"Good, But Definitely Needs Some Things Fixed"

This review is my first for the New Year, so I definitely wanted to start it off with a big bang. All pictures are courtesy of game spot, with all comments appreciated by me. They make me a better writer believe it or not :P.

Kirby: Squeak Squad

Foreword
When a new Kirby game comes out of a whole every year or so, fans flock to play it; problem is the developers always choose to include the same old system of game play mechanics each and every time. Being the first title in the series to hit the US, certain people had certain expectations when they were going to play it. Too bad most of the things that were included or nothing more than gimmicks. Using the DS touch screen in a rather poorly developed way, the game relies on the same, partially dead, formula that they have relied on for several years now. Being perfectly blunt with you, the game didn't show any signs of improvement from the series last installment on the GBA. What they did accomplish though, which was still pretty important, was successfully incorporating a new form of play into what had already done. Not really changing anything, but still making it a viable option for the future. Some could complain with that last point, saying that the system is new and fresh, but it just isn't. Too many things were just like the last title to make any real improvement abroad.

Now, that isn't totally bad, mainly because they did keep something that has driven the series along: solid game play. The series is known for it, boasting excellent graphics and tight controlling schemes into every little tad bit of space. The power system that they implemented into the beginning games is still there, only better in several key points. Whether you want to buy the game or not depends on how much of a fan you truly are of the series, for most though, I'd rent.

Story
Unfortunately for our overgrown hero, Kirby has been robbed by some crooked mouse and he has to get his stuff back. The word Squeak Squad is kind of misleading when you have to put in the tense of Kirby, as it actually is referring to his enemies rather than himself. It's an interesting point in a roundabout way, as if you really look at it from several different titles that have come and gone, you can see that they usually pointed it towards the actual calamity related to him. Now, this is not pointed towards the calamity, rather the actual person causing the calamity. It's a deep point that should be bought out, mainly because it is making the series go in a new direction through the title. The story itself isn't that deep; story segments are extremely limited in nature. If someone would be comparing this with your typical action game, it would make decent sense. Placing importance on that though is a fallible thought, as from what has been done in past Kirby games until now; things were also limited then as well. But in a circumvented way, this is probably the part of the game that has changed the most, possibly for the game, and possibly for the bad.

So anyway, typically speaking you will rarely see a story interval in a stage, mostly just a couple of sentences at most when you are going through it. In between though is where they truly take place, but even then it isn't that much. What is written though is both witty and excellent, definitely enough to serve its purpose. Being partially surprised though wouldn't really be anything special, especially in a sense that they are relying on it to drive themselves along. Still, little is much when you put it in a sense that actually makes someone want to drive it along, and as most would say quality over quantity. Wishing is for dreamers though, as we are in the present. One big thing to note is the fact that in everything that was done, a character would come in, be undeveloped, and then leave. It's not that much surprise for a Kirby game, but they probably should have at least developed Kirby and what he did, so that's a gripe that should be put out in the open. Still, placing importance on anything story related in a Kirby game is kind of stupid, so leaving it with that is in most best interest.

Game Play
If there is anything in this world that a Kirby game definitely excels at, it's game play. One of the most important aspects when you are making a game is to do just what its name implies, make the game play. Make it play so that its fans enjoy it to the extent to want to come back again and again. Funny thing is they did it so well that people can and will continuously come back again and again for practically the same game only in new areas. That's not bad, as in this situation it definitely thrives to the extreme, it's just that won't necessarily work in every situation that may or may not arise in the video game world in general. What developers have to remember as a whole is that you can't always milk something with a new title and not make major improvements, so an educated guess would have to be that they will be doing it in the future, possibly two or three games from now when the fans start clamoring for more. The game play of this game itself is very similar to the previous game, and that's good to me. It is a solid plat-former, with spot on controls throughout. Probably the biggest gripe that many had with this was though that the powers that they did include should have been newer for the most part. Now, it's fine that fans like what's been already done, and people understand that, but that should have been kept to a minimum, and new items should have been added to the extreme. New powers would have meant new, revolution game play that is going in the way that it should go. Now, they didn't opting to take the easy way out with only a trifling three new powers. All aren't that good; they don't bring anything major to the table. What's funny though is that if they actually did that with every power, then it would have been enough to change my opinion on it.

You see, they incorporated the new powers into the game fabulously, making everything revolve around them in such a way that new game play was introduced. Problem is that it is only for those couple of new powers that anything really good was done; imagine if they did it for all of them. That's a main point that should be discussed to you this way you know what to expect, so that's what was discussed. A typical stage usually revolves around Kirby going about some platforms filled with enemies. You can suck these enemies up to obtain new abilities to make defeating them easier. Fan favorites such as sword and fire Kirby return with vengeance, as was practically everything else. You eventually come upon a poorly done boss battle that usually revolves around a mashing and dodging fest until one of you dies. If you loose your current power, you must suck up that bosses projectiles and fire them back. That's been done, so nothing really new there.

Possibly one of the biggest elements that were truly introduced into this game was the ability to use the DS touch stylus to mix items and powers in Kirby's belly. Many fans always were wondering what just went on in there, and the developers finally answered with this title. Using the stylus, it's your job to mix things by dragging them over and morphing them together. It's nothing that big, and it doesn't really add anything to the game, but it is cool to see what could be done in a longer termed basis. They have something here that should be incorporated in the future; as if they do they could wind up with something truly fabulous. The WIFI features that were added to this game aren't much, aside from a couple of mini games nothing really was implemented of interest to me as a whole. There are a couple of things that really look cool, but they become boring pretty quickly, as does the rest of the game itself.

Graphics
The same vivid graphics of the previous Kirby games return to this title as something that is aiming to push the boundaries of what the DS system can do. Too bad they look almost like the last installments did. Few things were really changed, and if anything at all they kind of look outdated on the DS considering what the system can really do if they actually work with it. One thing that really showed promise though was how they implemented the stomach portions into the bottom of the screen. The powers float around in transparent bubbles, and thanks to the excellent lighting of the screen, you can constantly see where they are. It's not from the back light either; it's from the color of the game itself. Maybe if they were going to do this, they as well ought to have done it right, so many are happy to see that they actually took it to an extreme. Each landscape looks like it was drawn out of a coloring book, a staple of the series itself. This really brings something unique into it, as does some other things. When you dig with the new animal Kirby ability, you can see the dirt flip into the air, following a course down to the ground. The physics are spot on in this game, which was good considering if they could get that right, they could set the tone for the rest of the game.

Music
The airy tunes of the original game return once again in this title of the DS. Possibly one of the things that stood out to me the most was the fact that they actually decided to place more of an emphasis on the beats of each rhythm, rather than doing things in a different way than what they chose to do in the past. Each beat hits each note perfectly, as does everything else in color. If you notice something, you can actually here some of the different things the enemies are doing, that and the fact that you can actually do something else out of that.

Family Friendly
This game is from Nintendo, and you know they have the penchant ability to bring out E games on a consistent basis. Kirby is no different, offering its viewers something else in the family friendly department. No one saw absolutely nothing wrong with this game, and most think that if a baby could play it they probably should as well :P. Seriously, we live in a world that has some pretty violent games, so it is good to see something such as this come about every once in a great while.

Difficulty
Horrendously easy, just like every other title. After coming off of FFIII, this game looked like something out of a picture book :P. Seriously, most would think that it does present moderate difficulty, and it does, but it just doesn't deliver in some key points that ultimately bring it down.

Replay
Beating this game in a week means basically that it really doesn't take that long to play, mainly because it has nothing really of interest. The mini games get old quick, and the game play itself really doesn't deliver for the long run.

Buy/Rent
Rent it, as you are saving yourself thirty bucks for a game that you can beat in a week then throw in your closet.

Finale
Kirby: Squeak Squad isn't that bad of a game, it just doesn't deliver like it should in the long run. If they would start changing some things around, then it would be better off for the longer haul of time. Humbly put, the game needs work, and you can't get past that one main point.

Score Bracket

Story: 5/10
Game Play: 7/10
Graphics: 8/10
Music: 8/10
Family Friendly: 8/10
Replay: 4/10
Buy/Rent: Rent
Finale:6.6

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/03/07