YFJ ranks the Kirby games

[forum user 3254]

I've been planning this for a while, having played most of the mainline Kirby games now and wanting to compile my opinions of them into a single thread. This thread will only cover the 12 main Kirby of the Stars games, mind you; you won't be seeing Air Ride, Canvas Curse, or Epic Yarn on this list. No update schedule planned, will just add to this when I see fit.

And with that, enjoy the list!

Spoiler: #12

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror
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By the time 2004 rolled around, Kirby was in a bad spot. Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of Kirby, had just left HAL, and with Kirby for Nintendo GameCube experiencing difficulties in development, HAL enlisted developer Flagship to create a game to fill the gap. The result was a game very different from those before it, as it adopts the open-world gameplay style used in Metroid and Castlevania. It was a game that looked great on paper. And even then, there are still many Kirby fans who consider this a favorite.

But, unfortunately, I can't share that sentiment. The level design resembles that of a labyrinth (hence the Japanese subtitle, The Great Labyrinth of the Mirror), and quickly becomes tedious with a ton of backtracking. The game was very clearly designed with multiplayer in mind, and if played that way this probably would have been the ultimate test of collaboration and teamwork. But alas, its platform is a curse; if you want a full-fat 4-person experience, you'll need 4 GBAs, 4 link cables, and 4 copies of the game. VC sure doesn't support that kind of thing! So I can't give the game any extra points for how good it might have been in multiplayer, because so few people are able to play it that way. And the AI is dumb as bricks and absolutely useless unless you just want a good laugh.

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror is a game I really wanted to enjoy, but just couldn't. If there's any game I hope to be remade someday, it's this one.

PROS	CONS
Unique gameplay	Tedious level design
Great multiplayer...	...that you probably won't be able to experience
	AI is dumb and useless

 

[Xiahou Ba]

Probs won't like Metroidvanias in general if the backtracking bothers you so much.

 

[forum user 3254]

Probs won't like Metroidvanias in general if the backtracking bothers you so much.

I mean, I dunno, it's not even just the backtracking. It's really the fact that the game gives you very little idea of where to go to find the map. I think I would have enjoyed the game a lot more if they just gave you the map to start with, because with brick headed AI in place of human minds, that map is pretty much your only hope of reaching the boss. Without it, you're left with an aimless quest to find the boss while hoping you don't take the wrong one-way door or accidentally run into a """goal""". The most fun I had with the game was when I actually had the maps and always knew where I was. Unfortunately, that's less than 10% of the game.

I've never played Metroid or Castlevania or any other similar games, so idk if the issues I described here are still present in those. What I do know is that Amazing Mirror followed a divide-and-conquer level design principle, and that's the most poorly aging aspect of the game because it's so hard these days to get the necessary equipment for a 4-player game. If only I could have that experience, the game would be significantly higher on the list even if nothing else about it was changed.

 

[winstein]

The multiplayer is definitely the biggest draw for Amazing Mirror, especially since it's the only one (as far as I know) that can actually be split, unlike the tethering system (revolving around Kirby) that most Kirby multiplayer games do. I guess there's also the Master Hand appearing in this game, and the birth of the Smash Bros. copy ability (way before Planet Robobot included it).

I suppose an online multiplayer variant could be introduced. After all, Kirby dabbled with online multiplayer in its latest game (Super Kirby Clash) so it won't be the first game to do it.

Thank you for reading.

 

[forum user 3254]

Spoiler: #11

Kirby's Dream Land
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I'll admit that I almost ranked this #12, but I realized that, despite its extreme brevity, I actually enjoyed this more than Amazing Mirror. Kirby's Dream Land, released in 1992 for Game Boy, was Kirby's very first game. And for a first entry, it really isn't bad. But compared to many of his later games, Kirby's Dream Land has some pretty big drawbacks. Most notably, it lacks Copy Abilities, a defining trademark of Kirby, so your primary attack is the good ol' inhale. It also only contains 5 stages, so you could beat the whole game in about a half hour. Not a whole lot of bang for your buck here.

It's not all bad, though. Its short length gives plenty of reason to replay it, the Extra Mode is one of the toughest challenges in the series, and even beyond that the game provides a Configuration Mode that gives full control over the game difficulty. The game's levels were redesigned as part of Spring Breeze in Kirby Super Star, but you haven't experienced Kirby's genesis until you've played the original.

PROS	CONS
An iconic classic	No copy abilities
Extra Mode proves quite the challenge	Only 5 stages
Configuration Mode provides fully customizable difficulty

 

[winstein]

Speaking of Spring Breeze in Kirby Super Star, I used to think it was a 1:1 variant of the original game, but it felt more like a Super Star variant of the original Kirby's Dream Land, akin to Super Mario Bros. 1 with the ability to backtrack.

Still though, it's incredibly amazing that this game is still the best-selling Kirby game, and not even Super Star beaten it although the latter beaten it in terms of being the hallmark of the series. Actually it's amusing how quite a number of first entries are the best-selling ones, like Super Mario Bros. and Wario Land.

Thank you for reading.

 

[Koops]

Don't mind me I'm just taking a look at this before I inevitably do the same thing but with Fire Emblem

 

[forum user 3254]

Spoiler: #10

Kirby's Dream Land 2
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Kirby's Dream Land 2 was another one of those "stopgap" games. Kirby Super Star was taking longer than expected to complete, so map designer Shinichi Shimomura was tasked with directing his own game for Game Boy to help fans wait for the big release. But don't let that assertion fool you; there's a lot to love about Kirby's Dream Land 2, and it stands as one of the greatest Game Boy games of all time.

Kirby's Dream Land 2 is perhaps most notable for introducing the Animal Friends Rick, Kine, and Coo. Rick has land-based abilities and doesn't slip on ice, Coo has sky-based abilities and flies through strong winds, and Kine has water-based abilities and can swim through powerful currents (forget about taking him along on land though). While there are fewer abilities than in Kirby's Adventure, using them in tandem with one of the Animal Friends will have a different effect entirely. Additionally, this is the first game in the series to contain two different endings: the player must find the seven Rainbow Drops to defeat Dark Matter and unlock the true ending; else the game will stop after King Dedede and play a false credits scene.

While most levels are too short for their own good, and some Rainbow Drops are a bit too obscure, ultimately it's a great game and you could do a lot worse for the price.

PROS	CONS
Animal Friends add a lot of variety	Low ability variety compared to Adventure
A lot lengthier than the original Dream Land	A lot of stages are just too short
Rainbow Drops add a good amount of replay value	Some of the later Rainbow Drops are overly obscure

 

[forum user 3254]

Guess this has pretty much become a daily thing.

Spoiler: #9

Kirby's Adventure / Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
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Kirby's Adventure is the second installment in the Kirby series. Released in 1993, it was among the last games released for NES; the Super NES had been out for quite some time. Being a late-life title the game really pushed the system to its limits, and it is easily among the finest platformers on the system next to the Mario trilogy. It is perhaps the most influential Kirby game next to the original Dream Land, as it introduced Kirby's signature Copy Ability, including a total of 24 different abilities. Try to think of any other single game hero that can breathe fire, wield a sword, turn into a speedy car wheel, smash foes as a rock, bounce all over the place as a ball, defeat enemies with awful singing skills, and sleep on the job. Bet you can't. It adds a whole lot of variety to the game, because there's so many different things you can do. In fact, pretty much everything wrong with the original Dream Land is mended here: it's longer, it's tougher, and it's just plain better. Other fun facts: it was the first game to establish Kirby as pink, and it was also the debut of the mysterious masked swordsman Meta Knight, who would go on to become a major part of the Kirby cast. The game also contains a pretty shocking climax, so make sure you see it through to the end!

Unfortunately, the game hasn't aged quite as well as I'd hoped. The abilities can be horribly unbalanced and most are a bit too sluggish to be much use. It's also painfully apparent at times that the NES is reaching its limits when you get those tremendous amounts of lag, and it can be infuriating dropping your ability every single time you get hit.

A GBA remake, retitled Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, was released in 2002. It contains enhanced graphics and audio and removes the lag issues of the original, but otherwise doesn't really do anything to smoothen out the original's flaws. However, it did add a time attack mode known as Meta Knightmare, in which the player plays through the game again as Meta Knight in the fastest time possible, as well as a 4-player multiplayer mode (similar to Amazing Mirror's multiplayer except just not as good). Between the two I'd probably recommend the remake, but you're really not missing out on anything if you go with the original

PROS	CONS
Copy Abilities are a great iconic addition	Abilities are horribly unbalanced and not always useful
Big Switches encourage exploration	Abilities are dropped after every hit
Epic climax sequence