Stack-Up

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Stack-Up (a.k.a. Robot Block) is a video game released in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, designed for use with the Robotic Operating Buddy. Stack-Up is one of two games in Nintendo's Robot Series, the other being Gyromite.

Contents

1 Story
2 Equipment
3 Game Modes
4 Trivia
5 External links

Story

In some modes, Professor Hector works with R.O.B. to organize blocks. In others, Hector competes for control of R.O.B. against "glitches" named Spike & Flipper, or against Professor Vector.

Equipment

Five Blocks: circular blocks (colored white, green, yellow, blue, and red) with blunted conic protrusions on the bottom, and matched indentations on top, designed to nest in stacks. The blocks are made from a unique lightweight plastic that feels soft to the touch.
Five Trays: pedestals for R.O.B.'s accessory slots, with holes receptive to the protrusions under the blocks.
Two Hands: foam-tipped ends for R.O.B.'s hands, capable of grasping the blocks during gameplay.

Game Modes

R.O.B. equipped for Stack-Up

Test

Just like in Gyromite, this mode sends a signal to R.O.B. that causes his LED to light up, confirming that he can receive signals from the television.

Direct

The player begins by arranging the blocks in a standard starting pattern (red, white, blue, yellow and green top-to-bottom on tray #3), and is given a randomly chosen pattern they should be rearranged into by entering commands for R.O.B. one at a time. Once the goal is achieved, the player must press start to inform the game. Score is then calculated based on the time and number of moves taken, and the game moves onto the next phase, for which the starting point is the previous phase's ending position. Phases grow increasingly complicated to execute as the player progresses. Play continues until a block is dropped. The score at that time is the final score, and the player must return to the menu screen by pressing select.

Memory

Like Direct mode, except that rather than entering commands one at a time, the entire sequence of commands must be programmed in advance. R.O.B. goes through the program all at once. Once the sequence has run its course, the player presses start to move on to the next phase or select to return to the main menu. Scoring is the same as in direct mode, with the time score derived from the time taken to enter the commands, not the time taken to execute the program.

Bingo (1P)

Like the other single-player modes, the player progresses through phases by moving the blocks from one arrangement to another, but in this mode block colors are irrelevant, and the difficulty is derived from the method used to control R.O.B. The screen (as seen in image above) is occupied by a 5x5 bingo board that Professor Hector hops around on. Rows on the bingo board correspond to R.O.B. commands: and when a row is completed, the command is executed. The computer controlled enemies Spike and Flipper roam about, and touching either one will send Professor Hector flying back to the starting position. Spike wanders randomly, but Flipper moves in straight lines from one side of a row to another, activating and deactivating spaces wherever he lands, potentially sending undesired commands to R.O.B. The game ends when a block is dropped.

Bingo (2P)

In this mode, only Professors Hector and Vector occupy the bingo board, competing to send commands to R.O.B., with the goal in mind that player 1 wants more blocks to R.O.B.'s left, and player 2 wants more blocks to R.O.B.'s right. The game begins with three blocks in the middle, and one block to either side.

Trivia

The opening screen of the game shows the title "Robot Block", the Japanese name of the game, released for the Famicom. Inside a Stack-Up cartridge is the circuit board from a Famicom game, which is attached to an adaptor that allows the game to be played on NES systems (Famicom games had 60-pin connectors. This adaptor converted the game to be used with a 72-pin connector). Collectors can disassemble Stack-Up cartridges in order to use the adaptor inside, but due to the rarity of Stack-Up, it would be wiser to use the same adaptor found inside the plentiful Gyromite.
Stack-Up utilizes all six of R.O.B.'s vertical stopping points, unlike Gyromite which uses only the 1st, 3rd and 5th from the top. Without a Stack-Up cartridge, R.O.B. cannot be operated with the full intricacy of which it is capable.
Many people consider Stack-Up to be one of the rarest NES games of all time. This is because, unlike Gyromite, it was not included with R.O.B. but was sold separately. Since R.O.B. was not very popular, there was little demand for his other game. Today, even a Stack-Up cartridge without accessories is rather valuable.
Stack-Up features synthesized speech using the Delta Modulation Sound Channel. Whenever commands are issued, they are also spoken aloud in a computerized voice.
Professor Hector appears in Kirby's Dreamland 3. He rewards Kirby with a Heart Star if Kirby retrieves all the pieces of R.O.B..
A "microgame" in Warioware Inc. Mega Microgame$ is based on Stack-Up, though somewhat inaccurately. R.O.B.'s arms move up and down quickly, and the player is expected to time a button press, which done correctly will close R.O.B.'s hands around a set of Stack-Up blocks. A small TV in the background displays the Robot Block title screen.
The blocks from Stack-Up make a cameo as collectable objects in Pikmin 2 for the Nintendo Gamecube. The game refers to them as "Gyro Blocks". This could be viewed as a mistake, or it could be viewed as adhering to the game's overall wry motif of misclassifying familiar objects.
In Tetris DS, in the main game menus, Professor Hector walks back and forth along the bottom edge of the top screen.

External links

[Stack-Up] at MobyGames

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