Kirby: Canvas Curse

"Great game, but not perfect"

Ah Kirby: Canvas Curse, how much excitement many DS owners have for you. Not only is it a great example of the type of unique gameplay DS offers, but it also brings a familiar face into a new role and does it right. I had very high hopes for this game when I got it, as I heard it was the best DS game out today. While I can see how lots of people can think that, I was kind of disappointed.

Graphics
8/10
The graphics in this game can be seen in different ways. It is a very nice looking 2D game, and shows how good DS can do 2D graphics. The animations are great, it's bright and full of fun and cute character models. However, the environments while bright and colorful, can be a bit bland sometimes. Some backgrounds can be just a plaster of one color, or a jumbled mess that stands out in an awkward way. Some environments however are very nice.

Audio
Sound: 8/10
Music: 5/10
For me, this is the games lowest point. The soiund effects like executed powers are cool, but the music just irritates me. It's fast paced, but the constant blips and background noises in the tracks just grate my ears. However, I never was too big of a Kirby music fan, so if you like the Kirby franchises' music, you'll love this.

Story
7/10
It's a typical B Kirby Story. A witch has shown up and done evil. She then turned Kirby into a ball, and it's up to you to help him defeat her in the painting world she created. It's ok, but ti's not going to pull you in and keep you there, it's just there to hold the excellent gameplay together.

Control
9/10
Excellent except for one minor gripe. First off, the control is fun and innovative. You use the stylus the whole time during the game and the simplicity of it all makes for a comfortable, addictive, and easy-to-catch onto experience. It takes a little while to get used to the ball physics and line reaction, but after that, it's cake. The one minor gripe I have is that it can be painful to play after 15 minutes. My hand started to cramp up, and I had to hold the DS in a strange position with my left hand to continue playing. But that's not anything that would stop you from enjoying the game.

Gameplay
8/10
Very good with a few gripes from me. A basic run down is you use the stylus to draw rainbow lines to guide Kirby to a certain destination *like Yoshi's Touch and Go*. There are many hazards in your way that will require you to use the stylus to keep Kirby from danger i.e. touching bomb blocks to advance through a level, drawing lines to protect Kirby from cannons and spikes. Kirby still has the ability to absorb enemy abilities, but ina different way. These abilities add to the overall challenge of the game thanks to certain blocks that can only be broke by a certain ablitiy. Once you get used to the line-drawing limit, you can start pulling off fun combos that not only look cool, but help you get through past levels faster. Boss battles are unique in that they are more like minigames than actual battles, they are fun and a good bit of a challenge. Some of the gripes from me is that the gameplay can get kind of dry. While doing loops and figuring out the usefulness of each ability is fun, I always have a feeling like I'm doing the same thing over again which is basic drawing lines to get to a destination. No matter how many interactive environments,steep heights and challenge come at me, it always comes back to me that I'm just drawing lines and touching Kirby to do a limited amount of actions. Perhaps a few levels where Kirby is walking and you could use the D-pad would spice up the game, but since that's not there, I was left disappointed.

Challenge
9/10
It's tough and forces you to play smart. With a limited amount of rainbow you can draw, you're forced to think ahead and look for what is needed at the time. There is also an abundance of enemies and environmental hazards that really test your reaction rate. This is probably the toughest Kirby game to date, the toughest one I've played at least.

Replayability
7/10
The game has lots of unlockables like sound tests, speed runs, time trials, characters, and more. There are also 3 special medallions hidden in each stage that helps you obtain some unlockables. These medallions are scoured throughout the level and require you to not only search for them, but to figure out how exactly to obtain them, as most of the time they have some obstacle blocking them. The fairly low score is because of a few things. The game is kind of short for me *shorter than Nightmare in Dreamland even*. There are 8 Stages with 3 levels each in them. The levels however, take about 3-7minutes on average to complete, and often are not worth coming back to. The medallions I spoke of earlier aren't too hard to find if you pay attention to the map, so you won't spend too much time searching for them. I'm also not a big fan of speed runs and going through the same levels just with different characters, so that wasn't a big plus for me either.

Final Comments
An excellent, exhilirating exhibition of the exciting experiences allowed by the DS. It is a great game by HAL and shows excellent strides to perfection. However some flaws like a short-lived experience, cramp-inducing controls, grating music *for me* and low replay value hinder it. I'd say it's a BUY for anyone who loves the Kirby series, and is looking for a good DS game. For most people however, RENT it, as you'll probably beat all there is to beat in the 5 days you have.

8/10
~ This review sponsored by TUFTY: Entertainment at its Finest

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/20/05