"Great side-scrolling gameplay offset by short-livedness and overall lack of difficulty"

Kirby Squeak Squad, while it does recycle the great gameplay from Nightmare in Dreamland and The Amazing Mirror, is a great game. Definitely not Game of the Year material, but it's a fun game that has cute moments and easy-to-pick-up gameplay.

Gameplay: 8/10

The concept of Kirby is this: Eat as much as you can. Eat to fight. Eat to heal. Eat to remove obstacles in your way. Eat, eat, EAT!!!

Kirby can inhale obstacles that get in his way. He can even swallow enemies and spit them out at other enemies. Kirby's real power, however, lies in his copy ability; eating certain enemies will allow Kirby to copy their powers and obtain new attacks.

Okay, I'm done filling in newbies. Here's the NEW stuff.

Two nice additions made it into this game. Kirby can now interact with his environment more, and the copy ability he has can sometimes affect the world around him. Fire can melt icy blocks and burn plants, ice can freeze over lava or water, electricity can pass through metal objects.

Also, the other addition is the copy palette system. Kirby can swallow up to 5 objects, be they treasure chests to be opened at the end of the stage, or various objects such as food or abilities trapped in bubbles (trapping objects in bubbles using the Bubble copy ability is the only way to get objects that aren't "pre-bubbled" onto your copy palette). Mixing abilities can result in a more powerful ability occasionally (ala Kirby 64), but this only works when you A) unlock the combos and B) have the RIGHT combos. Mixing Sword with Fire, Ice, or Spark, as well as mixing Bomb with Spark or Ice are the only combos. Otherwise, you just get a random power. You can also mix healing items to get more powerful healing items.

Graphics: 7/10

Sprites on a current/next-gen handheld? Come on. Still, Kirby looks undeniably smooth on the DS, and some new graphical tidbits here and there make things look nice and polished for Kirby's first official side-scrolling platforming foray onto the DS. Some animated cut-scenes would've been nice, though.

Sounds: 5/10

Catchy tunes, but they're mostly remixed or just left in their original states from their original game. Nothing great here. Two or three new tunes made their way into this game, but for the most part it's recycled. A few sound effects have been changed, but its nothing particularly noticable.

Story: 3/10

Come on. Strawberry shortcake is stolen by intergalactic rats? OK, I can understand Rainbow Sword/Star Rod/Whatever else Flagship can think of, but SHORTCAKE? No pastry is worth the amount of torment Kirby suffers while I'm at the controls of this game (Trust me, he takes a lot of abuse).

Replay value: 5/10

I don't really know what to say. On the one hand, 120 chests sounds like a lot. But then again, I've had it for less than a week and I've already gotten 100% on the story mode. Very short-lived. If you think you've got everything, though, take on extra mode: Find every treasure chest before time runs out. This game is worth multiple play-throughs, however. Just pop Kirby into your DS, immerse yourself in his colorful world, and relax.

If you're looking for a fun, colorful, easy game to play, this is your title. If you own a DS and are looking for a good platformer, give it a shot. Hardened gamers will find it far too easy, but even with a lack of difficulty, it's a feel-good title that will brighten any gamer's day.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/02/07