Axela homepage
(this game)Starsweep was an action puzzle game developed and published by Axela in 1997 for the Playstation. An arcade version was published by Namco. This review is based on the Playstation version.
Starsweep is similar to Panel de Pon
(published under the name of Tetris Attack in the West)
in many ways. In fact, this game was directed by Mr.
There are blocks of size 1x3 in 3 colors. Each block has a star on one end; occasionally, a special block which has a star on both ends appears. The player controls a cursor in the 17x8 play field. He can freely move the cursor around the field, and he can rotate it with the rotate button. The cursor looks like a semi-transparent block. By pressing the place button, the player can place the depicted block at the cursor, provided that there is enough room for the block. When two or more stars of the same color are adjacent, the blocks are eliminated. Blocks keep rising out of the bottom of the field, the same as in Panel de Pon. (The player can speed up the rising of the blocks by pushing the cursor against the lower edge of the field.) When a block touches the top edge of the field, a 3-count begins. If the player fails to clear the top edge within the 3-count, he loses. The player's defeat can be postponed momentarily, even when the count is up, while blocks are being eliminated.
As in the good vs. puzzle games, the "chain" is the central concept in this game. Since everything is affected by gravity, it is possible to arrange blocks so that when certain blocks are eliminated, a block above them falls down and forms a new elimination. This is called a 2-step chain. If a block above the second elimination then falls down and forms another new elimination, this makes a 3-step chain, and so on. With good planning, a player can make very big chains. In a vs. game, when you make a chain, cloud blocks (of size 2x4 and 3x4) are dropped into the opponent's field. The bigger the chain, the more clouds are dropped to harass your opponent; a chain of 7 steps or more would often sign the death sentence for the opponent. Clouds are eliminated by eliminating a touching colored block, similar to Puyo-Puyo. You can also send a few clouds by eliminating 3 or more stars at the same time.
This "chain" concept, inherited from Puyo-Puyo (the first true vs. puzzle game), is the key concept in every of the best vs. puzzle games. Puzzle games before Puyo-Puyo were mostly passive games of survival where the player is challenged with staying alive by keeping control against very fast falling blocks. With the concept of attacking the opponent by building chains, the vs. puzzle game becomes an active, fast-paced competition. It opens up a new dimension of depth and playability in the game: rather than one's ability in the mechanical control of the falling blocks, it's one's quick wits in building big chains correctly and quickly that is being tested.
There is also the "quick chain", inherited from Panel de Pon (where it is called the "active chain"). You can continue to place blocks when blocks are being eliminated. By placing blocks in the right positions above blocks in the chain, you can add to the chain while it is going off. As in Panel de Pon and unlike in Magical Drop or Pop 'n Pop, 'manual chains' are not recognized: if you make an elimination in another arbitrary area of the field while blocks are being eliminated, that elimination doesn't count towards the chain. A block must be falling due to lower blocks being eliminated in order to constitute a chain.
Starsweep is a brilliant chain-centered puzzle game, alongside Puyo-Puyo and Panel de Pon. The concept of the 1x3 block with a star on one end is incredibly simple. Yet this simple little idea has given us a game which combines the strengths of both classic games: the emphasis on chains and the fast, deadly pace in Puyo-Puyo, and the freedom of placement (or rather, swapping in Panel de Pon), the "quick chain", and others in Panel de Pon. Let me go into details on this. Only 2 blocks are required to form an elimination; this makes it easy to form eliminations and to build chains. (The difficulty of building chains in Puyo-Puyo and Panel de Pon has turned away many players before they discover the real enjoyment of the games.) However, because eliminations are only caused by touching stars (rather than touching blocks), chains do not happen often by luck (as in other vs. puzzle games such as Baku Baku Animal and Hanagumi Taisen Columns); you do have to build them. With this fine balance, the game manages to be quite easy to get into, without resorting to bringing up the cheesy "counterattack" strategy (as in Taisen Puzzle Dama and Puzzle Fighter) which bears the (IMO fatal) side effect of taking away the depth of the game. With the potential for treacherous block formations, the bigger cloud blocks, and the absence of the "counterattack" tactic (which is in Panel de Pon to some degree, and which allows a player to hang on easily without otherwise active chain building), the game has a pace close to Puyo-Puyo. It is faster paced and more deadly (it is harder to survive strong enemy attacks) than Panel de Pon (even though the player is allowed a 3-count, as opposed to the brief time allowance in Panel de Pon). Since there are only 3 basic kinds of blocks, the luck factor (in newly appearing blocks) in this game is lower than that in most puzzle games (excluding non-vs. puzzle games with no random elements, of course). You definitely can get a block of the color you need more quickly and more reliably than a game with 8 basic kinds of blocks such as Puzzle Fighter or Baku Baku Animal.
The graphics style is similar to Panel de Pon. The characters are cute, but there are male characters, and most of the female characters are rather tomboyish, so the game may not be as satisfying as Panel de Pon to players who play video games for the girl characters. ^_^ The sounds are good for a puzzle game. The Playstation version has a good ending song, too. The game story is minimal, but it is rather funny. To see screen shots, please visit the maker's homepage on this game.
Besides the 1P vs. com (story mode) and the 2P vs. modes, there is also a "1P challenge" mode. It is like the "endless" mode in Panel de Pon (or other puzzle games), but clouds rise out of the bottom as well as normal blocks, and the game is finite, with an ending. Several times in a game, a huge 8x8 "boss cloud" appears. To eliminate it, the player has to eliminate touching colored blocks 5 times. There is also a 1P "attack mode", which includes 1-minute score attack, 1-minute chain attack, 5-chain time attack and other play modes. The computer opponent in the 1P vs. com mode is not very bright, but the other good 1P modes more than make up for it, and of course the true value of a vs. puzzle game lies in its 2-player vs. game play. There are handicap levels in the 2-player game, and they are adequate towards providing even matches between players of significantly different skill levels.
The player accumulates stars as he makes certain accomplishments when playing. The stars allow the player to access various extra features, such as extra game modes and extra characters in 2P vs. mode. (In terms of game play, the characters all have identical capabilities.) In my opinion, this is not really a big deal, since "extra features" are not really "extra", but rather merely features which are not initially available. (Collecting stars, or collecting anything in any video game, cannot conjure features which have not been programmed in by the designers.) However, it does serve the purpose of encouraging new players to play the game long enough to realize its greatness. (As mentioned above, many people who have tried Puyo-Puyo or Panel de Pon have put the game away before they have become skilled enough to realize the goodness of the game.)
Starsweep is an excellent vs. puzzle game. The simple and innovative block elimination rules, coupled with many excellent concepts inherited from Panel de Pon, has created one of the best chain-centered vs. puzzle games since Puyo-Puyo. I would say that this game is one of the ideal forms of the vs. puzzle game. This game is highly recommended to all puzzle game players, especially players who love Puyo-Puyo and/or Panel de Pon (Tetris Attack). By the way, the Japanese language in the game is not much of a problem to Western players.
Copyright 5 Aug 1999 Alan Shiu Ho Kwan
Alan Kwan / tarot@netvigator.com / created 5 Aug 99 / last modified 17 Feb 00