The Legendary Starfy (video game)

The Legendary Starfy, known as Densetsu no Stafī: Taiketsu! Daīru Kaizokudan[lower-alpha 1] in Japan, is a 2008 marine platform video game developed by Tose and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It is the fifth game in The Legendary Starfy video game series. On June 8, 2009, the game became the first in the series to be released outside Japan.

The Legendary Starfy
North American box art
Developer(s)Tose
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Miki Fujii
Kazuki Yoshihara
Producer(s)Yasuhiro Minamimoto
Hitoshi Yamagami
Designer(s)Chiemi Taniguchi
Programmer(s)Satoshi Nakajima
Hisatsugu Shiro
Kenta Egami
Artist(s)Toki Kando
Harumi Mochizuki
Kazuya Yoshioka
Writer(s)Akio Imai
Composer(s)Morihiro Iwamoto
SeriesThe Legendary Starfy 
Platform(s)Nintendo DS
Release
  • JP: July 10, 2008
  • NA: June 8, 2009
  • AU: October 10, 2009
Genre(s)Platforming
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Plot

After the events of Densetsu no Stafy 4, the game's protagonist, Starfy, was sleeping in bed. Suddenly, a rabbit wearing an astronaut suit, named Bunston, fell from the sky through the roof of Pufftop Palace, landing on and waking Starfy. While Starfy was dazed, a group of pirates known as the Terrible Trio (made up of Snips, Ronk, and Papes) arrived and attempted to kidnap Bunston. Starfy came to, and defeated the Terrible Trio, giving Bunston an opportunity to escape. After Starfy knocked them out, they realized Bunston was no longer there, and left the palace to search for him. Starfy grabs his friend Moe, and the duo followed Bunston into the ocean.

After meeting up with Bunston, they discover he's lost his memory, and that he recalls fragments of it when he touches certain crystal shards. The trio begin collecting them to restore Bunston's memories. Halfway through their adventure, the Terrible Trio finds them once again, and Starfy must fight them off several times. Over the course of the game, it's revealed that Bunston is a prince of another planet, and fled when it was attacked. The Terrible Trio serve whoever attacked his home. However, the Trio has a change of heart after being treated kindly by Starfy and crew, and apologize for what they've done. Mashtooth, revealed as the leader of the pirates who attacked Bunston's home, suddenly makes himself known, and gravely injures the Terrible Trio for their failure to capture Bunston. Starfy and crew return to Bunston's home to free it from Mashtooth, who wants to take over the galaxy. Mashtooth nearly proves too powerful for them, but thanks to a last second save from the Terrible Trio, nearly costing them their lives, Starfy is able to defeat Mashtooth, saving Bunston and his planet. Starfy and Moe return home.

Gameplay

Returning from the previous four Starfy titles are costumes that offer special abilities, including ghost, dragon, chicken, and an ice-tailed seal costume.[1] Unlike other games in the series, instead of touching a costume, Starfy touches Bunston's thought bubbles to put on a costume. The game also has DS wireless co-op play in select areas and boss fights, where one person controls Starfy and the other controls Starly. Only one cartridge copy of the game is required for this feature.[2] Five different minigames are offered, one of them a cooking game starring Starly.[1] Returning from earlier entries in the series is the wardrobe collection in which players dress Starfy and Starly in different outfits.[1]

Development

The Legendary Starfy is the first game in the series to be released outside Japan. Nintendo of America previously found games in the series to be "too Japanese" for a North American release.[3] The joint decision by Nintendo and Tose to finally release the Starfy series abroad came about because the Nintendo DS was doing well in the market. Yurie Hattori, assistant director for the Starfy series states "It's a game that's really the result of all the great ideas we had in [Densetsu no Stafy] 1-4. This is a really accessible game and a great starting point to bring it to the US."[3] Very few changes were made for the game's English adaptation.[3] To promote the game, a launch event was held at the Nintendo World Store in New York City on July 11, 2009.[4]

Reception

Reviews

The Legendary Starfy has received generally positive reviews. Reviews have commented on the game's similarities to Kirby.[8] Reviewers have applauded the size and depth of the world, and creative story telling presented to the player.

IGN Nintendo Team editor Mark Bozon expressed in his review that the game contains an "incredible amount" of activities, and can feel almost cluttered at times because of this.[10] Game Informer's Matt Helgeson said in his review of the game, "[it] isn't mind-blowing, but it's certainly well crafted and bolstered by some genuinely funny writing."[8] Both of the Game Informer staff who reviewed the game also found that the cooldown (character's dizziness) after performing Starfy's spin attack too many times was "annoying".[8]

Sales

The Legendary Starfy debuted on the Japanese sales charts at number 3, selling 29,000 copies. It is the slowest debut for the series so far.[12] Media Create sales data lists the game at having sold 126,428 copies in Japan by the end of 2008.[13] Public sales information from Amazon.com suggests that The Legendary Starfy was the top-selling Nintendo DS game in North America during its week of release, temporarily beating out previous top-sellers on the platform such as Mario Kart DS and New Super Mario Bros.[14] NPD Group reports that the game was the 19th best-selling game in North America during the months of June and July 2009.[15]

Notes
  1. Japanese: 伝説のスタフィー　たいけつ！ダイール海賊団, lit. "The Legendary Stafy: Confrontation! Dire Pirate Squad"

References
  1. Spencer (June 26, 2008). "Stafy as a whale, a ghost, and in the third dimension". Siliconera.com. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
  2. Spencer (June 16, 2008). "New Stafy game has dragons, co-op, and probably pirates". Siliconera.com. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
  3. Dillard, Corbie (May 22, 2009). "Interviews: Nintendo/Tose - The Legendary Starfy". NintendoLife.com. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  4. hattrick (July 8, 2009). "Starfy Coming to New York on July 11, 2009". WiiNintendo.net. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  5. "The Legendary Starfy at Game Rankings". GameRankings. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
  6. "Legendary Starfy, The: Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
  7. RawmeatCowboy (July 2, 2008). "GoNintendo - Famitsu - review scores". GoNintendo.com. Retrieved July 29, 2009.
  8. Helgeson, Matt; VanBurkleo, Meagan (August 2009). "The Legendary Starfy". Game Informer (198): 93. ISSN 1067-6392. OCLC 27315596.
  9. "Review: The Legendary Starfy". GamePro. IDG. June 25, 2009. Archived from the original on 2010-03-02. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
  10. Mark Bozon. "The Legendary Starfy Review". IGN. Retrieved June 9, 2009.
  11. DiMola, Francesca (July 14, 2009). "Nintendo World Report - DS Review: The Legendary Starfy". NintendoWorldReport.com. Retrieved August 16, 2009.
  12. Jenkins, David (July 17, 2008). "Persona 4 Boosts Japanese Software Charts". Gamasutra.com. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
  13. "GEIMIN.NET／2008年テレビゲームソフト売り上げTOP500（ファミ通版）". Geimin.net (in Japanese). Retrieved August 8, 2009.
  14. Cowan, David (July 17, 2009). "Saling The World: NCAA Football 10, Dragon Quest IX Head Worldwide Charts". Gamasutra.com. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
  15. Matthews, Matt (August 14, 2009). "EA, Nintendo Dominate July 2009 Top 20". Gamasutra.com. Retrieved August 14, 2009.
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