Kickle Cubicle (known in Japan as
Meikyū Jima, "Mystery Island") is a top-down action puzzle game by
Irem that was released for arcades in 1998 and for the
Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990. The game's hero Kickle goes around levels freezing enemies and setting up ice pillars on his mission to collect Dream Bags.
The premise of the NES version (the arcade version has a different plot) is that the Wicked Wizard King has turned the Fantasy Kingdom into ice, captured its palaces and princesses, and locked the people inside Dream Bags, leaving it up to Kickle to liberate the kingdom's four lands (Garden Land, Fruit Land, Cake Land, Toy Land) from icy slumber.
This game provides examples of:
- Action Bomb: Sparky.
- An Ice Person: Kickle, who freezes enemies with his breath.
- Block Puzzle: Once frozen into blocks, Noggles can be pushed around and into water to form bridges.
- Cool Shades: The enemies Max and Shades wear sunglasses.
- Drop In Nemesis: Run out of time and Striker, a big yellow star swoops in for an almost instant kill.
- Extended Gameplay: After beating the game, there is a "Special Game" with 30 additional, more difficult levels.
- Flying On A Cloud: Kickle does so between stages in the arcade version.
- Frictionless Ice: Surprisingly averted. The game does feature "slippery ice," but all it means is areas where Noggles can't walk across and Kickle can't make ice pillars.
- The Goomba: Noggles, which move around quite slowly, and, unlike other enemies in the game, can be turned into ice cubes to push around.
- Literally Shattered Lives: Some enemies can be destroyed by kicking them after freezing.
- Mook Maker: Base Rocks spawn enemies if there are less than the maximum of each type.
- Save the Princess: One princess for Kickle to save in each of the four lands.
- Shield Bearing Mook: Rooker, whose shield will actually reflect Kickle's freezing attack back at him.
- Snowlems: They have a freezing breath attack like Kickle's, which they are immune to.
- Spike Balls of Doom: One enemy is an invincible spinning spike ball that likes to hug walls.
- Springs Springs Everywhere: Not to jump on, but for blocks to bounce off.
- Turtle Power: A turtle enemy named Myrtle likes to drop into its shell and charge.
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