A very different platofmer.While I've had minimal experience with Kirby games, I never sat down to actually play one. And while there are several good things about the game, there's also a lot of bad that may or may not exist in other Kirby games. But deep down, underneath the bad controls, the terrible timing, and weird skill curves... lies a promising game.
GRAPHICS: 6.
Kirby games do not really push the boundaries in graphics department, but they take the mediocre graphics and excel at them. The best way I can describe it is while you won't see a masterpiece, Kirby has always done an excellent job, and certainly in this particular game of making every level, every enemy, and every ability seem unique and distinguishable. Which is a huge plus that so many platform type games overlook.
SOUND: 6.
The sound is a humble melody, almost like elevator music. I won't rate it as entirely bad, because while the music can be somewhat dull, it is not repetitive, it does exhibit originality, and some of the music is actually kind of catchy. However, I have heard better, and it would be nice if the sounds better reflected what the player was doing or fighting. That's where it falls short, and that's an important element in helping the player subconsciously see and hear the game, allowing a committed reflex response that can ease controls. But then, that's probably the games biggest flaw which I will get into in a second.
ADDICTIVENESS: 4.
The game certainly has a lot to do. There is no doubt about that. Levels to conquer over, mini-games, and a slew of powers to tryout. The problem is Kirby's Fun Pak pushes all the things it isn't good at. While the occasional mini-game by entering a secret room to earn power-ups is certainly welcome, nearly half of the game play revolves around some awkward mini-game such as racing King DeDeDe and seeing who is better at stuffing their face along the way. It's unnecessary and deviates from the core of Kirby's main objective of being a colorful protagonist with magical powers that can truly take advantage of the two dimensional platform. The game loses a lot of the "fun" element trying to force feed you these side quests instead of adding upon the potential levels and bosses to encounter.
STORY: 4.
While some may criticize Kirby for being too simplistic and childish in it's storytelling method, I give it credit for doing so in a way with little to no dialogue. I actually enjoyed watching Kirby defeat the mechanical bird, and not let the giant baby birds just sit there and starve and actually pushed them toward the blowing tree and knocked down some apples for them. It's that fairy tale sort of happy ending that is definitely gone in modern gaming, and Kirby does not even have to say a word in order to do it. Granted I myself am a jaded fellow, and probably would have clicked the renegade interruption tab and pushed their nest off the cliff... but I'm mean. I think we all know that.
DEPTH: 6.
While I cannot say there isn't depth, it is self-defeating pouring more resources into mini-games and other non sequiturs. It would have made more sense to incorporate more hidden levels, mini-games that earn you 1Ups, and food/power-up rooms over just forced and unrewarding ones like the samurai showdown. The fact is, Kirby wants you to play it in small doses. That's why it has a percentage meter of completion, and when you're ready, you come back to it. But when fifty percent of it was things that you never expected or would want in a Kirby game. You're left with something that feels more like a demo.
But when it does get it right, it does so with great magnitude. I love trying to outsmart the different enemies, see what powers they give me, and definitely enjoy leaving the A.I sidekick to do the work for me and see just how awesome my power could have been had I the skill to actually use it properly. (Though again... I blame this on the controls.)
DIFFICULTY: 6.
And now we come to the difficulty. Kirby is not difficult, but that does not mean it does not have cheap and infuriating circumstances. This seems to be a common thing among games targeted toward younger audiences. The artificial challenge of just unfair A.I. Which Kirby's enemies don't do, but the environment itself does. Those lava blocks are brutal, and honestly I never thought I'd see the day where a timed event was less threatening and aggravating to me then the things that stood in my way. In one level. One thing platformers should never do is the sliding screen mechanic. Even when a character does not automatically die for it, it can still be clunky and leave you getting throttled because it hampers natural movement. But of course... being an older game. This one does in fact kill you for not running fast enough away. Kirby was not built to run. He's a fat, pink, bubble that hovers in the air and eats everything. What possessed the developers to think it was a good idea to have him try to rush away from the moving screen?
Controls are a big factor in the "difficulty" of this game. Difficulty being subjective here. As again, it's not the enemies, it's the environment. On top of some of the ruthless terrains, I was never able to get the hang of Kirby's controls. I know this is going to sound completely random, but it reminds me of Team Fortress 2 control wise. The controls are bad, because they're all over the place. I'm doing ten things with two buttons. And the end result is going to be poor timing, wrong moves, and ultimately a death I really did not deserve. And while certainly the game is forgiving with plenty of continues, opportunities to earn 1Ups, and a CPU player who rips to shreds the enemy. In a way that just makes it worse. Because you are treated like you're incapable. Maybe the game wouldn't have to hold your hand if it just perfected the controls first.
So it Kirby's Fun Pak bad? Yes and no. Where it is "fun" is is immense fun. But where it's "pak" it's just a pack of junk. Poorly organized, randomly inserted, junk. Like a toy-box full of half broken toys that you will try and make into an adventure. It's a very deep toy-box, with many many toys. But they all have seen better days.
Graphics
7 Sound
6 Addictive
4 Depth
6 Story
4 Difficulty
6
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