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Irritating Stick is a game where you navigate simple mazes with a stick-like object, all while trying to make sure you don't hit any environmental hazards. The game was designed by Saurus, who made The Irritating Maze on the Neo Geo, which has a similar concept, and also made the great Shock Troopers for the same console. Brought to US shores by Jaleco, Irritating Stick did not receive much attention. However, this is a very fun and unique title with a simple, challenging, and addictive nature. The concept of Irritating Stick is to navigate a vertically-oriented white stick through a maze within a time limit. Based on a Japanese game show, the player must navigate the stick through various maze designs and avoid various traps or their stick will get an electric shock. I initially feared that Irritating Stick would be a puzzle game with tons of impossible stages, but this game is actually playable the whole way through. Based on the difficulty settings you choose, the stick will be thicker and crash into walls more easily or be slimmer, and the time allotted to complete missions will vary. Irritating Stick features very good controls. It supports the analog stick and you can shift gears to alter your stick's speed as you go through. This makes wading through certain areas much more natural and prevents frustration. The gameplay will seem a bit tough at first, but after some time and practice, I could whip through any maze with proficiency, which felt very satisfying. Plus you get a rumble with every electric shock to your stick. The game's mazes feature different strange obstacles, from a merry-go-round to a female robot. For longer levels, there are checkpoints to prevent replaying too many parts. There are various levels of courses to choose from, and there is a free mode where the course difficulty changes based on how you perform. The free mode has 99 possible levels, but there is almost no way to finish courses fast enough to get to level 99, and they tend to be similar. There is also a mode where you can design your own maze, and you can play against another player in split-screen. Irritating Stick has a fair amount of options, but the main portion is the arcade courses, and you will probably finish the main courses and get your fill of the game in 5-10 hours. There isn't much to describe Irritating Stick's gameplay, but there is a simplistic beauty in just going through mazes in a certain amount of time and using your maneuvering skills. The sound in Irritating Stick is unique. A cheesy but appealing announcer details the events in every maze, and the music features some funky beats with small voice samples. The music is fitting for a gameshow, and of good quality. Graphically, Irritating Stick is nothing flashy. The polygonal engine is very basic, but there isn't much room for extra detail; they get the job done. A camera rotate feature lets you get a look at upcoming surroundings before moving on. In the end, Irritating stick sets out to bring simple and challenging maze-navigating gameplay to PS1 owners, and I think it succeeds. I think that most gamers probably didn't like the whole premise of this game, but I'm grateful to Jaleco for bringing this over. The reception of this game kind of reminds me of a completely different PS1 game, Torneko: The Last Hope. Anyway, if you want a quirky and affordable Japanese title with simple and challenging gameplay, give Irritating Stick a try. It is very fun and easy to learnRead full review
Well the game its old and the condition is not perfect it's a little scratch but it works
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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