Bobo4750
1996
Kirby Super Star, the next game in my marathon of Masahiro Sakurai games!
I have some experience with Kirby Super Star but not the SNES version. I played the DS game, Super Star Ultra, a fair amount as a kid. But it's been some time since I've experienced Super Star in some form. What did I think?
Welp, I liked it, for the most part. I think some parts are better than others, but the overall package is very good. Sakurai once referred to Kirby Super Star as an omnibus, and I think that's its greatest strength and also somewhat its weakness. Playing through Kirby Super Star at times feels like watching a whole season of tv or reading a comic trade paperback. You can see how the grab bag quality/structure here would eventually pave the way for Smash Bros.
The jump to the SNES has led to a livelier color palette and a more robust soundtrack. Combat and movement has seen an improvement, with Kirby now having a block and more moves added to his expanded list of copy abilities, which you also don't lose immediately upon getting hit (it now takes a couple of hits). Introduced in this game is the addition of a helper. Kirby can sacrifice to his copy ability to summon an ally. This is especially helpful for boss battles, as some have periods of what feels like extended waiting.
When it comes to criticisms, I still think minibosses and bosses get reused a bit too much. It makes the separate games somewhat blend together. Speaking of modes, let me break down my thoughts on each:
Spring Breeze: An abridged retelling of Kirby's Dream Land, this revamped version provides a nice starting point for the player. It's short but gives the player a good handle on Kirby's abilities.
Dyna blade: This one is pretty similar gameplay wise to Spring Breeze, with the major addition being a world map and the return of the end of stage minigame from Kirby's Adventure. I enjoyed it but given how linear progression is here, the world map feels a bit superfluous.
Gourmet Race: This is a fast paced rush to the end, where you need to collect more food than King Dedede. It's only 3 stages but I had fun.
The Great Cave Offensive: One of the beefier game modes, this one sees the player navigating their way out of a maze like area while collecting treasure. This one can drag a bit and I think suffers greatly from not really having a map of some kind. It can be genuinely confusing where to go. I got lost often.
Revenge of Meta Knight: Meta Knight returns in this mode, with the gimmick being that you're constantly on a time limit. I enjoyed it for how fast paced it was but it's also a 1 and done.
Milky Way Wishes: The second biggest mode in Kirby Super Star, this one has a fun story set up and an intriguing spin on Kirby's traditional gameplay. Kirby doesn't have his traditional copy ability here. He must travel from planet to planet and collect trophies of one of the helper characters to be able to use that copy ability. It's fun to switch out abilities on the fly, even if cycling through them can be a bit of a pain.
The Arena: Masahiro Sakurai loves his boss rushes and this acts as that. A limited amount of healing items and select abilities are given at every rest period to you as you fight your way through all of the game's bosses. It's fun seeing the genesis of Smash Bros.'s All-Star mode here.
Also included are two minigames. One is Samurai Kirby, acting as samurai themed version of the western showdown from Kirby's Adventure. The other is Megaton Punch, where Kirby faces off against enemies by seeing who has the strongest punch. This minigame is quite fun (and very comical) but also unfortunately very short. I wish there was more enemies to square off against.
I Super Star's multiple modes are all fun, but I think the game does somewhat suffer from not having a main game mode. Some of the concepts for the modes can feel a bit undercooked. For example, Milky Way Wishes change to how copy abilities work is interesting but goes a bit underutilized within the adventure. Great Cave Offensive, with it's more exploration and puzzle focus, feels like it could've benefited from being able to switch out abilities on the fly.
I like Kirby Super Star. It builds upon a lot of the foundation set by the previous two Kirby games and plants the seeds for many of Sakurai's future games. But I struggle to say that I liked it more than Kirby's Adventure. The multiple game modes are fun but I don't think any one mode left as much as an impact on me like the whole of Kirby Adventure.
I have some experience with Kirby Super Star but not the SNES version. I played the DS game, Super Star Ultra, a fair amount as a kid. But it's been some time since I've experienced Super Star in some form. What did I think?
Welp, I liked it, for the most part. I think some parts are better than others, but the overall package is very good. Sakurai once referred to Kirby Super Star as an omnibus, and I think that's its greatest strength and also somewhat its weakness. Playing through Kirby Super Star at times feels like watching a whole season of tv or reading a comic trade paperback. You can see how the grab bag quality/structure here would eventually pave the way for Smash Bros.
The jump to the SNES has led to a livelier color palette and a more robust soundtrack. Combat and movement has seen an improvement, with Kirby now having a block and more moves added to his expanded list of copy abilities, which you also don't lose immediately upon getting hit (it now takes a couple of hits). Introduced in this game is the addition of a helper. Kirby can sacrifice to his copy ability to summon an ally. This is especially helpful for boss battles, as some have periods of what feels like extended waiting.
When it comes to criticisms, I still think minibosses and bosses get reused a bit too much. It makes the separate games somewhat blend together. Speaking of modes, let me break down my thoughts on each:
Spring Breeze: An abridged retelling of Kirby's Dream Land, this revamped version provides a nice starting point for the player. It's short but gives the player a good handle on Kirby's abilities.
Dyna blade: This one is pretty similar gameplay wise to Spring Breeze, with the major addition being a world map and the return of the end of stage minigame from Kirby's Adventure. I enjoyed it but given how linear progression is here, the world map feels a bit superfluous.
Gourmet Race: This is a fast paced rush to the end, where you need to collect more food than King Dedede. It's only 3 stages but I had fun.
The Great Cave Offensive: One of the beefier game modes, this one sees the player navigating their way out of a maze like area while collecting treasure. This one can drag a bit and I think suffers greatly from not really having a map of some kind. It can be genuinely confusing where to go. I got lost often.
Revenge of Meta Knight: Meta Knight returns in this mode, with the gimmick being that you're constantly on a time limit. I enjoyed it for how fast paced it was but it's also a 1 and done.
Milky Way Wishes: The second biggest mode in Kirby Super Star, this one has a fun story set up and an intriguing spin on Kirby's traditional gameplay. Kirby doesn't have his traditional copy ability here. He must travel from planet to planet and collect trophies of one of the helper characters to be able to use that copy ability. It's fun to switch out abilities on the fly, even if cycling through them can be a bit of a pain.
The Arena: Masahiro Sakurai loves his boss rushes and this acts as that. A limited amount of healing items and select abilities are given at every rest period to you as you fight your way through all of the game's bosses. It's fun seeing the genesis of Smash Bros.'s All-Star mode here.
Also included are two minigames. One is Samurai Kirby, acting as samurai themed version of the western showdown from Kirby's Adventure. The other is Megaton Punch, where Kirby faces off against enemies by seeing who has the strongest punch. This minigame is quite fun (and very comical) but also unfortunately very short. I wish there was more enemies to square off against.
I Super Star's multiple modes are all fun, but I think the game does somewhat suffer from not having a main game mode. Some of the concepts for the modes can feel a bit undercooked. For example, Milky Way Wishes change to how copy abilities work is interesting but goes a bit underutilized within the adventure. Great Cave Offensive, with it's more exploration and puzzle focus, feels like it could've benefited from being able to switch out abilities on the fly.
I like Kirby Super Star. It builds upon a lot of the foundation set by the previous two Kirby games and plants the seeds for many of Sakurai's future games. But I struggle to say that I liked it more than Kirby's Adventure. The multiple game modes are fun but I don't think any one mode left as much as an impact on me like the whole of Kirby Adventure.
1993
It's amazing how giving Kirby a dash and a sword really changes the game.
My journey through Masahiro Sakurai's games continues with Kirby's Adventure!
This is the introduction of Kirby's well known copy ability and it very much changes the game. Combined with Kirby's dash and slide have transformed Kirby from a simple platformer to an action game. It can be very frenetic, with the combat having an arcade like quality to it. I had so much fun going through stages as fast as I could.
That arcade quality extends beyond combat though. Kirby's Adventure has a smattering of minigames. Each level ends with a minigame where you can score bonus points (and lives). There's a claw machine minigame to score extra lives, a cowboy themed showdown game and an egg collecting minigame meant to test your reflexes, and finally an arena, which allows you to fight a miniboss. There's a decent amount of variety to the side stuff in this game, something that would carry on to many of Sakurai's future games.
Kirby's Adventure is much grander than it's Gameboy predecessor. There are 6 levels per world and some feel very extensive towards the end. Its art direction and music are still as lively and charming as ever. If I had any complaints, they would be that some minibosses get reused a bit too much and that losing your copy ability after getting hit once was annoying.
I love Kirby's Adventure. I've tried this game before but never really gave it its due. But I have now and its become a new favorite of mine.
My journey through Masahiro Sakurai's games continues with Kirby's Adventure!
This is the introduction of Kirby's well known copy ability and it very much changes the game. Combined with Kirby's dash and slide have transformed Kirby from a simple platformer to an action game. It can be very frenetic, with the combat having an arcade like quality to it. I had so much fun going through stages as fast as I could.
That arcade quality extends beyond combat though. Kirby's Adventure has a smattering of minigames. Each level ends with a minigame where you can score bonus points (and lives). There's a claw machine minigame to score extra lives, a cowboy themed showdown game and an egg collecting minigame meant to test your reflexes, and finally an arena, which allows you to fight a miniboss. There's a decent amount of variety to the side stuff in this game, something that would carry on to many of Sakurai's future games.
Kirby's Adventure is much grander than it's Gameboy predecessor. There are 6 levels per world and some feel very extensive towards the end. Its art direction and music are still as lively and charming as ever. If I had any complaints, they would be that some minibosses get reused a bit too much and that losing your copy ability after getting hit once was annoying.
I love Kirby's Adventure. I've tried this game before but never really gave it its due. But I have now and its become a new favorite of mine.
1992
Masahiro Sakurai's first game!
I enjoyed it. It's a very stripped back and simple platformer. There's not a lot of meat on the bone here. Despite that, it has a lot personality and charm. Some recurring aspects of Sakurai's games get their start here. It'll be interesting to see how he builds upon the foundation set here (for his Kirby games and beyond).
I think this game is worth at least 1 playthrough. Its length is fairly short and is relatively easy (I say this but I also game overed a lot. Lol I was very greedy). Yes, there are better versions of this game within the Kirby series, but I think starting with the original will give you a better understanding and appreciation of where the series and Masahiro Sakurai as creator came from and how they evolved with each new game.
I enjoyed it. It's a very stripped back and simple platformer. There's not a lot of meat on the bone here. Despite that, it has a lot personality and charm. Some recurring aspects of Sakurai's games get their start here. It'll be interesting to see how he builds upon the foundation set here (for his Kirby games and beyond).
I think this game is worth at least 1 playthrough. Its length is fairly short and is relatively easy (I say this but I also game overed a lot. Lol I was very greedy). Yes, there are better versions of this game within the Kirby series, but I think starting with the original will give you a better understanding and appreciation of where the series and Masahiro Sakurai as creator came from and how they evolved with each new game.