Review by: Danielle Riendeau

Think of the Legendary Starfy as a good handheld Kirby game set mostly underwater. All you need to do is replace the little pink blob we all know and love with an equally adorable animated starfish, and you’re pretty much there.

If you’ve ever played a platformer (and most likely, even if you haven’t), you’ll be right at home here. You control a cute little dude (named Starfy, naturally) and you run, jump and swim through a wild assortment of colorful, funky looking 2D stages. There’s a focus on underwater action here, as your hero moves much more fluidly in his aquatic habitat, though he’s pretty nimble on land (and in the air) as well.

As platformers go, Starfy is on the easy side. Most of the environmental puzzles are quite simple, truly death-defying leaps are few and far between, and most boss fights are dead easy once you figure out the basic pattern. If you’ve cut your teeth on Mario (even the porky plumber’s more recent adventures), you’ll probably be able to breeze right through.

However, the game is packed with content, including tons of secret levels, items, and minigames. And while simple, the play mechanics change often enough to keep the action constantly fresh. In any given level, you’ll encounter swimming areas, flying and jumping areas, and other events (like races or puzzle-filled rooms) that test your various skills. There’s also co-op support, just in case you’d rather do battle with a buddy.

In terms of story, what we have here is full-on adorable nonsense: You play as Starfy, the prince of the cloud kingdom of pufftop. An equally cutesy little space Bunny falls out of the sky and lands in Starfy’s room, followed by a bunch of goons. Bunston (what, “Bunfy” was taken?) is an amnesiac, but he’s got a spiffy transformation power that you’ll use throughout the game, so he comes in handy. Adventures ensue, levels are traversed, and bad guy butt is kicked.

The writing is decent and often funny, though it skews very young. The cut scenes are surprisingly good, styled as kinetic comic panels, and all of the game characters are quite, shall we say, energetic. To that end, adults playing on public transport will want to keep the volume dialed down, or risk humiliation.

If I have any complaints, it’s that Starfy handles a bit stiffly on land, and constant abuse of his powerful spinning move (used to down baddies and wreak environmental havoc) causes him to stop short, often in the worst possible position. You’d think that a little guy who spins for a living would get used to it, but alas, he can only handle so much.

While Starfy can’t compare to the king of the genre, he certainly has a place in Nintendo’s court. This is actually the fifth game in a long-running Nintendo/TOSE franchise that’s popular in Japan, and I, for one, am happy to welcome the newest mascot to North America. As long as his other adventures are of this caliber, I’d be happy to play with Starfy again in between the Metroid’s and Zelda’s and Mario’s. At the very least, it’s nice to see a little fresh blood in the mix.

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