The Japanese Playstation cover
Star Sweep (aka Puzzle Star Sweep) is a Puzzle Game published by Axela. In the vein of Panel de Pon, you match up the stars on these 3x1 blocks called "star blocks," and lose if your stack reaches the top. You can make combos and chains to produce obstacles to hinder your opponent.
There were Arcade Game, Game Boy and PlayStation versions, but the former two never reached Western shores. The PlayStation version, on the other hand, received two completely separate localisations - one by Midas for Europe, and one by Agetec for the US.
Not to be confused with Twinkle Star Sprites or Star Ocean.
This game contains examples of:
- Ambidextrous Sprite: All of the sprites in the game are flipped depending on who's playing as them.
- Anime Chinese Girl: Po looks like a chibi kung-fu master a la Chun-Li, and her theme is similarly Chinese-themed.
- Artificial Limbs: Dr. J has a robotic arm, in contrast with the fantasy aesthetic everything else has.
- Alternative Foreign Theme Song and The Song Remains the Same: The Japanese version features a vocal ending theme, which is retained in the European version, but replaced with the instrumental theme from the arcade soundtrack in the US version.
- "Blind Idiot" Translation: Both English versions of the game are pretty cheaply localised, and it... shows. "At least we meet," anyone?
- Curious as a Monkey: Upon hearing Funga tell her to keep out of the jungle, Tia becomes determined to see what's beyond him and challenges him to a match.
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Implied with Dr. J, who has a cybernetic arm and is causing trouble around the world by destroying stars.
- Dub-Induced Plotline Change: The European version completely ditches the original ending text (despite everything else having been - at least vaguely - translated), replacing it with some tremendously generic dialogue between S(h)itora and Dr. J.
- Dub Name Change: The protagonist Sitora (also romanised as "Shitora" in the European version) was renamed to "Tia" in the US version.
- Final Boss: Dr. J and her robots are the final obstacles Tia faces.
- The Hero: Sitora/Shitora/Tia is the main hero who attempts to beat everyone in the puzzle game.
- Jungle Princess: Princess Rio lives in a jungle and has tanned skin to match.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Rank is a typical Bishōnen and is so attractive Tia immediately asks him out on a date.
- Long Song, Short Scene: The game's music is pretty awesome, but the matches usually last far too short for you to hear all of it. The worst example is the world map music, which you only get to hear a few seconds of, despite the sound file directly from the game disc being two minutes long
. - Lost in Translation: Pretty much inevitable with a cheap localisation, a few details were missed in the English versions.
- For example, the Japanese and European versions clearly indicate Tia/Sitora/Shitora as Mint's older sister, while the American text doesn't even make mention of it.
- Mad Scientist: Dr. J sends her robots after people and plans to destroy stars to fill the sky with stardust.
- Puzzle Game: The game revolves around matching blocks and disrupting opponents' strategies.
- The Rival: Mint is your first opponent and is determined not to lose to Tia again.
- Rule of Cute: Every character and creature in the game is drawn in a cute, chibi art style.
- Talking Animal: Domingo is a talking cat-like creature that challenges Tia to battle.
- Tin-Can Robot: B-1, Dr. J's robot minion, is a walking trashcan type of robot.
