Kirby Super Star Ultra

"That stardust melody..."

Meet Kirby. He's quite possibly the most frightening video game protagonist ever conceived. He's worse than all the psychotic killers, flesh-eating zombies, and any of the other twisted creations that have scared gamers for years. You wouldn't be able to tell just by looking at him; the pink skin and the big, happy eyes don't make him look too intimidating. But don't let that cheerful presentation fool you. There's something sinister lurking beneath it. You won't realize it until Kirby's glossy eyes are locked onto the nearest edible object. It could be a piece of fruit. Or one of your limbs. Whatever it is, he'll open up his inhumanly sized jaws and greedily suck in his prey. You won't see any animations of his victims struggling to get out; he gobbles down and digests them too quickly. It's so fast that the victims don't even get a chance to scream. Kirby, true to his nature as a brutally efficient killing machine, doesn't even bother showing remorse. Instead, he plods off to consume the next thing standing in his way. And the next. And the next.

But he doesn't just eat his enemies. No, there's an even worse fate for all the baddies that try to stand up to this gluttonous monstrosity. Rather than letting them boil in acids of his bottomless stomach, Kirby steals their abilities and powers and assimilates them into his own arsenal. You understand? He's no ordinary carnivore. This bastard can learn. All it'll take is the press of a button and the Directional Pad to change forms. Depending on what hapless foes he sucks in, you can have Kirby wield a sword, lash out with flaming kung fu moves, sling magical spells, bombs, feathers, and several other ridiculously overpowered weapons. The sheer strength of some of these attacks is actually a detriment to the game; you'll never face a foe that's even moderately challenging. If you get a hold of the blade attack, you're pretty much set unless you're particularly inept with the simplistic controls. But the most chilling fact of all is that Kirby doesn't necessarily need all these weapons. Instead, he can excrete his victim and have it battle alongside as his Helper. Of course, the title of “Helper” is merely a euphemism for brainwashed zombie slave.

Disturbing, isn't it? No wonder King Dedede wants him dead.

But how do you kill something like Kirby? Spring Breeze, the first of several gameplay modes in Kirby Super Star Ultra depicts the clash between the mighty beast and the king of Dreamland. Understanding the nature of his foe, Dedede swipes all of the food in the land under the assumption that Kirby will eventually starve. The problem is that (aside from dooming all of his subjects to famine) he underestimated the little pink blob; you get to control Kirby as he goes rampaging across the countryside to restore all the morsels to their rightful owners. This crusade takes him all the way through the lush forests of Green Greens through a series of islands, a fortress in the clouds, and eventually into the heart of Dedede's castle. Indeed, Spring Breeze seems like an epic journey; the varying landscapes offer colorful trees, ornate structures, and a decent variety of foes. The problem is that it's far too short and simplistic. None of the four levels require anything more than basic platforming mechanics to finish. While it is essentially an introduction to the gameplay style, only nostalgia-ridden fans or young children will find it remotely engaging.

This disappointing intro, however, is salvaged by Revenge of the King. In this unlockable gameplay mode exclusive to Kirby Super Star Ultra, you'll get to see Kirby and Dedede duke it out yet again…and this time, it's personal. Bitter over his previous defeat, the king forces his nemesis to endure a series of far more challenging levels and bosses. Aside from the altered color schemes (the purple version of Green Greens is an interesting sight), the Revenge stages sport several additional enemies and reworks the usual areas with more platforms and places to fight through. The problem is that, despite being a suped-up version of Spring Breeze, Revenge of the King is almost as easy as the original. Sure, the enemies might require a little more effort to ravage and the bosses don't keel over so quickly, but the superb controls and the simple level designs make it an easy playthrough. The best part of this mode doesn't necessarily involve the gameplay; rather, you might be more entertained by the snippets of dialogue between the baddies throughout the levels. Seeing Dedede become more frantic and desperate works decently as a dramatic buildup to the final showdown.

The epic struggle between these two characters is just the beginning, though. This game chronicles Kirby's greatest adventures throughout Dreamland. Take Dyna Blade, for example. A giant bird somehow screws up the country's crop rotation, effectively screwing the little blob out of his favorite non-sentient food. Fueled by his gluttonous rage, Kirby pursues the bird across the countryside, kicking ass through the dank recesses of Cocoa Cave, the fortified grounds of Mallow Castle, and ascending the creamy slopes of Candy Mountain. All of these levels are moderately long and have enough intricate passageways to offer a little bit of exploration. More importantly, there are several weapons and transformations that give you the opportunity to experience the levels with different abilities. This shouldn't distract you from the fact that the levels are pathetically easy, though. But while other gameplay modes offer more variety and difficulty, the final showdown with the titular Dyna Blade makes it worth your time. Between the awesome cutscenes (taking down a monster several times your size never gets old) and dramatic music, it's little wonder why fans of the original game like Dyna Blade so much.

It's not all about fighting, though. When he's not busy inhaling victims, Kirby spends his time treasure hunting in The Great Cave Offensive. The slight increase in enemies presence notwithstanding, there's not much action to be had. Instead, you'll be exploring a massive labyrinth of interconnected rooms and levels. The goal is simple: find as many treasure chests as you can and try to find a way out with a 100% completion rate. It's not a hard task by any means, but it can be time consuming. The individual areas are crafted with subtle hiding spots and relatively complicated puzzles. You'll have to deal with setting off a series of timed switches, breaking certain blocks, and finding secret passages in the otherwise normal-looking stages. You'll be handsomely rewarded for your efforts; there are several treasures to uncover along the way. Several of them are references to other Nintendo games, such Mr. Saturn from Earthbound and the Screw Attack from Metroid. While this gameplay mode might not be demanding, at least it's something different.

If amassing a huge fortune wasn't enough, Kirby indirectly saves the world. No, seriously. In Milky Way Wishes, the sun and the moon are fighting over an undisclosed reason. Rather than keeping the planet warm and managing the tides, the two heavenly bodies are off clashing against each other. Not wanting to see his world freeze or drown, Kirby steps in and tries to resolve the conflict. For some reason, this involves exploring a handful of planets strewn across the solar system and finding all of the weapons and abilities he can usually acquire. Like the Great Cave Offensive, this focuses more on exploration than action; the levels aren't just lengthy, but have several areas to explore or uncover. You'll have to wander through stages that change weather every time you enter, a watery labyrinth, fields of stardust, and a handful of other unusual places. The most prominent feature of Milky Way Wishes, however, is its weapon system. Rather than forcing you to only choose one ability at a time, you can store what you've acquired on the bottom screen. A mere stylus tap is all that's needed to go through your arsenal and choose whatever fit's the task at hand. While this makes the playthrough somewhat easier (aside from the fact that you don't need to collect everything to beat it), it's still a nice break from the relatively bland levels of the other modes.

Too bad it‘s got nothing on Revenge of Metaknight. Forget about inept kings and saving the world; this guy has a flying fortress. He wears a cape, has a sword, and commands a private army made up crab mechas, cannons, and skeleton warriors. Badass, indeed. None of this deters our hero; the entire mode features him assaulting Metaknight's forces and systematically dismantling the Halberd. After dramatically smashing through several minions upon his arrival, Kirby will enter the inner bowels of the ship, mess stuff up, get thrown off and fall onto one of the island levels below, and somehow find a way back onto Metaknight's stronghold. There's a noticeable jump in difficulty; you'll have to deal with auto-scrolling segments, puzzles, and more demanding platform action due to the not-so forgiving level designs. Cleverly-placed flamethrowers, moving platforms, and even the wind can prove deadly. There's even a set time limit for each section, but that shouldn't be a problem. The bosses are far more challenging and require just a bit of strategy to win. The fast pacing is a welcome change from the lid-back excursions of the other modes. It's all about the little touches, like how you can see the Halberd from the island levels, coasting smoothly against the distance sunset as you struggle to keep up. With so much going on, you'll enjoy all of the buildup that leads to the confrontation with Metaknight himself.

Speaking of whom, there's also an unlockable gameplay mode in which you play the masked swordsman. Gobbling down foes and stealing powers is all well and good, but Meta Knightmare Ultra lets you hack and slash your way through Kirby's quests. Metaknight operates on a basic moveset similar to a sword-wielding Kirby, but he comes packing a few more nasty surprises up his pixilated sleeves. Every time he slices an enemy to ribbons, he scores a few power points for his sword. Once he's amassed enough of those, he can unleash the power in the forms of attack and support spells. His ridiculously overpowered moveset is based on the touch screen, which displays the corresponding icons for each move. Between the devastating Mach Tornado, the ability summon an extra swordsman, and accelerate his already quick movements, Metaknight is practically unstoppable. No, scratch that. Thanks to his self-healing spell, he is unstoppable. While this is badass, it comes with a price: no challenge whatsoever. Spring Breeze and Dyna Blade are pathetically easy to beat with Kirby, and Metaknight's versions are even worse. The same goes for rest of the adventures; though brutally slaughtering your foes is entertaining, there's nothing particularly engaging about it. Once you diced your way through everything (which shouldn't take more than an hour), you'll be left wanting more.

Good thing Kirby Super Star Ultra is stuffed with extras to keep you distracted. Fans of the original version will find themselves awash in nostalgia with the return of Gourmet Race, in which Kirby and Dedede rush through short obstacle courses and pick up floating food for high scores. There's also The Arena which is essentially a boss rush mode that allows you to pick which weapons and abilities to use beforehand. Even more challenging is the Helper to Hero, which focuses on the wide variety of Helpers that appear throughout the game. You'll get to choose one of them and endure another boss rush. This particular mode is arguably the hardest of any feature in the game, since it forces you to deal with the inherent strengths and weaknesses in each Helper's moveset. While these guys may not have Metaknight's style, they at least make the game challenging.

But if you prefer something a little more DS-centric, there are a few obligatory touch screen mini-games to play. There's nothing terribly deep about any of these; one game has you tapping icons to match the corresponding image on the top screen. There's even a generic Western-themed shooting gallery that lets you compete against a few other opponents by tapping/shooting targets that pop up every few seconds. The only remotely entertaining mini-game is called Snack Tracks which features four Kirbies stuck at the end of a food-laden conveyor belt. Your job to feed your designated Kirby with as much food as possible while avoiding hazards like poisonous bugs, rocks, and bombs. It's surprisingly competitive and fast paced; rather than focusing on oncoming the morsels, you'll be carefully scanning the conveyors for bombs to tap and send to your rival's lane. It's even more fun when you can ditch the crappy computer opponents and have some fun via local wireless multiplayer. The same could be said for the 2-player co-op method of playing, though you'll probably find the mini-games more fun.

By the way, there's no online multiplayer of any kind. Sucks, doesn't it? Being able to have online Gourmet Race tournaments would have been awesome. Such a lack is kind of surprising, considering how well Kirby Super Star Ultra utilizes most of the DS's capabilities. While the wide spectrum of colors and smooth animations are definitely a step up from the SNES versions, it's the cutscenes that really steal the show. You'll be treated to several 3D animated shots that portray the ongoing storyline. Revenge of Metaknight is badass by itself, but the scenes depicting the Halberd making is ascent look like grainier versions of the stuff you'd find in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Veterans of the original game will definitely love seeing three-dimensional versions of old standbys like Marx and Dyna Blade. What makes it even better is that all of these scenes (along with several music tracks) can be unlocked and perused at any time. Needless to say, the fans are going to be pleased.

Everyone else, however, may not be so lucky. Look, Kirby Super Star Ultra is a fine portable version of a classic console game. It's a got a ton of content, ranging from exploration to platforming to sword-fighting. All of the usual quests are available and well-presented, complete with completely redone cutscenes and all of the powers and abilities you know and love. The problem is that these adventures are too damned easy. Unless you're completely inept or a young child, you shouldn't have any trouble with these mostly bland excuses for platforming levels. If you think a fun gaming experience is based upon challenge, you're not going to find this entertaining for long. Even the DS-exclusives like Revenge of the King and Meta Knightmare Ultra won't make you come back for more. While playing through the game as Metaknight might sound like a reason to buy this game (and this probably applies to more than a few people), the only things that will keep it from going under are a strong sense of nostalgia and all the mini-games and challenges. What Kirby Super Star Ultra lacks in depth, it makes up for in variety. So if you want some a little less stimulating but still fun, give Kirby a go. With so much content to unlock and experience, at least it'll be fun while it lasts.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/05/08

Game Release: Kirby Super Star Ultra (US, 09/22/08)