Untitled balloon/bubble pushing games

The untitled balloon/bubble pushing games describe game concepts and prototypes originally for the Game Boy, that would later become Densetsu no Starfy (GBC), which then became the officially released Densetsu no Starfy (for Game Boy Advance).

History and concept

Planning on this game began as early as November 1995, for the original Game Boy when Nintendo producer Hitoshi Yamagami was asked by his boss to come up with some kind of 'floaty platformer', which originally featured a balloon. Hitoshi Yamagami received a directive from his boss to make it but had difficulties on having the balloon move where it was intended to. According to Hitoshi Yamagami, it turned out to be an "annoying game that wasn't any fun at all". Hitoshi Yamagami asked his boss if he could operate the balloon itself and he approved his request.

In a 2009 conference call between Nintendo Life and six developers of The Legendary Starfy, Hitoshi Yamagami states that he worked on the idea of a floating character being pushed through a maze for six months. It is unclear whether he is referring to the balloon or not.

Hitoshi Yamagami would later collaborate with TOSE producer Yasuhiro Minamimoto. Hitoshi Yamagami talked about the the game with Yasuhiro Minamimoto and they came up with the idea of changing the balloon into a bubble with a Nintendo character in it but Hitoshi states in Nintendo Power that this "wasn't a very practical setup". Later, Hitoshi asked if they could take control of the floating character, rather than just moving it around. Hitoshi and Yasuhiro both decided that using a water based character would be a good idea, as long as that character fit the environment. Both a jellyfish and a starfish were initial considerations, and a starfish, was eventually chosen for this game.

References

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