Kirby Squeak Squad

"Great game, but touch screen makes it incredibly easy"

Kirby: Squeak Squad is yet another awesome Kirby game from HAL Laboratories, except it's a little too easy for me, and for most others. Welllll.....let's start the review.

STORYLINE

Kirby's about to eat some strawberry shortcake, when suddenly somebody steals it, he thinks it's King Dedede, or however you spell it, but it's not. It's the Squeaks! I don't mind the name pun too much, and it's nice that they're not the Squeak SQUAD. That would be too cheesy. It was a good decision. Anyways, you then have to get back your cake, and stuff.

This type of thing was a little unexpected, actually, and it's a shock to see Dedede as the very first boss.

OVERALL: 8/10

GRAPHICS

The graphics are what you'd expect from a Kirby game, but most seem to be from Amazing Mirror and such. I don't have a problem with that that myself, because Kirby still looks pretty nice. the backgrounds are particularly good-looking, the outlines are smooth, everything looks how it should. There's nothing eye-bogglingly good, though. It's just all of the good graphics you'd expect from this game, after seeing how they did in the previous game Canvas Curse, which was a feast for the eyes.

OVERALL: 8/10

SOUND/MUSIC

Except for maybe the Green Greens tune (which is apparently a necessity for every Kirby game), I don't hear any weird remixes, which is great because it shows that Kirby can still pump out awesome new tunes. And yes, the music is awesome, yet fits the Kirby theme. Some of these tunes are easily hummable, and most are easy to remember even if you haven't played for a while. Yes, it's all you'd expect, but it's also a little more. Some of these songs might climb up to your favorites list.

OVERALL: 9/10

GAMEPLAY

The goal of the game is to collect treasure chests scattered around Dream Land (I presume =P), beat up the Squeaks, and reclaim the shortcake. Wow, Kirby must really love cake. O_o Well it makes sense...but anyways, there's also a new function. Kirby can now hold bubbles containing items and copy abilities in his tummy. I dunno how he avoids digestion, but whatevs. It makes effective use of the Touch Screen, but it also makes the challenge of the game dwindle. So whenever you're about to die, just tap one of those five Maxim Tomatoes you've got and get back to full health. It's like what happened with the New Super Mario Bros.: if you store items and can use them wherever you go, chances are that game is too easy.

There's also a bunch of new abilities Kirby can use: a revamped Magic (it's more useful!), Bubble (can capture stuff and put it in your tummy or something), Animal (buries through dirt), Laser (shoots lasers, duh), Metal (about the worst ability IMO, but still cool), and some more. Fan favorites like Sword and Wheel come back too. This is really awesome, and it's a plus for hardcore Kirby fans.

The only real downside, as I said, is that it's too easy. WAY too easy. You can finish it in a day, and even then you don't have to rush. Chances are whatever you need is in your belly. You need only to tap the screen and Kirby has this ability again, or Kirby has another life, or something. But the difficulty also makes the fun factor decrease...by a little bit...and it makes the replay value fall, which is bad for the gameplay.

OVERALL: 6/10

REPLAY VALUE

The abilities and the fact that you can freeze and burn stuff like lava make this awesome for long-time Kirby fans, but the difficulty level makes it shrivel up and perish.

OVERALL: 7/10

Pros:

+ The storyline is unique...I guess
+ The graphics are great, but nothing new
+ Sound and music = awesome
+ The Squeaks all look cool...kind of, but they fit the Kirby games
+ Great new abilities
+ Greatly improved abilities

Cons:

+ Way too easy
+ Way too easy
+ WAY TOO EASY!!!!!

BOTTOM LINE:

Storyline: 8/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound/Music: 9/10
Gameplay: 6/10
Replay Value: 7/10

Total: 80% - an even 8/10.

Like I said about Canvas Curse, for die-hard fans it's an absolute buy, but everyone else should rent it, and not even BUY it, because it's THAT easy.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/08/08

Game Release: Kirby Squeak Squad (US, 12/06/06)