''Tecmo Stackers'', known as in Japan, is a puzzle video game released first in 1995 by

Tecmo , was a Japanese video game corporation founded in 1967. It had its headquarters in Kudankita, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo. Its subsidiary, Tecmo Inc, was located in Torrance, California. Tecmo was formerly known as Tehkan. Tecmo is known for ...

to Arcades and ported to both the

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

and the

SEGA Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...

. Its gameplay is similar to ''

Puyo Puyo ''Puyo Puyo'' (ぷよぷよ), previously known as ''Puyo Pop'' outside Japan, is a series of Tile-matching video game, tile-matching video games created by Compile (software company), Compile. Sega has owned the franchise since 1998, with games ...

''.

Gameplay

Players try to connect sets of four blocks so that their colors match, causing the blocks to be removed. Remaining blocks may then fall and complete other sets of four blocks. The main difference between Tecmo Stackers and Puyo Puyo is that blocks in ''Tecmo Stackers'' stretch in various directions after adjacent blocks are removed, and the "arms" they send out can complete sets of blocks and be removed; this allows for longer chain reactions. In arcade mode, players try to keep their stack of blocks from reaching the top of the screen. Long chain reactions send blocks to the opponent's screen. Arcade mode is available for one or two players, with players able to choose their difficulty independently of one another. Chain reaction mode centers on getting as many chain reactions as possible. In time trial mode, players try to keep their screen from filling with blocks for as long as possible.

Reception

''Tecmo Stackers'' received mostly mixed reviews. ''

GamePro Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...

'' called it "a highly addictive,

Tetris ''Tetris'' (russian: link=no, Тетрис) is a puzzle video game created by Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. It has been published by several companies for multiple platforms, most prominently during a dispute over the approp ...

-style puzzle game that's easy enough for anyone to play, yet complex enough to transfix even the best gamers for hours at a time." However, they criticized that the single-player mode is dull and easy, the visual of the blocks stretching out to grab other blocks is "disturbing", and the music is annoying enough to "

ake Ake (or Aké in Spanish orthography) is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It's located in the municipality of Tixkokob, in the Mexican state of Yucatán; 40 km (25 mi) east of Mérida, Yucatán. The name ...

you want to rip the speakers out of your TV." They gave it a 4.5 out of 5 for both control and fun factor, but a 3.0 for graphics and a 2.0 for sound. Dan Hsu of ''

Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The m ...

'' likewise found the block stretching disturbing, and co-reviewer echoed ''GamePro''s strong criticism of the music. Both Hsu and John Ricciardi described it as a second-rate ''

'' clone, and Sushi-X, while likening it instead to ''

Columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

'' but with more technique, agreed that chain reactions are mindlessly easy to accomplish. Contradicting both ''EGM'' and ''GamePro'', the reviewer for ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'' said that the music is great, and that he found the block stretching animation "strangely arousing". He also highly praised the gameplay in both single-player and multiplayer, but also remarked that the game didn't differentiate itself enough from other ''Tetris''-like games, though it would be enough to satisfy fans of the genre.

References

External links

*{{moby game, id=/tecmo-stackers 1995 video games 1997 video games PlayStation (console) games PlayStation Network games Sega Saturn games Tecmo games Video games developed in Japan