PixlBit

 Number 9

 

Kirby might be Nintendo’s most versatile character. He’s a character Nintendo likes to take risks with, like put him in a golf game, control him with gyroscope controls in a pink cartridge, or using touch controls. No matter what game they stick Kirby into, it just works. He’s like Nintendo’s guinea pig, or so my brother likes to say.

Kirby games are really accessible to anyone from kids to adults. The thing behind Kirby games is that they are easy so anyone can make it to the end, but with enough challenge (sort of) for more advanced players. That last part varies depending on the game. It’s a philosophy Masahiro Sakurai had when he created the little pink meatball. Or as King Dedede likes to say.

For this, I had no idea on how to approach this blog because there are a lot of Kirby games I like. I couldn’t choose one, so instead I’m going to choose 2 from my 5 favorite Kirby games. I know this is cheating, and now you know why I shy away from these lists, but here we are. I really didn’t see it any other way but here we go…

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land is a really fun game. It’s a traditional Kirby platformer which seems simple enough, but it’s really much more than a traditional Kirby platformer. The game stars Kirby and his friends as they help an alien who crash landed on Dream Land. You help by going through stages and you have to collect ship parts that look like gears. Collecting certain amount of gears unlocks rooms in the ship that range from rooms to use Kirby’s Copy Abilities, to mini-games for multiplayer. These gear items are hidden in levels, sometimes they are in easy to reach areas, sometimes they are in really well hidden areas, or sometimes they are in these special warp points in certain levels that takes you to this sort of world that looks pretty trippy and you need to fight a mini-boss to get them there.

You also have access to a wide range of Kirby’s copy abilities from some old ones like Sword Kirby, to new ones like Leaf Kirby and Whip Kirby. And here’s the cool part: The copy abilitites have basic moves like a sword swing, but you can also get more out of the copy abilities, like different moves just like in Super Star (Ultra). A lot of people like comparing this to Super Smash Bros. and I agree with that because it does feel like SSB, except with Kirby. You also get access to Super Abilities which are powered-up versions of some regular abilities. These abilities allow you to destroy parts of the environment to access hidden areas to solving puzzles.

 I remember when my brother got this for Christmas in 2011, and he was really excited. He beat it and he said it was good, but he really didn’t pay attention to it because he also got a 3DS that same year.
However last year my brother decided to give it another go, but this time my little brother and I decided to join him. Yes this game can be played by 2-4 players. You can choose from other colored Kirby’s to original characters like Waddle Dee, King Dedede, or Meta Knight. Players can also drop in and out of the game at any time too. We had a blast playing it together, and I think Nintendo and Hal Labs might have nailed it when it came to co-op in 2D platformers. I have played other 2D platformers with co-op like New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and while it’s fun, sometimes other players get in the way. I don’t remember, but I don’t think you can get in the way in the co-op here. We had a ton of fun from start to finish, we had so much fun that we decided to go at it again in the harder mode. The game was already fun on its own, but it is really fun with more people.

Another game I’m going to list is Kirby’s Canvas Curse. I had a GBA SP at the time this came out, and I thought to myself that I wasn’t ready to upgrade yet. I saw the commercial and it was pretty cool, heck my brother taped in on a vhs tape that he uses to tape the Kirby anime. It wasn’t till 2006 that I changed my mind. I never had internet, let alone a computer. My cousin used to let me use his computer at his house, and I saw that new Pokemon were announced for the DS. O knew I needed one now.
I saved a lot of money, and it was the first time I bought hardware on my own, I got a black DS Lite and a copy of Super Mario 64 DS. My brother had a copy of Canvas Curse way before I got a DS, yes he’s that big of a Kirby fan. He had been patiently waiting for me to get a DS and that day came eventually. I was playing Mario and he was watching me play it, I felt bad so I told him he could play on it. He played Kirby and he let me have a go at it when he was done. I was pretty amazed when I tried it.

                           
It was really good. The game is a platformer, but with a twist. Instead of controlling Kirby like you would in a traditional platformer, you control him purely with the stylus. Yeah, only with the plastic pen. You guide Kirby through levels by drawing lines on the touch-screen. You can tap on Kirby to make him dash at enemies, draw lines to guide him like reaching high places, making bridges to cross gaps, and you can even draw lines around or over Kirby to shield him from attacks. Though you have to be careful because you have a paint meter, and the more you use to draw, the more it drains and you’ll have to wait for it to fill up so you can draw again.

The levels make good use of the touch screen gameplay with hazards increasing as you advance. The game also has a lot of replay value with more unlocklable characters you can play as, to collecting medals in levels and in different modes to unlock content. This game really made good use of the touch screen at the time.

          
And that’s about it, like I said I couldn’t choose so I had to cheat. I haven’t played all the Kirby games out there, but I have yet to play a bad Kirby game. I chose these 2 because they both stand out, like cementing the fact that Kirby games can be accessible by anyone in Returns to Dream Land, and experimentation in Canvas Curse. The games aren’t hard, which is a major complaint in the series, but the challenge is there, if we are talking about collecting everything or playing a harder mode. Plus how can you hate on Kirby?
So those are my 2 favorite Kirby games. What are yours? Thanks for reading and later.