Kirby's Star Stacker Japanese box art forKirby's Star Stacker. Details Developer(s) HAL Laboratory Publisher(s) Nintendo Release date(s) Super Famicom February 1, 1998 (NP) June 25, 1999 (package) Virtual Console (Wii) January 5, 2010 Virtual Console (Wii U) May 8, 2013 Virtual Console (New 3DS) November 28, 2016 SNES: Nintendo Switch Online July 22, 2022 July 22, 2022 September 5, 2023 September 6, 2023 September 6, 2023 September 6, 2023 Platform(s) Super Famicom Wii(Virtual Console) Wii U(Virtual Console) New 3DS(Virtual Console) Nintendo Switch(SNES: Nintendo Switch Online)[1][2] Supported languages Japanese

Game chronology ←Kirby's Dream Land 3 Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards →

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This article is about the Super Famicom version. For the Game Boy version, seeKirby's Star Stacker (Game Boy).

Kirby's Star Stacker^[3] (originally referred to asKirby's Super Star Stacker^[4] and sometimes transliterated asKirby no KIRAKIRA KIDS^[5]) is a puzzle game of theKirby series that was released on theSuper Famicom in Japan. It was first released in 1998 through theNintendo Power flash service, but eventually saw a physical release a year later in 1999, being the lastKirby game released on the console. It is an enhanced remake ofKirby's Star Stacker for the Game Boy. It was later ported to theVirtual Console forWii,Wii U, andNew Nintendo 3DS in Japan only, and onNintendo Switch Online worldwide, with the latter being its first international release (though it is only available in Japanese^[6]).

Story[edit]

One starry night, an alien creature namedMr. Star zooms pastDream Land.King Dedede spots him in the air and blasts him with a cannon, causing Mr. Star to split into several pieces and fall to the ground. The principal piece of Mr. Star falls on Kirby's head, as he was out stargazing from a teepee. After learning of his predicament, Kirby and hisAnimal Friends help Mr. Star find his pieces again, each of which is kept by a different denizen of Dream Land.

One-by-one, Kirby and his friends trounce the baddies who were holding Mr. Star's pieces, culminating with King Dedede himself. Once Mr. Star is whole again, he returns back out into space. Shortly after, a witch namedGryll appears from where Mr. Star left to present the final challenge to Kirby.

• 
  Mr. Star passes by Planet Popstar.
• 
  King Dedede blasts Mr. Star.
• 
  Mr. Star hits Kirby's head.

Gameplay[edit]

Due to being a remake of theGame Boy original,Kirby's Star Stacker plays largely the same way. The player is given a game board which fills up with various types of blocks that fall from above in a similar manner toTetris. The main objective is to clear these blocks by lining them up in the correct ways. The main method of doing this is by placing two of the same type of "Friend Block" (resembling Kirby'sAnimal FriendsRick,Kine, andCoo) in-between one or moreStar Blocks. The number of Star Blocks removed then determines how many "stars" Kirby has "stacked", which is the main scoring mechanic in the game. Blocks fall in pairs with random types inset, which can be steered using the Control Pad until they land on the blocks below, whereupon they break apart if one side is still hanging over an empty space. In addition to the above blocks, there are also two other types: Hard Blocks and Bomb Blocks. Hard Blocks can be turned into Star Blocks when sandwiched between two matching Friend Blocks, and placing a Bomb Block between two Friend Blocks will remove all blocks on the same row.

In order to achieve greater numbers of star points, Chains have to be utilized; if destroying a group of blocks leads to a chain reaction of other groups being destroyed, this counts as a Chain. Every Chain that is achieved causes a group of stars to fall into gaps between blocks and be added to the star point counter, their number starting at two but increasing with each Chain, up to a maximum of twelve. If these stars end up sandwiched between Friend Blocks when they land, they turn into Star Blocks, causing another group of blocks to be destroyed and the combo to continue; stars that land in positions where it would not be beneficial for them to transform into blocks simply disappear.

Depending on the game mode being played, there may be additional rules and conditions, but generally speaking, the player can continue to place down blocks so long as the two middlemost columns are still open at the top, and new rows of blocks will continually appear from below, pushing the others up. If either of the two middlemost columns reaches all the way to the top of the screen, the game is over.

Modes[edit]

In the game there are 5 modes, as follows:

• Challenge - An endless mode in which the objective is to gain as many stars as possible before the middle stack of blocks touches the top of the screen. The player can choose between four difficulties: Normal, Hard, Super Hard, and Insane. Insane is unlocked by stacking 1000 stars or more in any of the lower difficulties. No matter which difficulty is selected, as the player progresses, blocks start to appear faster and the music changes. Unlike the Game Boy version, the mode automatically ends if the player hits the maximum score of 9999.
• Round Clear - This mode involves completing multiple rounds, by collecting a set number of Stars. Much like Challenge Mode, there are four difficulties to be selected: Normal, Hard, Super Hard and Insane. Insane can only be played after clearing the previous three difficulties. In this mode,King Dedede sits on the right side of the screen and is responsible for making the new block rows appear. The objective is to reduce his "HP" to zero in each round by stacking stars.
• Story - The main mode of the game, pitting Kirby against a preset number of opponents with specific difficulty levels. The objective is to force the opponent's board to fill up before the player's does. When either the player or the opponent scores chains, the corresponding character will attack the other's character, which has the effect of making more block rows appear on the other's board.
• VS - A multiplayer mode for two players. Similar in gameplay to Story Mode, but with two human players competing. In this mode, players can choose between playing a single round, a best-two-out-of-three, or a best-three-out-of-five. Each player can choose their own difficulty out of Normal, Hard, Super Hard, and Insane, the last of which is unlocked by winning 30 matches. Players can also choose to play as Kirby or any of the opponents in Story Mode, with Gryll being available after beating them in Story Mode, though this is merely cosmetic.
• Time Attack - As many Stars as possible must be collected within a 3-minute time limit. Like in the other modes, the player can choose between the four difficulties Normal, Hard, Super Hard, and Insane. Insane is unlocked by stacking 150 stars or more in any of the lower difficulties. In this mode,Tick-Tock Jr. sits on the right side of the screen and is responsible for making the new block rows appear.

Story Mode details[edit]

Story Mode is the most prominent new feature in this game when compared to the Game Boy original. In this mode, Kirby faces off against an opponent, and they each get their own separate board to drop blocks in. The goal here is to prevent Kirby's board from filling up, while also causing the opponent's board to fill. To that end, the player will need to systematically remove blocks from the board as they fall down by lining them up correctly. This can be done by having an unbroken line ofStar Blocks in-between twoAnimal Friend blocks of the same type, or by simply lining up two of the same type of Animal Friend together. If a large number of blocks are removed at once and/or a chain of block removals is caused, Kirby will be able to cause his opponent's board to start filling with blocks from the bottom-up, and vice versa.

There are two difficulty modes for Story Mode, those being "Amateur" and "Professional". The difficulty chosen determines the speed and skill level of the CPU opponents. There are a total of eight opponents to face in the Story Mode, which are fought in sequence. The last of these -Gryll - can only be faced if all prior opponents were defeated without losing a single time. Theofficial web guide for the game makes it a point to mention that if the player prematurely pauses a given round in order to restart, that will not count as a loss.

Opponents[edit]

The following are details on each opponent in the Story Mode:

Opponents inKirby's Star Stacker
Opponent	Difficulty	Notes
Waddle Dee	Normal (both difficulties)	Waddle Dee attacks Kirby using aparasol when getting chains. The board layout starts out with all three bottom rows filled with Star Blocks, with the bottommost rows being Friend Blocks.
Poppy Bros. Jr.	Normal (both difficulties)	Poppy Bros. Jr. throws bombs at Kirby when getting chains. The board layout is rather similar to that of Waddle Dee's but with three more Star Blocks added to the rightmost three lanes.
Lovely	Normal (Amateur) Hard (Professional)	Lovely attacks Kirby by hitting him with her head when getting chains. The board layout starts off in a staircase-based pattern.
Knuckle Joe	Hard (both difficulties)	Knuckle Joe attacks Kirby by kicking him when getting chains. The board layout starts off similarly to Poppy Bros. Jr. but there are more blocks within the leftmost columns. This round introduces Bomb Blocks, which can occassionally spawn from new rows when attacked.
Chef Kawasaki	Hard (Amateur) Super Hard (Professional)	Chef Kawasaki attacks Kirby using his frying pan when getting chains. This round introduces Hard Blocks, with a few in the starting layout.
Meta Knight	Super Hard (both difficulties)	Meta Knight attacks Kirby using his sword when getting chains. The board layout is more complex with more Hard Blocks within the initial layout.
King Dedede	Super Hard (Amateur) Insane (Professional)	King Dedede attacks Kirby using his hammer when getting chains. This round features a great deal of Hard Blocks, especially at the start. Completing this round triggers the end credits.
Gryll	Super Hard (Amateur) Insane (Professional)	Gryll attacks Kirby using a broomstick when getting chains. This round features a great deal of Hard Blocks, especially at the start. It can only be played after the credits if all previous rounds were cleared without a loss.

Staff[edit]

The following is a list of staff who have worked on the Super Famicom version ofKirby's Star Stacker:

Nintendo Switch Online description[edit]

Join Kirby as he stacks the falling stars with help from his friends!

Watch out for King Dedede. He is out to stop you! With a few quick moves and some well-timed strategy, you can quickly outwit him and move on to the next challenging level with a little help from Rick, Kine, and Coo, who look like a hamster, fish, and owl, respectively. Blocks rain down from above while whole lines appear from below with relentless regularity. Simply sandwich the stars between Kirby's pals, and you'll soon be on your way to earning a high score in pure puzzle fun!

(This is a modified version of the description used for the Game Boy version on the Nintendo eShop and My Nintendo Store, with a few lines adjusted. Most notably, "Rick the Hamster, Kine the Sunfish, and Coo the Owl" was altered to "Rick, Kine, and Coo, who look like a hamster, fish, and owl, respectively," which matches a similar change made to the Nintendo Switch Online description ofKirby's Dream Land 2.)

Trivia[edit]

• When Kirby thwacks his opponents in Story or VS Mode, he does so with theLove-Love Stick.
• Though the game had not been released outside of Japan and small parts of Asia until September 2023, it was nonetheless referenced several times in games that were released internationally before then.
  • Mr. Star,Tick-Tock Jr., andGryll appear asstickers inKirby: Planet Robobot, and asCharacter Treats inKirby's Dream Buffet, using their artwork from this game. Gryll also appears as a spirit inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate (again using artwork from this game), as well as appearing in aStone transformation and aCelebration Picture inKirby Star Allies.
  • Two music tracks in this game were re-used in the extra stages ofKirby: Planet Robobot, while Gryll's theme reappears inKirby Star Allies. An arranged medley of Chef Kawasaki's theme and Gryll's theme from this game is one of theBattle Royale themes that can play inKirby's Dream Buffet.
• In 1998, a game titledKirby's Super Star Stacker was listed on a page of upcoming SNES releases on Nintendo's American website, suggesting that an international release may have been planned at that point in time.^[4]
  • Current English sources—such asKirby: Planet Robobot,Kirby Art & Style Collection,Kirby's Dream Buffet,Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Nintendo Classics, andNintendo Today!—refer to the game simply asKirby's Star Stacker, the same asthe Game Boy game. This is because both versions of the game have the same name in Japanese. The official EnglishHAL Laboratory website refers to it asKirby no KIRAKIRA KIDS, a direct transliteration of its Japanese name.^[5]

Gallery[edit]

Main article:Kirby's Star Stacker (Super Famicom)/gallery

• 
  Logo
• 
  Back of the boxart
• 
  Title screen
• 
  Alternate title screen

Names in other languages[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official Japanese website
• Kirby's Star Stacker (Super Famicom) on Kirby Informer

References

• Good pages
• Spin-off games
• Remakes
• Games on Super Nintendo Entertainment System
• Kirby's Star Stacker (Super Famicom)

• Articles which list Japanese names
• Articles which list Chinese names
• Articles which list Dutch names
• Articles which list French names
• Articles which list German names
• Articles which list Italian names
• Articles which list Korean names
• Articles which list Portuguese names
• Articles which list Russian names
• Articles which list Spanish names