Irritating Stick

Irritating Stick, also known as Ucchan Nanchan no Honō no Challenger: Dengeki Iraira Bou Returns (ウッチャンナンチャンの炎のチャレンジャー電擊イライラ棒 リターンズ, lit. "Ucchan Nanchan's Challengers of Fire: Irritating Electric Stick Returns" in Japanese), is a PlayStation video game published by Jaleco Entertainment.[2]

Irritating Stick
Developer(s)Saurus
Publisher(s)Jaleco Entertainment
Platform(s)PlayStation
Release
  • JP: March 19, 1998
  • NA: February 3, 1999[1]
Genre(s)Puzzle video game
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

History

Irritating Stick was originally released in Japan on March 19, 1998, under the name Dengeki Iraira Bou,[2][3] and in North America on February 3, 1999.[1]

Description

It is based a segment on the Japanese game show Ucchan Nanchan no Honō no Challenger: Kore ga Dekitara 100 Man En (ウッチャンナンチャンの炎のチャレンジャーこれができたら100万円!!, lit. "Ucchan Nanchan's Challengers of Fire: 1,000,000 Yen If You Can Do This!!"). The segment in turn was based on a carnival game,[3] where the player tries to maneuver a metal rod through a metal maze without touching the sides. When the sides were touched by the baton, the controller rumbles.[2]

The player would also hear a loud announcer screaming to confuse them while trying to escape the maze.[3] In the American version of the game, the voices (except for when the maze is finished) were removed for unknown reasons.

There is also a demo of the Japanese version released in North America in 1998 on the "PlayStation Underground Jampack" in the "imports" section of the vault where it was spelled: "Ira-Ira Bo". The player could only play up to level three, and some of the features were removed such as "multiplayer", "TV studio", "bonus", and "options". Besides some of the removed content everything else such as the voice acting, narration, and intro movie were still there. Japanese PlayStation games would not work on the American PlayStation console, since this was a direct transfer of the game from the original disk, when a level is beaten or the player gets a "game over", the PlayStation console must be restarted.

Reception

The game received "unfavorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[4] It was voted the #1 worst game name of all time by GameRevolution.[10] In Japan, however, Famitsu gave it a score of 29 out of 40.[6]

Notes
  1. Four critics of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game each a score of 5/10, 2/10, 4.5/10 and 1/10.
  2. Three critics of GameFan gave the game each a score of 50, 81, and 45.

See also

References
  1. Harris, Craig (February 4, 1999). "Irritating Stick". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  2. "Virtually Overlooked: Irritating Stick". Engadget. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  3. Irritating Stick - IGN, 5 February 1999, retrieved 2021-01-22
  4. "Irritating Stick for PlayStation Reviews". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 1, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  5. Boyer, Crispin; Davison, John; Hager, Dean; Williams, Ken "Sushi-X" (February 1999). "Irritating Stick". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 115. Ziff Davis. p. 174. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  6. "ウッチャンナンチャンの炎のチャレンジャー電擊イライラ棒 リターンズ [PS]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Archived from the original on October 27, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  7. Super Teeter; Ngo, George "Eggo"; Weitzner, Jason "Fury" (March 1999). "Irritating Stick". GameFan. Vol. 7, no. 3. Shinno Media. p. 14. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  8. Gerstmann, Jeff (February 25, 1999). "Irritating Stick Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  9. MacDonald, Mark (March 1999). "Irritating Stick". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Vol. 2, no. 6. Ziff Davis. p. 83. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  10. Ferris, Duke (June 12, 2006). "The 50 Worst Game Names Ever". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
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