That’s
right gamers our favorite little pink hero is back again. The copycatting puff
ball that stole our hearts is back in another installment of the Kirby series.
In this story an evil being known as Dark
Matter threatens the livelihoods of the peaceful fairies of the heart
planet, Ripple Star. Ribbon, one of Ripple Star’s inhabitants, tries to protect
the fairies’ sacred treasure, The Great Crystal. Dark Matter chases her and
breaks the crystal into many pieces, and it is up to Kirby to retrieve the pieces,
rebuild The Great Crystal, and say Ripple Star from Dark Matter.
The Breakdown:
Storyline (out of 20):
This game has about 10-15 hours of game-play, more if you
wish to complete the game 100%. The Kirby franchise prides itself on its
creative game designs and expansive cartoon levels. Much like its predecessors
before it this Kirby game is a side scrolling adventure. As the player you take
control on the main character Kirby and gain all of his abilities. This game
takes you across 6 different planets each with 4-5 levels, one including a boss
battle. Luckily for this game I enjoy a good creative storyline so I give this
game a 15 out of 20 for storyline.
Character Evolution: (out of 5)
Anybody who knows Kirby knows exactly what he can do. For
those of you reading this blog without any prior knowledge of the adorable and
noble Star Warrior I will extrapolate. Kirby is a pink puff ball. He can fly
long distances by filling his body with air and holding it in. His true ability
however comes in the form of sucking in his enemies and swallowing them,
gaining any abilities they may possess. Any enemies, save bosses, in this game
can be swallowed by Kirby. There are 7 different types of attacks Kirby can
gain in this game: Scorch, Ice, Stone, Cutter, Spike, Zap, and Bomb. Each of
these gives Kirby a different ability ranging from throwing bombs at his
enemies to turning them into cold cold ice cubes. Besides this Kirby can
combine any of these abilities with another to create a super powered ability.
These range from Shooting flaming arrows out of his mouth through shooting
missiles out of his body to even becoming a refrigerator and throwing food onto
the battle field. Due to his many
possibilities of attack changes I give Kirby a
5 out of 5 for Character Evolution.
Game Difficulty (out of 5):
The first 5 levels of this game are a breeze, a small amount
of opponents and an easy boss battle at the end. After that though the game
becomes much more difficult and I find myself needing to restart many times
because I could not finish a certain level or kill a certain boss. This game
became progressively more difficult as I traveled through the various worlds
and because of this I give it a 5 out of 5 for Difficulty.
Graphics (out of 5):
The cartoonish world of Kirby allows for much wiggle room in
the graphics department. The game designer can have their way with Kirby’s
world and make him run through every environment possible, and they do. This
game takes Kirby through the lava filled caverns of an active volcano through a
desert and even to the bottom of the ocean in the search for the crystal
shards. Each new world gives the player a unique visual experience that is sure
to keep the gamer playing to see what the next world will be like. Besides this
the characters and environments are smooth and free of sharp edges giving the characters and environments an even more
cartoonesque feel. All of these factors allow me to give Kirby a perfect 5 out of
5 for Graphics.
The Run down:
15 20
5 5
5 5
5 5
30 35
30 out of 35
Kirby receives
an amazing 30 out of 35. This is sure to be a worthwhile game to buy if you own
a Nintendo 64. Pick it up if you can!
