Meet your new, mysterious friend. He's 7 years old, 36cm tall and is described as a relatively easy-going, friendly character. His name is Starfy and he's the star (no pun intended...well perhaps a smidgen) of Nintendo's long-time Japanese franchise The Legendary Starfy.
This Mario/Kirby-inspired series made its debut back in 2000 when developer TOSE created a prototype for the Game Boy Color; however, this title was canceled due to the release of the Game Boy Advance. The prototype was then used to create a GBA title that officially kicked-off the franchise and saw the light of day on September 6, 2002. Seven years later, and four sequels later (in Japan), the franchise has finally arrived here in North America on the Nintendo DS.
During the E3 Expo, Nintendo released the first English trailer for the game (see below), and it's clear that the graphics and gameplay are decidedly Kirby-inspired, with colourful, cutesy characters and environments abound. At its heart, The Legendary Starfy is a "marine" platforming game where our protagonist, Starfy, spends most of his time underwater swimming and hopping his way through scenic ocean landscapes pummeling comical bad guys and big bosses.
The plot seemed a little abstract to me, but it goes something like this: Starfy is the legendary hero of Pufftop Palace, who while sleeping comfortably in bed, was awoken when a rabbit wearing an astronaut suit, named Bunston, fell from the sky and bopped him on the head. Bunston's rather unorthodox arrival sets off a chain of events resulting in his capture at the hands of the evil Dire Pirate Squad. Our hero uses his trademark Star Spin to free Brunston which results in his bunny-eared visitor losing his memory; Starfy, determined to help Bunston, decides to embark on a journey to help him find his lost memories. It's not the most inspired plotline, but this is a Nintendo platforming title we're talking about.
The game features some pretty cool attacks including the above mentioned Star Spin, Starfy's main attack, that propels him into enemies with great force. The spin also lets him burst through walls and barriers, or power through strong currents. As you progress through the adventure, our hero learns new skills including the Shooting Star attack, which allows him to shoot into the ground like a meteor, and Air Jump, which gives him increased jumping abilities.
One neat power Starfy possesses is his ability to transform into four unique, powerful forms. Each one grants him special powers that will help him overcome enemies and obstacles he encounters throughout the game: Monstar, a dragon that spits fire; Starpedo, an Arctic seal with acrobatic abilities; Starfright, a spooky specter; and Roostar, a super-squawking chicken that lays sonic eggs.
The trailer also shows off the local wireless mode where you can connect with a friend and play through a selection of the game’s stages as Starfy and his sister, Starly. There are also some included wireless mini-games that involve fishing (Fishing Derby), racing (Depth Chargers), tracing shapes in the sand (Sand Tracer) and cooking (Dumpling Master).
All in all, it's great to finally see this series hit North America as it certainly looks promising. I hope to check out the game soon and come back here on the Tech Blog and post some impressions. Until then -- enjoy the trailer!
P.S. If you're interested in seeing some screens check out the NextGen Player photo album here.
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