Kirby & the Amazing Mirror

"Four Kirbys better than... you get the picture."

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror.

This is a nice follow up to Kirby: Nightmare in DreamLand. I see a lack of people associating this game with that game. I mean, some of the abilities in this new one came from Nightmare in DreamLand. Do you see the resemblence?

Anyway, this also relates to Legend of Zelda: Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures. Kirby is split into four Kirbys! This is accident, however, and chances of becoming a single Kirby again are very little. But hey, more Kirbys, more fun! Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, however, takes the focus a little off cooperative teamwork and onto scattered searching of the Mirror World (your location for this game). Fortuneatley, all Kirbys can keep in touch with a cell phone! Call up your buddies if you can't get past an obstacle, or if a boss is kicking your ass real hard! And they work on their own! Their not too bright by themselves, so thank god for multiplayer!

Storyline: 7/10
Kinda good, but there's not much about it. The Amazing Mirror has been broken up into eight shards. A dark Meta-Knight is the culprit. Kirby must venture throughout Mirror Land, find and recover the shards, and face the evil behind the Amazing Mirror. Storyline is a tad short of detail.

Gameplay: 8/10
This is very much the same as Kirby: NIDM. This time, instead of a level-based gameplay, it's an elaborate maze. This is why you need four Kirbys (and multiplayer does a better job on the exploration). One flaw is the computer-controled Kirbys and their AI. You want them to cooperate in inhaling a large stone block in order to move it out of the way, but they just do other stuff. I was frustrated by this, but I found a way around this puzzle. On the factor of spoilers, I won't tell you what the puzzle is.

Graphics: 8/10
Very, VERY much the same as NIDM. Overall, they're good.

Sound: 8/10
The same as NIDM. That section is good.

Replay Value: 8/10
Even though you beat the game, you still have to search the Mirror World for all treasure chests and get 100%. This will keep you on for a few more minutes afterwards. Some treasures are minor, but required for 100%. A stinkin 1-up helps along the way? (and don't get me wrong; 1-ups are nice here and there)

Overall Rating: 8/10

Overall Quote:
You can like this game as much as you feel it needs. No doubt the big Kirby fans will love this.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/27/04