I've been on a bit of a falling block puzzle kick in recent years. Panel De Pon has made me realize the sheer depth of these type of games and their addicting nature.
Kirby's Super Star Stacker is a clever little game within the genre. It's twist on a falling block game is unique: animal buddies from DreamLand 2 and 3 act as the colors you'd find in games like Puyo, but there's also a neutral block with the Star Blocks. These Star Blocks act as a buffer between the pairs of animal buddies, and you can score a line as long as two of the same animal buddies are on the opposing sides, be it horizontal or vertical. This makes for a bit of a learning curve with trying to wrap your head around where you can create a combo or not. On the same coin though, this also means creating chains of combos can happen much easier than you may realize. Leave it to Kirby to make an approachable yet gratifying puzzle game.
There's multiple modes, my favorite being more of a puzzle mode where your goal is to eliminate King Dee Dee Dee's health. There's a story mode as well, but it rarely if ever poses a challenge. The most challenging part of this game more has to do with the freeness of the controls, and fighting to place pieces where you'd like them to be. Older falling block games all seem to have this simple game feel problem, but this makes appreciating the game more a fair bit challenging. The presentation helps smooth out any kind of slight against the game, however: gorgeous pixel art reminiscent of water colors and hand painted portraits, taking DreamLand 3's aesthestic and just running with it.
I really liked this game, but I would be remised if I were to say I'd find myself replaying the game in comparison to other falling block games. Tetris is king and Panel De Pon is queen, I'm afraid, but that doesn't mean there's not room at the table for Super Star Stacker.
Kirby's Super Star Stacker is a clever little game within the genre. It's twist on a falling block game is unique: animal buddies from DreamLand 2 and 3 act as the colors you'd find in games like Puyo, but there's also a neutral block with the Star Blocks. These Star Blocks act as a buffer between the pairs of animal buddies, and you can score a line as long as two of the same animal buddies are on the opposing sides, be it horizontal or vertical. This makes for a bit of a learning curve with trying to wrap your head around where you can create a combo or not. On the same coin though, this also means creating chains of combos can happen much easier than you may realize. Leave it to Kirby to make an approachable yet gratifying puzzle game.
There's multiple modes, my favorite being more of a puzzle mode where your goal is to eliminate King Dee Dee Dee's health. There's a story mode as well, but it rarely if ever poses a challenge. The most challenging part of this game more has to do with the freeness of the controls, and fighting to place pieces where you'd like them to be. Older falling block games all seem to have this simple game feel problem, but this makes appreciating the game more a fair bit challenging. The presentation helps smooth out any kind of slight against the game, however: gorgeous pixel art reminiscent of water colors and hand painted portraits, taking DreamLand 3's aesthestic and just running with it.
I really liked this game, but I would be remised if I were to say I'd find myself replaying the game in comparison to other falling block games. Tetris is king and Panel De Pon is queen, I'm afraid, but that doesn't mean there's not room at the table for Super Star Stacker.