Irritating Stick, published by Jaleco and developed by the guys and gals at Saurus is quite a weird idea when it comes to what the videogame industry has expected in the past. Based on a cult TV show in Japan where contestants have to guide a rod in between two barriers of pulsating volts of electricity to the end of the maze without touching either side as this will lead to a shock of electricity, you would hardly even conceive this idea to be a practical videogame.
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.
All up Irritating Stick stacks over one hundred mazes onto this one disc, but with it’s edit and creation features, that number is in fact unlimited. These mazes are split into four types of play: 1P Play, Vs Play, Tournament and Course Edit. The first three types are broken down even further into TV Course, Arcade Course (Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced), AI Course (different levels as you progress through) and Edit Course. The Vs. mode itself allows up to eight players to take up the challenge in split screen heated confrontation while the unique options include handicap, weapons (Hallucination, Spot Light, Inertia, Crazy Camera etc.), course edit, irritant select, irritant icon, penalty game etc. Course Edit also players to create their own maze from sixteen unique sections of maze to craft their own creation in the matter of seconds and a time limit can also be selected.
Irritating Stick supports memory cards, Sony’s Dual Shock pad, the Playstation Mouse and up to eight players.
Manufacturer’s description:
”It’s nothing but a maze, you, and a stick carrying 100,000 volts.”
Race against time, or choose head-to-head competition, in over 100 3D mazes that are guaranteed to irritate and challenge you for hours.
* One player and two player modes plus a tournament mode for up to eight players
* Three distinctive courses, each with multiple mazes
* Based on the smash hit JapaneseTV show
* Design your own unique mazes with edit mode
IT’S shockingly FUN!
Features:
First person perspective.
3D graphics
Cartoon graphics
SCI-FI & Futuristic themes.