Kirby Super Star

"Kirby's Superstar is truely the master of all Kirby games..."

Kirby's Super Star is a Kirby game released late in the SNES's life. It was the second to last Kirby game for the SNES; Kirby's Dream Land 3 being the final one. This game has 9 different games in one. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, there are 5 Adventure Quests, 2 mini games, and one All-Out battle mode. This game, and Kirby's Dream Land 3 are the best Kirby games, and Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards doesn't even stand a chance.

Gameplay: 10/10
The controls for this game are great. A for ''Get rid of your ability'', ''Create Help'', or ''Get rid of your helper''. B for Jump. Y for Sucking up your enemy or using an attack, and X is nothing important. L/R uses your shield, and of course, Start Pauses. Easy, eh? Now, creating a helper; which can become a second player, or will be a Computer-Controlled Character who will help you fight until he dies; is very easy. Swallow an ability-possessing enemy, and push A. It will take the ability, and turn it into a helper.
Now, for the different games:
Spring Breeze is very easy. It's the first game you should play, for it readies you for later. It is a remake of the first Kirby gmae, Kirby's Dream Land, on the Gameboy. Dyna Blade is slightly more of a challenge. Now, you have levels to complete and bosses in them. The Gourmet Race is where you try to collect as much food as you can, and dash to the end of the level. You want to get more food and get to the finish line before King Dedede. The Great Cave Offense, is the most challenging game until you unlock the Milky Way Wishes and The Arena. You go around, and try to collect all 60 treasures. Quite a challenge. The Revenge of the Meta Knight is one of the funner games. You go through Meta Knight's ship, fighting his minions, until you face him in a sword fight. After you defeat him, you escape the ship by motorcycle. The Milky Way Wishes is the odd game out. Instead of eating enemies to copy them, you can only get abilities from the Pedestals where they rest. Once you get it, it's yours forever. You can choose what ability you want by choosing it on the Pause menu. The Arena is where you are your helper just fight through enemies, trying to get the highest score you can without dying. Nintendo re-made the ''Rest Area'' into ''All-Star Mode'' in Super Smash Bros: Melee. Samurai Kirby is an updated version of the shooting game in Kirby's Adventure, for the NES. When the ''!'' appears, push a button. Try to be the first one. If your enemy gets it first, it's over. In Megaton Punch you try to top your opponent. You must fill the bar to the top. Then, try to make the two circles go together Finally, make the ball go in the hole.

Graphics: 10/10
The graphics for this game are some of the best graphics on the Super Nintendo. It makes sense, because it was one of the final games released for the system. All colors are bright, and the levels look cheerful in Spring Breeze. The Halberd is greatly detailed, and so are the crew's faces when they talk. When they are happy, they have their big, stupid looking grins. When they are in panic, they look like they are in panic. The Milky Way Wishes levels are detailed as well; the galaxy has many stars and Cosmic Mists floating around. The graphics get a perfect 10 out of 10.

Sound: 8/10
The music is great. They have the original Kirby Theme in Spring Breeze, as well as many new ones. The famous ''Kirby Smash Brothers Theme'' is in the Gourmet Race, where it first started. The only problem is it gets repetitive. The same tracks tend to appear all the time, and sometimes it gets a little irritating. The sound effects; like a beam blasted from the wand, a bombs exploding, a Star flying; are great. The Kirby Dance music is funny, and killing a boss makes a big explosion. Since the music gets so repetitive, the sound gets an 8/10.

Story: 6/10
This game has 9 different stories. In Spring Breeze, you have to save Dreamland's food supply from King Dedede. In Dyna Blade, you have to stop a strange bird named Dyna Blade from destroying Dreamland's crops. The Revenge of the Meta Knight is that you have to stop your old foe, Meta Knight, from taking over Dream Land. The Great Cave Offense is where you find treasures and try to make it out of the cave. You race King Dedede to see who can get the most food in Gourmet Race. The Sun and Moon are fighting, and Kirby has to stop them, in Milky Way Wishes. You fight all your enemies to the death in The Arena. And you try to top your rivals in Samurai Kirby and Megaton Punch. The story's are quite fun, but not to deep or interesting. That's why they receive such a low grade.

Replay Value: 5/10
This game has a good replay value. Whether you want to beat The Revenge of the Meta Knight with the lowest possible time, or complete The Great Cave Offense with all the treasures, or kill as many people as you can in The Arena, is all fun. But, if you done everything, there's nothing much other than a quick round of Megaton Punch, or Samurai Kirby...

Hardware:
All you need is a working SNES, a cartridge of Kirby Super Star, and a controller; two for Multiplayer.

Buy or Rent?:
I say buy this game. Whenever you're board, do a quick mini game, or Battle in the Arena. Most places that sell old games will have this for a cheap price, so why not buy it?

Over-all Grade:
10/10 : AN EXCELLENT GAME

Kirby Super Star was very under-looked. It came out when things like the Nintendo 64, Super Mario 64, Final Fantasy VII, Wild ARMs, and other things were being released. Many people moved on from the SNES to ''more-powerful systems''; mainly the Nintendo 64 and the Sony Playstation. Kirby Super Star is simply the greatest Kirby game ever, and a must-have for any Kirby fan...

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/06/02, Updated 02/15/02