"An Extremely Addicting Game... For A While"

Before I purchased this game, I had never played a Kirby game before. I had heard of Kirby and I had briefly seen someone play a Kirby game, but I had never played one myself. The only reason this game landed in my hands was because I needed a game to play and I had to choose one from the store rack quickly (I was traveling with my family). Given that the store I was in was small, I hadn't many games to choose from. Kirby caught my eye and without taking the time to consider the game in my hands, I brought it to the counter, paid for it, and hurried out of the store. Luckily, this game turned out to be a grand choice… for a while.

To start off with, this game is not a true Kirby game, by what I've read on forums and reviews. And while playing the game, this is surely obvious, considering you do not play AS Kirby. Kirby is a ball and you have a paintbrush (your stylus). To me, that doesn't matter, and if it does to you, that's your problem, your loss. This game is a game every DS owner should not miss.

The story to this game is considerably foolish. A Witch of some kind has done something evil and something to Kirby and now you must do something to help. Well enough description? Didn't think so. I'll try again. On a walk in Dream Land, Kirby sees a vortex form in the sky. A witch appears from this vortex and – with her magical paintbrush – turns Kirby's world into a painting. When the witch sees Kirby, she flees into the vortex. Kirby, angry as… you know, chases her inside, and finds himself in a strange world filled with paintings. The witch turns him into a ball, and Kirby can only cry as the witch escapes. Kirby, hopeless and knowing not what to do, eventually notices that the witch left her paintbrush behind. Oddly enough, that paintbrush is your stylus (hm… ok). Now, help Kirby save the world. Now.

The graphics are what they should be. This game is a side-scroller – I couldn't imagine it with 3-D graphics – and every episode is masterfully filled with colors. The game feels childish in a way. But it fits perfectly and shouldn't be any different. Every background and foreground is extremely detailed and the game feels next-gen as you play – not because of the dual-screens and touch screen, of course.

The sounds seem to me as far from annoying. You'll never here a voice say a catch phrase repeatedly and the background music is extremely pleasing and suits every level well.

As for the controls in this game, there aren't really any at all. Your stylus is the witch's paintbrush and that is all you'll use for this game. Touch Kirby to manipulate his speed, slash the touch screen to form a line that Kirby can ‘roll' across. Among other small additions like stunning your enemies and braking walls or rocks, that is about all you'll have to do. Either touch or slash. Seem simple? It is. This game creates an aura of difficulty with pleasingly simple controls.

The gameplay is, in my opinion, addicting and simply amazing. The objective of this game is as simple as the touch-based controls: Reach the end of every episode and beat the minigames in between. See that line of three enemies approaching rather quickly? Hurry, then! Touch Kirby and he'll barrel through, hitting the switch to open the door on his way. Rockets, too? Slash and make a line to stop them before they touch Kirby! Oh… where'd he go… No ground? He's falling! Slash underneath and get him to that cliff! This game can be chaotic in certain points, considerably so in the last episodes of the game. This chaos is what makes the game addicting and fun. It isn't difficult, though, to the point where you're crying in frustration.

Kirby does have health, but heart-style health – meaning he has several bars and loses one bar every time he is hit by an enemy. As you progress through the game you'll pick up medals and you can use these medals to purchase upgrades – such as more health bars – and new objects and challenges. I kind of liked this idea because it added more replay to collect medals and unlock new features. There are two ways to receive medals – story mode and trials (small challenges like time trials). But after beating the game I didn't feel compelled enough (even though I'm a perfectionist) to finish collecting these medals. The trials were simply boring after a while.

Which brings up another point. The game is too short. Disappointingly short. I finished the game within the time it took to reach our destination point on the trip. A full 4 hours. This superb game just seems to end too quickly.

Something small in the game as well are the few minigames. These short games are extremely fun the first or second time around, but when you have to play them after every few episodes, it feels rather repetitive and the games slowly evolve into more of a wasted task than something fun.

Off of the topic of gameplay, the game uses the DS like every game on the system should. It uses the system's unique features, but doesn't stress the gameplay to fit it all in. The touch screen is your only means of control and will be used throughout the entirety of the game. The dual screens are used fairly well: the gameplay on bottom, your health and the like displayed on top. You'll never need the mic and sadly the game does not use the DS's WiFi service. The volume slide is used to… ok, just kidding.

Overall, the game is fun and worthwhile. I am not sure if the 35 dollar price tag is justified because of the short time it takes to complete the game, but I believe the money that I spent for it well surpassed worth it.

Pros:
+ addictive gameplay
+ fitting graphics
+ great background music
+ fun minigames
+ simple controls
+ has ‘a' story

Cons:
- far too short
- repetitive minigames

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/30/06