We’ve all done it at some point in our lives. Either with Lego or just plain, ol’ wooden blocks. We stack ‘em, and we stack ‘em good. No doubt you were probably four at the time but that home-video will still make you smile and reminisce about the simpler times. And now that we are all grown up and playing with our lovely little black box, we need something to fill that tower-shaped void. Enter, Super Stacker, a downloadable title on the PlayStation Network.

Its presentation is simple enough, with clean and humorous graphics and very easy menus allowing the player to choose between single and multi-player modes and then game type. Three types are available: Stacker, Present Stacker and Unstacker. The latter is the only one to offer a real difference in gameplay but each mode is still very enjoyable and, in the later stages, quite difficult.

Like most other games in the puzzle genre, Super Stacker can become quite addictive (if you stick to the single-player aspects). Each of the game modes have forty levels, which is enough for most people. As expected, the difficulty slowly increases as you progress but I noticed a couple of levels where it ramped right up and returned to normal afterwards. Stacker has the player balance differently shaped blocks without toppling and Present Stacker is almost identical, except the tower must reach a certain point. At the other end, we have Unstacker, in which blocks must be destroyed carefully to avoid knocking the key block off the screen.

Multi-player is one of the biggest let-downs of the game. While the idea is solid and competitive versions of each mode work very well, the lack of online capabilities and awful implementation of co-op hinder the game’s appeal. Co-op relies solely on the “your turn, my turn” gameplay, which quickly becomes a bore and feels pointless. You’d be just as quick playing a single-player mode and passing the controller around. But as I said before, the competitive side is excellent. The screen is split, just like the olden days, and up to two players can stack off in all three modes. It makes for a very interesting duel, especially because of the vast number of choices available to complete each puzzle.

Most puzzle games come with a relaxing or catchy soundtrack that often becomes repetitive and Super Stacker is no different. The music does change depending on the “setting” of the level (some are based underwater etc.) but throughout levels and the menu, you are greeted with a looped twenty second tune. After thirty or so levels, I was scrambling for the mute button because sadly there was no option to play music from the HDD, which I expected from a game apparently using so little of the PS3’s power.

Blocks often make an interjection during the gameplay, with “oooh” and “uh-oh” becoming the native language for “you’ve placed me stupidly” and a quirky face will often follow their outburst. At first, this is all very amusing but then the same four or five faces start appearing and it too feels repetitive.

Trophies are an important detail to me. I like to see a developer put some thought into the requirements for the silverware. Super Stacker may not have the biggest scope for such things but, as you can see from the list, they feel tacked on. This isn’t exactly a flaw but for some people, trophies are a major selling point when it comes to PSN titles.

Pros:

• Addictive and challenging single-player
• Solid offline, competitive multi-player

Cons:

• Lack of online multi-player
• Terrible addition of co-op modes
• Sounds can get annoying

For the most part, I felt Super Stacker shouldn’t have been a full PSN title. It could’ve easily been a Mini, and not just because it would work so well on the PSP (aside from the multi-player). The inane trophies and co-operative modes wouldn’t be missed and the price tag would certainly drop. In fact, since releasing on the US Store for $10, the price has dropped but for a little extra cash, gamers could download titles such as Shatter and I’d advise them to. At least until the pricing is on par with the Minis.

Score: 6/10

No demo is available at the moment but feel free to try the original Flash game.