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Developer: HAL Laboratory
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: Sept. 22, 2008
System: Nintendo DS
ESRB Rating: E
Official Web site
0:00 The original
Kirby Super Star is one of my all-time favorite SNES games, thanks mainly to the wide variety of gameplay modes and the excellent two-player platforming. No second player here right now, though. Will the experience hold up after a decade?
0:01 The cut scene intro, with Kirby flying in on a yellow star, is surprisingly similar to the one I remember so well from the original, except rendered in
faux 3-D and with too-smooth animation. I think I liked the old one better.
0:02 Of the main game modes, only "Spring Breeze" is open currently. It's sad, but I can't even remember if I had to unlock these games in the original, or if they started out as available. The classic music really brings me back.
0:03 Let's check out some new stuff first, the "three simple but deep sub-games," as the top screen describes them. Everything is touch-screen-controlled. "Kirby Card Swipe" is first. Sounds like a credit card instructional video?
0:04 Wow ... that's even simpler than I imagined. A card shows up on the top screen and I have to click the matching card from among four on the bottom screen. The presentation is cute, but it's definitely not "deep."
0:06 Level 3 (of three difficulty levels) adds some more cards to the bottom screen and requires faster reaction times. Wow. I am never playing that again.
0:08 "Kirby on the Draw" is all about tapping pop-up targets before the computer opponents do. Again, it's all about reaction time.
Point Blank DS did this much better...
0:09 I win level 1 easily and lose level 3 by just as much. This one might be fun with friends, at least.
0:11 "Snack Tracks" has, um, tracks of snacks descending from the top of the top screen. I have to tap the bugs and bombs amongst the food to pass them off on others. Kind of endearing, but the gap between screens makes it easy to lose what you're watching.
0:13 I finish in a pathetic fourth place on level 3 difficulty, which sends stuff quite quickly. Again, seems good for friendly battles with real people.
0:15 Looks like my only other choice is "Spring Breeze." I've played this so many times, first as
Kirby's Dream Land on the Game Boy and then as part of the original
KSS, that I think I could do it with my eyes closed.
0:16 Actually playing with my eyes closed gets me stuck behind a pillar for a good minute before I open my eyes and realize it. It does allow me to focus on the excellently catchy music, though.
0:18 Annoyance #1: Y is the jump button and B is the attack button. Everyone knows that should be reversed, so you jump with the inside of your thumb knuckle while holding the attack button. There's no option to change it, as far as I can tell.
0:19 First level complete. I forgot how easy this game gets when power-ups like the Bomb let you kill the boss in mere seconds. Seeing Kirby dance with glee also brings me back.