Star Mobile

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Star Mobile
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Sega Corporation (JP), Sega of America (US), Sega Europe (EU)
Developer: Mindware
Original system(s): X68000
Genre: Puzzle
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 2022-10-27 US 2022-10-27 EU 2022-10-27
Non-Sega versions <img alt="CD-ROM²" src="https://retrocdn.net/images/thumb/7/72/CDROM2_logo.svg/16px-CDROM2_logo.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="10" srcset="https://retrocdn.net/images/thumb/7/72/CDROM2_logo.svg/24px-CDROM2_logo.svg.png 1.5x, https://retrocdn.net/images/thumb/7/72/CDROM2_logo.svg/32px-CDROM2_logo.svg.png 2x" /> <img alt="X68000" src="https://retrocdn.net/images/thumb/1/1f/Logo-sharpx68000.png/16px-Logo-sharpx68000.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" srcset="https://retrocdn.net/images/thumb/1/1f/Logo-sharpx68000.png/24px-Logo-sharpx68000.png 1.5x, https://retrocdn.net/images/1/1f/Logo-sharpx68000.png 2x" />

Star Mobile (スターモビール) is a puzzle game originally released for X68000 computers and later CD-ROM² hardware. Although a Sega Mega Drive port was developed as early as 1992, it was never officially announced in any media during this period and remained unreleased until its inclusion as a bonus game in the Mega Drive Mini 2 in 2022.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot.

The objective of Star Mobile is to stack falling stars of varying weights onto the scales as they fall from the sky while making sure the scales stay balanced, and stack a certain number of stars to clear each level. The falling stars can be moved using and , can be dropped instantly by pressing , or broken at the cost of one "REST" point by pressing , or . Each star's weight is colour-coded in order from lightest to heaviest: blue, silver, yellow, orange and red; the heavier the star, the more points are earned when placing them on the scales. Changing the difficulty level will also affect the kinds of stars that will appear.

When a star is placed on a plate, the balance leans one measure per weight unit. The upper plates can lean up to four measures, while the lower scales can lean up to two. If too much weight is placed on a plate, all of the stars on that plate will fall and deduct from the player's "REST", so stars should be placed on the opposite side to counter the weight. If the "REST" counter reaches zero, the game ends.

Stacking multiple stars of the same colour will award a bonus multiplier for each consecutive star that is placed, with more points awarded for heavier stars. If two stars of the same colour sandwich one or more stars of different colours, these stars are "Outflanked" and are thus cancelled out, removing them from the scale and adding to the "REST" counter. If nine stars of the same colour are stacked onto a single plate, then all stars on the scales will be cancelled out and added to "REST", though if any of the stars are different colours then the stars will spill over instead and deduct from the "REST" instead. Cancelling out stars via Outflanking or Nine of a Kind will not deduct from the "PILE" counter.

The Mega Drive version includes a "Lecture Mode" setting, which will display tutorials throughout gameplay when enabled.

Production credits

• Game Design: Tetsuya Kawabata
• Programmer: Takeshi Maruyama
• Graphics: Hiroki Tatemukai
• Sound: Tadashi Watanabe
• Adviser: Jun Shimizu, Yu Tanaka
• Package Illustration: Memi Aizawa
• Package Logo: Natsumi Natsukawa
• Producer: Mikito Ichikawa

Source:

US/EU manual

Digital manuals

• 

  Mega Drive Mini 2 US/EU manual

• 

  Mega Drive Mini 2 JP manual

Technical information

Main article: Star Mobile/Technical information.

References

NEC Retro has more information related to Star Mobile