Helpful Stuff

Helpful Stuff (Japanese: おたすけグッズ, Helpful Goods) is an unused term in The Legendary Starfy. Its name implies that they are a helpful kind of Stuff. At least some types of Helpful Stuff never made it into the final game. According to some unused text from the Japanese version of The Legendary Starfy, eight different kinds of Helpful Stuff were meant to be used for boss battles with more than one player in cooperative play (possibly via what became Team Play). The Helpful Stuff would account for several elements, including fire, ice and poison and depending on the boss and element, the player could be in an advantage or disadvantage.

Although unused text from Moe states that there are only eight kinds of Helpful Stuff, following the names of Super Bugawk and Super Vanish in the ROM is the text "Helpful Stuff 9" and "Helpful Stuff 10" suggesting two more may have been in development, however, these could simply be placeholders because ten is a nice round figure.

It may be noteworthy that there are eight of Bunston's Powers including the four unique powers and their upgrades; the same number of Helpful Stuff that were supposedly planned.

There are also unused sprites of Starly under Bunston's transformations even though she doesn't get to use them in the final game. If Bunston's Powers were planned for cooperative play, it is possible that Starly may have got to use them there, although they may have simply been added for compatibility and consistency.

It may be of note that there are some sprites present in the game of completely unused transformations, such as a Cockroach, Frog and Mermaid which may have once been Helpful Stuff. In fact, the Frog and Mermaid appear in the Stuff as Specials, with the Frog called the Ribbit Costume.

Relevant Japanese text

There is a relatively large section of text in the Japanese version of The Legendary Starfy mentioning Helpful Stuff. It has been translated in a post on Jul by Joe. The original Japanese text and the translation can be found here (archived version).

Mirror:

オッス！キョロスケさまだ！
１作目２作目と　４０まんぼん
ちかくうれた　うれっコの
キョロスケさまだ！

Yo! It's Moe! The best-seller Moe, whose first two works sold nearly 400,000 copies!

え？さいきん？
さいきんのことはきくんじゃねえ
かこのえいこうに
ひたってればいいんだよ！

Huh? Recently? I haven't heard anything recently. It'd be nice to soak in the glory of the past!

今回は　こうやって　下がめんで
いろいろ　ブツブツと
ひとりごとを
いっていくんだけどよ・・

This time I'm going to keep complaining to myself on the bottom screen...

ここまでに　こなした
ストーリーのせつめいなどを
おもに　ブツブツ
いっていくんだゼ！

So far I'm mostly complaining about the explanation of the story!

たまに　かくしべやへの
ヒントとか　いうかも
しんねーから　見のがすんじゃ
ねーぞ！おけー？

Sometimes there'll be stuff like hints in hidden places, so don't miss anything! Okay?



とりあえず　いろんな
なかまを見つけたら
かたっぱしから
はなしかけて・・・

First of all, you should make sure you talk to everyone you find.

イベントを　ガンガン
こなしていけ！
ぶんきへやも
見のがすな！

Let's get this event going! Don't miss the branching room!

ま　めんどくさがりさんは
ぶんきなんか　むしして
ガンガン先すすんでも
いいんだけどよ

Well, those who think it's too much work can ignore the branches and continue forward.

あとあと　キツく
なってもしらねーぞ・・

I don't know if that'll make it harder in the future, though...



今回　はつとうじょうの
通信２人プレイへやだ
ワンカートリッジとマルチ
カートリッジに　たいおう！

This time is the debut of the two-player communication room. It supports one-cartridge and multi-cartridge!

こんなかんじで　きほん
『１人でも　ちょいがんばれば
クリアできるけど　２人でやれば
もっとかんたん』な作りに・・

It's made to feel pretty easy by yourself but even easier with two people.



おたすけグッズで
すすむ　へやだ

This is a room where you move using Helpful Stuff.

ま　今まででいう
『のりもの』アクション
ってとこだな
うんうん

That's the action I've referred to as "vehicle" up until now. Yep, yep.

今回は　８しゅるいも！の
おたすけグッズがあり
とくていの　へやや
なんと！ボスせんでもつかえるぞ！

This time there are 8 different types of Helpful Stuff. They're in special rooms and you can even use them in boss battles!

とくていの　へやでは
炎や氷など　ぞくせいを
つかった　いろんな
しかけがあるんだが・・

In the special rooms are a variety devices saturated with attributes like fire and ice, however...

そのぞくせいに
ゆうこうな　おたすけ
グッズをつかえば
らくに　つうかできたり・・

You can easily pass through if you use Helpful Stuff with an effective attribute...

ぎゃくに　ふりなものを
えらんでしまうと
むずかしくなって
しまったりするわけだ

But if you choose an unhelpful attribute, it'll be more difficult.



ボスせんまえの　へやだ
このへんは　今まで通り
ボスとの　かいわなどを
やるぞ

This is the room before a boss battle. In here, you'll have a conversation with the boss as usual.

まだ　作ってないけど
ここでおたすけグッズに
きがえて　ボスにいどんだり
通信で２人で　いどんだりを

It hasn't been made yet, but you'll be able to change into Helpful Stuff and choose to challenge the boss

せんたくできるようになる
もちろん　せっかちさんは
１人で　タイマンしょうぶを
いどむのもおっけーだ！

by yourself or with a friend. Of course, if you're impatient it's okay to just challenge the boss one-on-one!



ボスせんの　へやだ
今回のボスは　今までとちがって
炎氷毒・・・などの
ぞくせいがあるから・・

This is the boss battle room. This boss is a little different from the others. There are attributes like... fire, ice, and poison, so...

おたすけグッズで　ぞくせいを
こうりょした　たたかい方を
すると　ゆうりになったり
ふりになったりする

The fight might be to your advantage or disadvantage depending on the attribute of the Helpful Stuff.

あと　通信２人プレイも
できるから　へたくそさんは
ゲームのうまい人に
てつだってもらうのもいいな！

Also, you can do this in two-player mode, so if you're really bad at it, find someone better to help!