1998 · Puzzle

Irritating Stick

PlayStation exclusive

Irritating Stick (originally Dengeki Iraira Bou), is a carnival game in which the player has to move a spinning stick through maze-like levels, without touching the borders. If the borders are touched, the player gets zapped and loses the game.

Released: 19 March 1998
Platforms: PlayStation
Genres: Puzzle
Developers: —
Publishers: Jaleco
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Country: Japan
Age ratings: ESRB E
Languages: English, Japanese

About

Irritating Stick is a 1998 puzzle video game developed by Saurus and published by Jaleco Entertainment for the PlayStation. It was first released in Japan on March 19, 1998, and in North America on February 4, 1999. Based on a segment from the Japanese game show Ucchannanchan no Honō no Challenger: Kore ga Dekitara Hyakuman En , the player must guide a stick through increasingly difficult wire mazes without touching its walls.

A demo of the game was included on the Jampack Winter '98 demo disc. Similar titles based on the same game show, The Irritating Maze and Ucchannanchan no Honō no Challenger: Denryū Iraira Bō, were released for the Neo Geo and Nintendo 64 around the same time respectively.

›Story

The game entails moving around what appears to be a dot on the screen since this actually represents the stick in a 3D world that is viewed from top down on the head of the rod. By directing this rod through the maze without hitting either of the barriers, you will take victory. However speed also must be taken into consideration since a time limit is established for each course. Players can also change speeds by simply pressing the X button to drop down a speed or circle to speed up with a total of five speeds available. The unlimited number of mazes are set through various background courses and obstacles from spinning blades, poker machines and even a metal robot.

The original Japanese version had an announcer who would yell things to confuse the player and trick them into touching the walls of the maze. This feature was removed from the American version.

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

In Irritating Stick, the object of each level is to guide a metal stick through a wire maze within a time limit, while avoiding touching its walls. If the stick makes contact with the walls, the controller vibrates violently, and the player must restart from the last checkpoint. Levels may also include different obstacles, such as rotating spike wheels, slot machines, and moving robots.

Reception

The game received generally unfavorable reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. It was voted the #1 worst game name of all time by GameRevolution. In Japan, however, Famitsu gave it a score of 29 out of 40.