2008 Woodie Awards
VIDEO GAME GPA
KIRBY SUPER STAR ULTRA
ROBERTO VALENTIN, OBSERVER STAFF WRITER
Issue date: 10/13/08 Section: Life & Leisure
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo DS
# of players: 1-4
Online: No
Nintendo has the biggest stable of franchises to pick from. Nintendo is constantly pimping out their major players, from Mario to Donkey Kong to Link, to make a quick buck off of proven entities. Up to the plate this time is Kirby, in a remake of the Super NES title "Kirby Super Star." Is this updated classic a welcome addition to the DS? Or does Kirby do what he does best… SUCK?
Gameplay
For those of you not familiar with Kirby, he's essentially a round pink ball that loves to eat everything in sight. This plays into the major game mechanic in all Kirby titles. While in control of Kirby, you float around the stage sucking up your opponents and shooting them out at other enemies. Certain enemies you suck up can be absorbed to gain their powers, Mega Man style. This is the basic premise of Kirby games and "Kirby Super Star Ultra" doesn't change it much.
The game does have some changes though. Instead of playing through one large campaign, the game is broken up into six mini stories that, while separate, do have some cohesiveness to them. Another change to the formula is that now with a press of the button, any enemy that you've absorbed can become a partner to help you along the way.
You can only have one at a time, but the partner can be controlled by a friend if they also have a DS. This is a welcome addition considering that Kirby has always been a solo adventure, and everyone knows that games are better with more people.
Since the game is just an updated port of a Super NES game, the controls haven't been changed much. You'll be using one button to jump, one button to block, and one to suck up enemies. The touch screen on the DS isn't used much, except for a small collection of mini-games. But that's not a bad thing. Kirby is simple fun and a pretty good time. My only real complaint is that it seems that the game has been made incredibly easy. I can understand that most DS games are geared towards a younger audience, but the Kirby faithful will find this game to be a breeze.
Platform: Nintendo DS
# of players: 1-4
Online: No
Nintendo has the biggest stable of franchises to pick from. Nintendo is constantly pimping out their major players, from Mario to Donkey Kong to Link, to make a quick buck off of proven entities. Up to the plate this time is Kirby, in a remake of the Super NES title "Kirby Super Star." Is this updated classic a welcome addition to the DS? Or does Kirby do what he does best… SUCK?
Gameplay
For those of you not familiar with Kirby, he's essentially a round pink ball that loves to eat everything in sight. This plays into the major game mechanic in all Kirby titles. While in control of Kirby, you float around the stage sucking up your opponents and shooting them out at other enemies. Certain enemies you suck up can be absorbed to gain their powers, Mega Man style. This is the basic premise of Kirby games and "Kirby Super Star Ultra" doesn't change it much.
The game does have some changes though. Instead of playing through one large campaign, the game is broken up into six mini stories that, while separate, do have some cohesiveness to them. Another change to the formula is that now with a press of the button, any enemy that you've absorbed can become a partner to help you along the way.
You can only have one at a time, but the partner can be controlled by a friend if they also have a DS. This is a welcome addition considering that Kirby has always been a solo adventure, and everyone knows that games are better with more people.
Since the game is just an updated port of a Super NES game, the controls haven't been changed much. You'll be using one button to jump, one button to block, and one to suck up enemies. The touch screen on the DS isn't used much, except for a small collection of mini-games. But that's not a bad thing. Kirby is simple fun and a pretty good time. My only real complaint is that it seems that the game has been made incredibly easy. I can understand that most DS games are geared towards a younger audience, but the Kirby faithful will find this game to be a breeze.
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Kimberly Banks
posted 10/15/08 @ 7:04 PM EST
Your beard is a dream in a dream.
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