Today we’re talking about Irritating Stick on the Sony PlayStation. I’ll start by saying that few times has a video game been so accurately described by its name. With the word ‘irritating’ in place that’s not exactly a good thing. For years I had heard of this one, and with a name like that it’s easy to see why it stuck with me. The game is actually based on a segment from an older Japanese game show. This involved contestants guiding a stick through a narrow maze. When they failed they’d be met with a flurry of electric sparks. I’m not sure that’s my kind of thing. Regardless, Irritating Stick was localized for North American audiences (despite none of us ever having seen the show). So how does it play? Not great. Let’s take a look.
Honestly, you wouldn’t know this game is based on a game show from playing it. There’s no audience, no clips from the segment, nada. You’re just a hand that’s holding a stick. You know what? That’s fine by me. Who needs a story anyway. Each round starts with a view of the stick as the camera snaps into a head on perspective. This makes your tool look like just a dot. Using the directional pad you move this circle through narrow areas blocked off with barriers. Should the dot come into contact with any of these you’re met with an explosion, and lose a life. Irritating Stick gives you a few continues, but there’s no way to sustain more than one hit. This makes the game a bit frustrating to play.
Oh and did I mention there’s a time limit? That’s pretty important. If it runs out then you lose. Gameplay requires the perfect marriage of precision and speed. I’m happy to report that the controls are actually pretty good here. The game is compatible with the analog controller, and much to my surprise, the PS1 mouse. Unfortunately I don’t have one of those handy but it’s fantastic that this peripheral is getting more love. Anyway, moving the dot around is fairly precise. This goes for using both the directional pad and analog stick. The mazes are never set up in a straightforward layout however. This means just holding left/right or up/down won’t work. You’re going to be using a lot of diagonal inputs which is where the challenge comes in.
Unfortunately there’s no true analog controls. You can use the analog stick, sure, but it still only measures the eight basic directions for input. Maybe it’s different with the mouse but somehow I doubt it. This makes the game more challenging than it otherwise would be. The directional pad actually works better because of this because it’s easier to use quick and subtle movements easier with it. One of the face buttons actually allows you to see a 3D view of both your stick and the course. Unfortunately this is largely useless. You can’t even move while using this point of view. As I said the controls are good, but some of the input mechanics are a little questionable to say the least.
You can even control the speed at which your dot moves. An indicator at the bottom of the screen shows a number between one and five. This is how fast you’re currently set to. This can be increased or decreased with the face buttons. Because of the time limit you’re going to need to switch speeds fairly regularly. Moving fast in the more straightforward sections of path makes sense, but whenever you hit a narrow area or a curve slow will be the only way to win the race. Unfortunately you can’t simply opt to move at a one or even a two through most courses. The time limit simply doesn’t allow it. Even when you set the difficulty level to easy. Irritating Stick is a super challenging game no matter how you spin it. It can be downright irritating. Pun intended.
As you get to some of the later stages things become more complicated. Irritating Stick introduces moving parts to the player in each course. These are even more difficult to contend with than the infuriating mazes. This includes spinning discs, moving robots, and even rotating objects with slots you have to guide your dot through. The levels are already tough enough to deal with let alone when these mechanics are introduced. Normally I would appreciate something like this that keeps stages fresh from one another. In this case I came to dread the moving parts. Irritating Stick didn’t need them, and their presence just introduces more frustration into the package. At the very least checkpoints tend to be just past these sections. At least the developers weren’t total sadists.
For a game with such a singular focus there is a lot of content included in this disc. Let’s start with the single player modes. You can play through a selection of arcade based levels. These are original to the game. Next up is the TV courses. This is wherein most of the content lays. I can only assume that these stages are directly based on the puzzles from the television show. I mean, it would make sense right? In my opinion this is the best way to play because it offers the most variety, and most interesting level designs. Next we have the AI courses. These are procedural generated and therefore totally randomized. I suppose that’s one way of preventing the game from running out of new challenges, right?
There are two other modes of play that stand out from the others however. Multiplayer is one of them. Two players can compete in split screen mode simultaneously. The big difference here is the irritant mechanic introduced here. You can use these to impede the other player in various ways from affecting their view to altering their controls. These are temporary effects, but significant enough to destroy friendships. It is here that you’ll have the most fun. Provided you have another person to play Irritating Stick with, that is. The other significant mode is the course editor. You can create your own levels to play in which is pretty neat. For an obvious low budget release it’s surprising that the developers put in the effort here. Per memory card save you can store four of your creations, and they can be played in both single and multiplayer modes.
Irritating Stick isn’t a particularly pretty game. It’s very plain visually. The graphics consist mostly of dark backgrounds, wires to outline the course, and of course the dot you manipulate. When you reach areas with moving parts the game is a bit more impressive looking. It’s never a showstopper however. I’d say the best graphics effects are the explosions you see when your stick touches the edges. Even that isn’t amazing when compared to what other developers were pulling off on the platform. The audio is also a bit lackluster. The music is bouncy and fun, but not real memorable. The highlight here is the announcer. He’s enthusiastic to a fault, and won’t hesitate to let you know when you’re getting too close to the edge. Just from the graphics and audio alone you can tell this wasn’t a big budget affair.
