Having never played much of the Kirby catalogue until this year after playing Forgotten Land, I decided to check out a couple other stand-out titles. This was first on my list, and it didn't disappoint!
Presentation-wise this game immediately hooked me. I love the little UI bar at the bottom of the screen with the different pictures showing off which ability you've copied. The visual style is adorably charming, and the music is addictive. I wasn't 100% sold on the idea of splitting the game into smaller sub-games at first, but I think it serves the overall experience well and further adds to the uniqueness of its presentation.
The games all play relatively the same (with a couple exceptions that provide fun asides from the main game modes), but the controls are refined and the level design is good throughout. I wouldn't say anything about the gameplay stands out as particularly excellent in the grand scheme of things, but it holds up pretty well for its time and, most importantly, I had fun!
The bosses from this game are fairly memorable in their weird designs, but I found most of them pretty easy. For the most part, you can get by just brute forcing the boss from full to 0 health in a few seconds. This is a bit more true for the mini-bosses and some of the major bosses more than others. A few of the bosses were pretty genuinely tough, but the weird lack of balance was a little odd.
Speaking of balance, some moves are just so much better / more powerful than others, but I still found each enjoyable to use whenever I had the chance. I had my preferences by the end (yo-yo for life), but I wouldn't necessarily shrug off the others. I also liked the ability to create a CPU helper. It's a simple thing, but it was cute and often a legitimately helpful strategy.
Overall, I'd praise this game on most points, especially for its time. I felt a few things were a little dragged on despite it being such a small package, but I still had fun throughout and was satisfied by the end.
Positives:
+ Presentation / style
+ Copy abilities
+ Controls / platforming
Negatives:
- Inconsistent difficulty
- Pacing
Presentation-wise this game immediately hooked me. I love the little UI bar at the bottom of the screen with the different pictures showing off which ability you've copied. The visual style is adorably charming, and the music is addictive. I wasn't 100% sold on the idea of splitting the game into smaller sub-games at first, but I think it serves the overall experience well and further adds to the uniqueness of its presentation.
The games all play relatively the same (with a couple exceptions that provide fun asides from the main game modes), but the controls are refined and the level design is good throughout. I wouldn't say anything about the gameplay stands out as particularly excellent in the grand scheme of things, but it holds up pretty well for its time and, most importantly, I had fun!
The bosses from this game are fairly memorable in their weird designs, but I found most of them pretty easy. For the most part, you can get by just brute forcing the boss from full to 0 health in a few seconds. This is a bit more true for the mini-bosses and some of the major bosses more than others. A few of the bosses were pretty genuinely tough, but the weird lack of balance was a little odd.
Speaking of balance, some moves are just so much better / more powerful than others, but I still found each enjoyable to use whenever I had the chance. I had my preferences by the end (yo-yo for life), but I wouldn't necessarily shrug off the others. I also liked the ability to create a CPU helper. It's a simple thing, but it was cute and often a legitimately helpful strategy.
Overall, I'd praise this game on most points, especially for its time. I felt a few things were a little dragged on despite it being such a small package, but I still had fun throughout and was satisfied by the end.
Positives:
+ Presentation / style
+ Copy abilities
+ Controls / platforming
Negatives:
- Inconsistent difficulty
- Pacing