"The greatest Kirby game that isn't a Kirby game"

Kirby, throughout his career, has not been the most fearsome or awesome of Nintendo heroes. In fact, he's strange-looking and docile, yet he somehow manages to charm. When his first adventure began on the NES, it was refreshing, but time has not been very friendly. His ability to fly forever makes platforming a breeze, and his ability to copy enemy abilities means he has no personality of his own. His side-scrolling games, while solid, are always easy and short. When Nintendo fans want another Kirby game, Nintendo slaps him arbitrarily in a pinball game or a racer, like Kirby's Air Ride. Kirby: Canvas Curse manages to set itself apart from the other adventures in the series. It is still a sidescroller and Kirby still copies enemy abilities, but it's much more difficult and much more cleverly designed. Of course, you do have to wonder, in this case, if it would make a difference whether Kirby was the hero or not.

The Good:
+ Innovative use of the stylus, touch pad to control Kirby
+ Nicely designed levels
+ The final boss fight is a classic

The Bad:
— The other boss fights are only okay
— Not very many levels
— Collecting medallions isn't very fun

The Disappointing:
:( Kirby lacks the personality to make this game his own

Gameplay—8/10

Kirby has no arms or legs, no mouth. He has lost his ability to jump, fly, and eat enemies. The only thing he can do is roll forward. The world, truthfully, lies in the hands of the gamer, not Kirby. He is useless without the stylus to stun enemies for him to kill, or to touch him and make him dash, or to draw a line for him to cross pits. But then again, the stylus is useless without Kirby's round body to manipulate. The gameplay mechanics are truly one of Nintendo's most innovative ideas in late years, a company that once thrived on the risks it took but now has so many superstars there's no need for risks. It's easy to see that many people might not like this game. The idea of controlling the hero with the stylus and the stylus only is a bit of a turn-off. That's a risk. And it pays off.

Nintendo has smartly kept things simple. You can perform only a few moves with the stylus by touching Kirby or enemies, or drawing lines. Touching Kirby makes him dash and/or activates a power. Touching enemies stuns them so Kirby can defeat them. Drawing lines uses up a restorable quantity of ink that either creates a path for Kirby to follow or blocks enemy attacks from striking him. With only these few gameplay functions, Canvas Curse rides on the level designs, which are mostly solid. Early on the game is easy, allowing you to get used to the stylus and controlling Kirby. And then the levels grow steadily more difficult. Unfortunately there are only eight levels, the first seven having three sections and the final having only one. It's all the more unfortunate because the last two levels (the final four or five sections) really push the gamer to the limit and show off Nintendo's creative muscle. After the final level I wanted more, which is a good thing and a bad thing.

Kirby can still copy abilities, but not by eating enemies. When he defeats a specific enemy, he automatically gains its ability. The abilities are mostly the same as those of the previous Kirby games: a fireball, a beam attack, a missile, a lightning attack, and so on. Perhaps the only new ability is a balloon that rises into the air and eventually pops to stun enemies. These abilities not only help you deal with enemies more effectively, but they're required to access some of the optional sections of the levels, usually to gain a medallion. Unfortunately Nintendo does nothing creative with this. The only reason you'll know you need the fireball is because the blocks impeding your progress have a fireball symbol on them. If you need freeze, then they will have the freeze symbol. It's only an excuse to make you use a variety of abilities, but I'd prefer something cleverer.

There are a total of seven boss fights in the game, though only four unique bosses. At the end of each of the first six levels you choose between three bosses to fight. Each boss has two levels to face (you will fight them twice, essentially), and the only difference between each level is difficulty. These bosses are essentially mini-games. One of them is a battle against King Dedede, easily the lesser of the three, in a strange mine cart race where you avoid obstacles and collect fruit for speed boosts. The next boss is against an artist who draws sketches you must trace with the stylus. The best of these is the fight against the cloud boss, well-known to the series, in a block attack-type game. These boss fights are nice attempts at breaking up the main game, but ultimately I looked forward to getting them over with. The final boss, on the other hand, is a classic. Easily the most difficult boss in the game and easily the most entertaining. I'd even rank it higher than the boss fight against King Dedede and Dark Matter at the end of Kirby's Adventure.

The game's main flaw is the optional medallion collection side quest. Now, if the game was longer, this wouldn't be an issue, since the quest is optional. In each section (remember, three sections per level) you can collect up to three medallions, and after you completely finish a level you unlock it on Rainbow Run, where you can collect up to six medallions per section. In Rainbow Run you try to achieve two goals: finish the section as fast as you can, and finish the section by using as little ink as possible. At first, this isn't so bad, but the difficulty quickly ramps up. Some of the challenges are so difficult they're no fun. You can trade the medallions for music, new skins, and new challenges, but these don't add very much to the gameplay (and in fact, some of the new challenges are maddeningly difficult). The only reason Kirby is nearly eight hours long, unfortunately, is because of the medallion quest, which isn't very fun.

Longevity—7/10

I don't mind my games clocking in at around eight to ten hours, because that means I can move on to the next game, but less than eight hours is a disappointment, especially when a couple of those hours were spent on a less than fun collection side quest. Still, some people might enjoy the medallions. You can play the game over again with new characters if you really want. They have slightly different abilities, with all having the ability to roll forward and ride on the drawn lines. From the standpoint of originality and the strength of the level designs and final boss, this game is definitely worth playing. I'm just waiting for Nintendo to create a more complete game, a la Super Mario or The Legend of Zelda, for its pink mascot. As it stands, Canvas Curse is the greatest Kirby game that isn't really a Kirby game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/24/08

Game Release: Kirby: Canvas Curse (US, 06/13/05)