"The Legendary Starfy," starring the starfish prince of Pufftop Kingdom, is a mostly underwater adventure with a cute cast, crisp visuals and game play that doesn't feel like a rehash of other side-scrolling mascot adventures.
The series has been around since 2002 in Japan; this is the fifth installment but the first to be released in the United States. It serves as a fine introduction.
Starfy is doing his starfish thing one day when a rabbit in a spacesuit plummets to Earth, chased by three shadowy figures. Starfy fends them off, but the rabbit, Bunston, is so scared that he runs off.
Starfy follows, dragging along his clam buddy Moe, in the hope of helping the amnesiac Bunston by returning a strange crystal he dropped. From there, he'll move on to new environments, each with several levels and secret areas.
Most 2-D platform games involve swimming at some point. Not so many have it as the main event, as "Starfy" does. Starfy is at his best in the water during his adventure, where he is able to swim quickly and perform a spin in any direction; this serves as his main attack and as a useful tool for moving obstacles out of the way and breaking through blocks and into hidden passages. Out of the water, he can dash for extra speed, but his spin is more limited.
Once Starfy tracks down and befriends Bunston, he gains the ability to merge with the space rabbit to form creatures with unique abilities, such as a fire-breathing dragon that can burn through enemies and certain obstacles with equal ease.
In some stages, a second player can join in via Wi-Fi to play as Starly, Starfy's kid sister who has a different set of moves, including a wall jump and a crouching crawl that allow her to get to some places Starfy can't.
The game play is simple and engaging, similar to the "Kirby" games but in the water instead of the air, and there's a set of mini-games to mess around with solo or with up to four players. "The Legendary Starfy" is a bit easy, even for a game aimed at younger players, but it's fun and charming.
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