Kirby & the Amazing Mirror

"I'm seeing double! Eight Kirbies!"

Upon playing through just a few minutes of Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, you'll be asking yourself, “What's so amazing about the mirror?” Nothing is. Luckily, the game IS amazing, so you won't have to worry about whether the correct adjective is being used to describe a reflective surface. Kirby and the Amazing Mirror introduces something new to the Kirby series, a cellphone. That's right, now you can have all the comfort of the most annoying device known to mankind right in your Gameboy Advance!

Gameplay - 8/10

The gameplay is very simple, and that's good. The easy to use controls and straightforward interface make this a game you can pick up and play without having to memorize the button combination to use some absurd move that's entirely useless. The game is composed of 9 levels, which you can warp to from the central “hub” via a number of mirrors, as well as moving from area A to area B using, you guessed it, a mirror! Often, you'll have to find multiple mirrors to get to where you want to go. This can be a pain, but since the controls and combat are so smooth and simple, you won't even care. Using Kirby's signature ability to suck (all immature comments can be kept to yourself), you can copy a wide variety of enemies, from the elusive UFO to the all too common Sir Kibble. Yeah, don't expect any really cool enemy names, but the designs themselves are very good. The bosses are especially cool, and since there are so many, you may want to fight them all multiple times just to laugh at their hilarious or unique designs. In how many other games can you fight a giant birthday present?

But then you come to the “gimmick” of this game, the cellphone. You can use this to call up 3 other Kirbys (Kirbies? Kirbi?) to help you fight bosses or solve puzzles. This process takes about 5 seconds to complete, and you can only do it 3 times before having to grab some batteries (seriously), and if you're hit, the call fails. The AI is smart enough-well, it's decently-they can at least fend for themsel-ok, the AI is really stupid. The favorite tactic of the other Kirbies is to grab a power, jump into the enemy, lose the power, grab the power, and jump into the enemy again. They die fast. Luckily, they bring health with them when you call them, and they stay in one place if there are no enemies (allowing you to use them to hold down switches). The idea is good, and it works well enough, but when it's the basis for an entire game, you want it to be near perfect. Sadly, the whole cellphone deal drags the gameplay down.

Story - 7/10

The story is exactly what you've come to expect from a non-RPG handheld game. It's nothing spectacular, but it works well to hold together the premise. In a nutshell, a dark presence takes over Mirror World. Meta Knight goes to stop him. A little later, a day-dreaming Kirby is attacked by Meta Knight. A coincidence? I THINK NOT! Meta Knight's signature sword splits Kirby into four, each of a different color. Meta Knight runs, and Kirby pursues. When Kirby finally reaches the “hub” of Mirror World, he sees Meta Knight fighting… Meta Knight? Now the difference is obvious, one of them is shadowy. So the shadowy one must be evil! It all makes sense now! Anyway, shadow Meta Knight knocks real Meta Knight into a mirror, then slices the mirror into 8 pieces. What's a Kirby to do? Why, collect the pieces, of course! Sure, it's not going to win any prizes for best story ever, but for a handheld, what do you expect? What the story does manage to do is seamlessly tie together the gameplay. The bizarre premise of a mirror-warping, shard-collecting, Meta Knight following game is helped along by this memorable, but frankly, rather shallow, plot. Still, it gets points for being creative, and for tying into the game.

Graphics and Sound - 8/10 and 4/10

The graphics, for a handheld, are very good. They're bright and cartoony, exactly the style that Kirby gamers have come to expect. Kirby is a brilliant pink, and the backgrounds of the levels are beautiful, if you can tear yourself away from actually playing the game long enough to stare. However, the graphics for platforms are rather bland. If you've ran across one brown platform, you've ran across them all. The enemies and items give off almost a cell-shaded effect, like a famous artist drawing with crayons. Ok, that's a lame example, but it's very appealing. Sadly, some people won't like the fact that the graphics look like they could rot your teeth. Still, you've got to find them at least somewhat impressive, even if they're not your style.

Sound is where this game falls short. The little effects of shooting a puff of air at a bomb or setting a Waddle Dee on fire are nice, but the music will make you want to shut off your GBA's sound. Luckily, you can do just that, and you won't really lose out on anything. There's not much else to say, folks. They could've done a lot better.

Okay, maybe I'm not being entirely fair. The tunes are cheery, and you may find yourself humming them at random points during the day. But they're nothing you'd want to buy the soundtrack for.

Playtime and Replay Value - 3/10 and 8/10

Playtime is very short, which is sad, since the game is so cool. You can get through the main story in about 7 hours, with 100% in about 12 hours, and that's without using a walkthrough. Though the game isn't easy, you're likely to learn from your mistakes and not fail at something more than twice. Thusly, with there being only 9 areas, you can beat the storyline quickly. Getting all the treasure and unlocking all the rooms isn't harder, just more time consuming. I was pretty disappointed in the playtime. However…

…the replay value made up for it. You're given 3 save files to work with, and you'll want to play again and again, or play the same file just to create various challenges. Can you beat the game in one sitting? Or would you rather try to beat all the bosses without losing a health bar? It's up to you. There's a co-operative multiplayer, which I haven't tried myself, but I imagine it would add a lot of value to the game, especially if you can get three other players. There are some minigames, but they're rather bland, except for the Wave Race game, which is quite fun. You won't exactly get hooked on the minigames, but they're fun for when you have a few minutes to spare.

Rent or Buy?

This all depends. If you have $30 to spare, I recommend just buying it. You can have a lot of fun on long car rides by just replaying the game. However, if you're only concerned with beating it and then probably won't ever play again, by all means rent it and save yourself some money. Since the story is so short yet the game so enjoyable, you can really go either way here.

Overall, Kirby and the Amazing Mirror is rather amazing. It's another Kirby game that won't disappoint. I recommend seeking it out at your video game store if you're a fan, and definitely renting, accepting as a gift, or even buying it even if you're unfamiliar with Kirby games. It may not give Kirby any new ultra-fans, but it definitely won't make him lose any either. I give Kirby and the Amazing Mirror an above average 7/10.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/30/04, Updated 02/18/05