Nintendo’s finally letting us swim the seas with Starfy, let’s get to know him better

It’s taken more than seven years but Nintendo has finally decided that the brave, adorable starfish known as Starfy (aka Stafi or Stafy) is ready to explore new horizons. Nintendo recently announced that the fifth Starfy game, Densetsu no Stafy Taiketsu! Daiiru Kaizokudan, will be released in North America on June 8, 2009, as The Legendary Starfy.

Seems like Nintendo is going back to Starfy’s roots with the title since the original GBA game (which will be reviewed March 6, 2009, in Important Importables) went by the same name.

But who is this mysterious little star/starfish which has inspired a fan following in Japan and such devotion among importers? Let’s look back over the history of Starfy over the past five games. After all, we may never see Densetsu no Stafi 1 – 4. Okay, if The Legendary Starfy does well, then maybe Nintendo would release the DS game Densetsu no Stafi 4 as The Legendary Starfy 2.

Starfy’s legend actually began before the Game Boy Advance game Densetsu no Stafi, which came out in 2002. It was originally designed to be a Game Boy Color game and come out earlier. However, the release of the GBA prompted a delay to create the game for the latest system.

So far five games have been released, and aside from the fifth game, the titles are fairly easy to remember and look up. It’s always called Densetsu no Stafi, though occasionally sites will list it as Stafy, or now even Starfy. So if you ever want to Google earlier games, just put that in and a number between 1 and 4.

The games are always platformers that bear some similarities to the classic Kirby games. Players guide Starfy, and occasionally his little sister Starpy/Stapy, through levels to find objects for underwater denizens and defeat troublesome bosses. Occasionally, the characters can team up with other underwater creatures to transform, or there’ll be mini-games or challenges to overcome. Of course, there are hidden stages and bosses to take down at the end of each area.

While Starfy resembles a starfish, he’s actually an actual star. In fact, a star prince. In the first game, Starfy is cleaning in his castle, Tenkai Palace. He accidentally knocks a Magic Jar, which was sealing a villain named Ogura, into the ocean. Then, he himself is knocked into the ocean. There he meets his underwater friends, most notably Kyorosuke the clam, who becomes a major fixture in the series.

As for the following GBA games – the story is pretty similar. Usually some force (thunderstorm, tornados, Ogura’s children, etc…) cause the Magic Jar where Ogura’s sealed to break or fall into the water and Starfy, Kyorosuke and later even little Starpy pursue him. It may sound like it would get cliched, or old, but the cute characters, story and levels keep this from happening. The games tend to be cute, but also clever. For example in Densetsu no Stafi 3 Kyorosuke tries to temporarily revolt against the “same old, same old,” but Starpy pushes him into it anyways.

The DS games have different storylines, following different characters and giving Ogura a bit of a rest. The fourth game, Densetsu no Starfy 4, as Starfy, Kyorosuke and Starpy lending aid to the Amy Kingdom, who had a precious gem stolen by Dejeel the snake woman. It’s a platformer that is mainly controlled with the face buttons, but the bottom touch screen does let players trigger special abilities and see the level layouts.

The game we’re all most interested in, The Legendary Starfy aka Densetsu no Stafy Taiketsu! Daiiru Kaizokudan, introduces another new character, more touch screen functions and single cartridge multiplayer where a second player can occasionally join in the adventure as Starpy.

In The Legendary Starfy, an adorable space rabbit named Rampa bursts into the Tenkai Palace, landing on Starfy. Right behind him are three members of the Dire Pirate Squad, who for some unknown reason want to capture the rabbit. Starfy attacks them, and they run, but Rampa’s falled into the ocean. Starfy and Kyorosuke jump in as well to help Rampa.

Now everyone should be up to date on Starfy and his activities. There were two mangas released, based on the games. They were called, you guessed it, Densetsu no Stafi and Densetsu no Stafi R. Neither has been released in English. The first series stopped running in 2005, but Densetsu no Stafi R is still running in Coro Coro Comics digest.

Read [Siliconera] Site [Densetsu no Stafi (Japanese)] Site [Densetsu no Stafi 2 (Japanese)] Site [Densetsu no Stafi 3 (Japanese)] Site [Densetsu no Stafi 4 (Japanese)] Site [Densetsu no Stafy Taiketsu! Daiiru Kaizokudan (Japanese)]