

Sounds simple enough, right? You could even say it’s a little bit boring. Fortunately, every couple of turns King Dedede shows up and raises the level of blocks from the ground up. As the difficulty level increases, Dedede shows up more frequently. There are also two item blocks that can either help or harm you; the bomb block, which can clear out an entire row if connected with two like blocks, and the steel block, which requires a bit more explaining. If you place a steel block in-between two like blocks, the two character blocks will disappear, but the steel block will have turned into a normal star block. You will not receive any points if you use the steel block, but it is very helpful in pulling off combos (which I’ll cover in greater detail later). If you increase the difficulty of the game, the falling speed of your block will increase, but that’s to be expected (duh).

KSS has the standard bells and whistles of any puzzle game. There’s a challenge mode, which is similar to the single player mode except that there is no point limit, and there is a time attack mode, where you can see how many points you can score in three minutes. KSS also has a VS mode, but I have never tried it out because I can’t find anyone else who has a copy. All high scores are saved and can be found under the “records” option.

This happens more often than you think. It could even be considered mild when compared to the later stages.

If this was all there was to KSS, it would have turned out to be a fun, but forgettable puzzle game with the Kirby license.  However, one small gameplay mechanic helps make the game the addictive puzzler it is. Combos.  Kirby explains it the best in the game's rules.

"When you can chain your stacks together, bonus stars will fall! Use chain reactions to get lots of stars at one time! With the bonus stars, you get, you can connect even more chains!!"

 Typo left intact. I wish I could find a video to better explain it, but I don't have any capture software, and Youtube has almost no useable footage for this game. 

 I'm still a bit surprised by the lack of popularity with Kirby's Star Stacker. I'd understand it a lot more if it was a terrible game, but what I've found here is nothing short of puzzle bliss thanks to the always entertaining combo system. If you can track down a copy at your nearest GameStop, or other local gaming stores, I'd go for it. This game is worth being in any puzzle fan's collection. 

 [images via MobyGames and Kirby's Rainbow Resort ]