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I ran through world 1 solo, but played through world 2 with a buddy! The game's stepped up its complexity a bit, with multi-tiered (though still linear) levels that are lengthy and have nice variety. The puzzles still aren't too hard but they reward exploration in a clever way similar to the Mario games (where you "feel" that something is hidden in places you haven't checked). And I can't help but squeal with delight when a new ability is made available as I progress! EEEEEEEE
My thoughts on the abilities introduced in world 2, spoiler-tagged for your safety--
WHIP - Whoa! The Yo-Yo's been resurrected as Indy's weapon of choice, and Kirby dons a stylish fedora to get in the spirit. Whip is a slick new ability that gives Kirby some serious range and versatility. The multi-hit whipping (think Sheik in SSB mixed with E. Honda's slaps) is a good boss whittler, while the five-way attacks allow you to be Earthworm Jim. A bizarre helicopter-type move rounds out the pack and makes for a lovely substitute of my all-time favorite Kirby power. Yo-Yo, you will be missed, but Whip certainly helps ease the sting.
PARASOL - The raindrop-slinging, candy-colored doomstick has returned with its full repertoire intact. The Parasol is a joy to use like always, from it's long-range melee attack to its speedy dash and dive moves. I wasn't able to play around with it for too long, so I may be missing a new move in there somewhere, but I think it's basically identical to its KSS incarnation. And of course, it still slows your fall.
HAMMER - King Dedede players are able to wield this sucker at all times, with the added benefit of being able to repeatedly throw the hammer (Kirby can only do it once, and then it's lost). The rest of the moveset returns, from the Hammer Spin to the charge-up shot and the standard overhead smash. There's also a new upwards attack similar to Dedede's up-tilt in Smash--again, this is an ability that I was only able to mess with for a short period of time, so I may have missed some stuff.
STONE - In even Kirby Super Star, Stone had a single move; the one we're all familiar with. Because of this, it was never really one of my favorite abilities (although it was supremely handy for the Arena if you knew what you were doing). What's nice is that RtD gives Stone a couple new options--Stone players now have a melee attack for when they're right next to an enemy. With up+1, Kirby will do a sudden uppercut with a massive Hellboy stone hand! There's also a dash-transform attack to speed up the ability more, and the fun easter eggs of different stone forms again. Even so, it's relatively low number of moves makes it still among the less-interesting abilities, I'd say.
WATER - New ability ahoy! Water is awesome. The standard attack involves throwing water balls that bounce like Mario's fireballs, and the upward spout (up+1) is handy for hitting things above you. But the real fun comes with the dash attack, which lets Kirby surf a big wave of water across the stage quickly. Naturally, you can do this on the surface of the water as well. Equally amusing are two novelty moves--one, an area-of-effect watery rainbow, and the other, a hovering spout where Kirby constantly stays above the ground by shooting water downward (you can move him around with the D-pad). Absolutely a great, fun addition!
TORNADO - Tornado, like the ability below, is interesting in that it made its debut in Kirby's Adventure, but never got a KSS form. So it's back and supercharged, with new ranged moves in addition to the already strong main tornado attack (which can now be expanded by shaking the Wiimote). You can shoot tornadoes upwards or downwards depending on the direction pushed, and there's also a quick dash attack. A rather nice upgrade to one of the better abilities in Kirby's Adventure!
HIGH-JUMP - High-Jump was a surprising ability to see return, considering its relatively limited use in Kirby's Adventure. I only got to try it out for a short time here, but it seemed pretty cool, especially since the area was built around it. You now have three levels of high jump depending on how long you charge it, and you can high-jump in mid-air repeatedly. You can also slam back to the ground with a strong, Stone-like attack. Quite fun, but probably one of the more limited abilities. Kirby's outfit with it is very cute!
BOMB - Bommmmmb! Absolutely one of my all-time favorite moves of KSS (despite its relatively short move list), Bomb makes a terrific comeback in as perfect a way as you could hope. The visual changes are neat (Kirby's new "party hat," the bomb explosions being fireworks and lighting up dark areas), but the improved control over the aiming and the new moves are what really sell it. Dropping bombs is still a snap, and throwing them is as intuitive as ever. You can also dash-lob them like before, as well as roll 'em...a full month before Skyward Sword, no less! Good explosive fun.
I'm really enjoying the unlockables too. The multiplayer (tried 2P and 3P) has been great fun! The hardest thing at the moment is pacing myself to not go through too much of the game at once... |
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KEY isn't very challenging. Finding the treasures is easy and getting a gold medal in each stage isn't very difficult, save for one or two levels.
It's still a lot of fun and worth playing however. I consider KEY much more of an "experience" than a "game". I enjoyed just traveling through the world and experiencing the wonderful visuals, music, and gameplay change-ups (racing, shooting, creating train tracks, etc.) that Good Feel brought us. I LOVED the bosses as well.
Unfortunately, I don't think an "experience" is really worth $50, but I still am glad I bought KEY. It brought me quite a bit of joy, so at the end of the day, it was a satisfying adventure. |
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Okay, so, anyone have any more impressions of this year's Kirby game?  I wanna keep talking about it, but barely any of you have got it! I just beat the third world, and still enjoying it a lot. But I think at this point, I can pretty much safely say that it won't be my all-time favorite. It doesn't feel quite as ambitious as the best games in the series (Adventure and Super Star truly felt like they were pushing the platforming/action boundaries at the time). But that said, it's loads of fun and I can see myself replaying it over and over. When all is said and done, it's probably going to be among my favorites of the series, and that ain't bad at all. Just a couple new abilities showed up in world 3, but they're nice-- ICE - Ice was one of the less-impressive moves in KSS, but still quite fun with its freezing ability. Like all the moves in KRtD, it's gotten a bit of an upgrade and feels better than ever. A new massive ice-ball dash move gives the ability some needed momentum, and freezing stuff is as satisfying as ever. I only got to play with it for a short while in a single stage--I think I'll be seeing a lot more of it in the next world.
SPEAR - The final one of the new moves, Spear is appropriately noble-feeling and is a great deal of fun to weild. Kirby can stab it in four directions (even while underwater), toss it in the air repeatedly (while dash-jumping), unleash a flurry of hits, and even take off like a helicopter while spinning it (hold/release). It feels potent and has a nice range, and the animations are a lot of fun to watch. I felt very Poseidon-like slinging this thing around the wet and wild world 3. |
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