Wed Dec 24, 2008 12:41 am
Game Review: Kirby Super Star Ultra
Game Review: Kirby Super Star Ultra
Platform: Nintendo DS
Score 8/10 if you didn’t play the original or 6/10 if you did
As many of you know, I grew up as a Nintendo fan boy. This being said, I can confidently say that I have played all of the major Nintendo franchisees. Out of all of them, the one that seems to be able to update and/or spin off but still maintain its core charm and character is the Kirby series. It’s simple really, pink blob (ghost?) eats enemies and pink blob (marshmallow monster?) gets the enemies’ traits BLAM! A Kirby game! You can’t really mess it up.
My first taste of a Kirby game was from the original Kirby Super Star (Get it? Taste…because Kirby eats things). It came out in 1996 and I remember vividly renting it during summer break multiple MULTIPLE times. It had 8 games in one! Each game you played you would unlock another game which supposedly was a harder difficulty. Spring Breeze was the first; it was pretty basic, Kirby running through levels sucking up powers from all enemies. Oh, and a Boss Battle with King Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee.
Next, was one of my favorites, Dyna Blade. It’s kinda like Super Mario World in a way because it has an over world map and secret levels to unlock but it’s also super short. An even shorter game is next, which was a mini game called Gourmet Race. What you do is race and get food … that’s it. Then there was the Great Cave Offensive which, in my opinion was the hardest. You would run around a fairly large (Metroid like) level, hunting for memorabilia from other games like a Triforce or Pegasus wing (P. Wing). Oh, and one of the bosses is the first manifestation of Master Hand from the late Smash Brothers series (Rest in peace Smash Brothers we miss you).
Revenge of Meta Knight came next, you would have a timed battle with The Halberd, Meta Knight’s ship, and then you would fight Meta Knight at the end (He’s not OP in this game Cough/Brawl).
The last real game in the original title is Milky Way Wishes. This is the game that really blew me away. It’s less like a Kirby game and more like a Mega Man game though. Still running around, you find or maybe I should say “unlock” the different powers, opposed to sucking up enemies to get them like previously. Now, the best part about having to unlock the powers is that whence you’ve unlocked them they stay unlocked and you are able to turn into any Kirby you want AT ANY TIME!!!11!11 My favorite part about this is that in order to unlock new powers you need to use other powers (i.e. “oh no! There’s a big ice sheet blocking that secret, better use fire to melt it.”). It’s a freaking blast!
There is also a short but fun game called Arena. In this you battle a bunch of bosses and are brought to a lobby where you can use one of your limited Max Tomatoes to heal yourself.
Now that I have covered the original game, I can talk about the new and improved “Ultra” part of Kirby Super Star Ultra! I’m not sure but I believe the new games that have been added to this can only be unlocked if you have completed the original games. There are a total of four new games which I’ll describe a little of, Revenge of the King, Meta Knightmare Ultra, Helper to Hero, and lastly, The True Arena. HAL didn’t really add a whole ton to this port but, it’s better than not adding anything at all I guess.
Revenge of the King is pretty much a remake of Spring Breeze (Short classic Kirby game) but harder, with an extra level. The fact that it’s harder is great because the original can be beat while in a coma. The extra level is near the end of the game and is very fun although, by the time you get to it you pretty much just want to blitz through it to beat the game.
Meta Knightmare Ultra is probably the one reason to buy this DS version of the game, if you (Like me) played the crap out of it as a kid. In this game you are playing as the mysterious, winged, masked, and sword bearing creature known as Meta knight! That’s right! You get to run through the entire game while playing Meta Knight. Emphasis on “run” by the way, you play Spring Breeze, Dyna Blade, The Great Cave Offensive, Revenge of the Meta Knight (Don’t ask me why you’re attacking your own ship) and Milky Way Wishes while timed. It’s extremely long and brings a whole new light on the levels you just spent maybe 3 hours beating. Meta Knight has special abilities which can only be preformed after accumulating point’s received after killing baddies. There are 4 skills that Meta Knight can perform all of which are tremendously useful and overpowering (Like in another HAL made game with Meta Knight as a playable character Cough/Brawl). Meta Knight can heal, active hyper speed, and one of the lowest cost abilities, (I think it’s like 2 points) summon a second character that player 2 can control. The last one is the BEST! Once you have your point meter maxed out (Which is like 30 points) and you use your forth skill it completely kills everything on the screen. It’s called the Mach Tornado! I don’t know if the Japanese know what Mach means but I’m pretty sure it’s not what they think it means. This move is pretty entertaining to use on bosses because most will die in one hit from the MACH TORNADO! The fact that you’re timed through this game keeps you going even when you’re playing through the incredibly tedious Great Cave Offensive. But the fact that you’re soooo freaking powerful makes it exciting playing though these same maps again.
After that Meta Knight sprint, it’s pretty safe to say that the player is done with going through those levels. This is when the game throws Helper to Hero-ero-ero-ero (That’s an echo) into the mix which is pretty much a series of random boss battles. This game is unique because that jerk Kirby (bubble gum ball?) never shows his face; instead you pick one of the helpers at the beginning of the game and fight bosses like in The Arena. You should pick Bonker the hammer guy be tea dub, he’s pretty incredulous. Just like in The Arena after a battle, you are brought to a lobby area where you are shown a picture of your next opponent, which can help you decide on whether or not you’re going to use one of your few max tomatoes. I really enjoyed myself while playing this game; it reminded me of the All-star mode in Smash Brothers.
You unlock the most challenging game last (Imagine that!), The True Arena! The other arena was a false one I guess. This game pretty much treats you like crap, the enemies are harder, you’re given less items to heal you, and the last boss will forcibly put you into a BDSM relationship. After you beat it there are many high-tens to be had.
Likes-
Brought the good old-fashion-side-scrolling Kirby games to the DS
Most of the games weren’t too long
Added diversity to the idea of the Kirby character
Replayable like mad!
Stood the test of time, 10+ years later and still fun
Dislikes-
Not a ton of extra things added which they could have easily done considering how large the DS cartridges are
A little on the easy side although this might be because I was playing
The 3D cinematics didn’t make a whole lot of sense like why Meta Knight was attacking his own ship
Platform: Nintendo DS
Score 8/10 if you didn’t play the original or 6/10 if you did
As many of you know, I grew up as a Nintendo fan boy. This being said, I can confidently say that I have played all of the major Nintendo franchisees. Out of all of them, the one that seems to be able to update and/or spin off but still maintain its core charm and character is the Kirby series. It’s simple really, pink blob (ghost?) eats enemies and pink blob (marshmallow monster?) gets the enemies’ traits BLAM! A Kirby game! You can’t really mess it up.
My first taste of a Kirby game was from the original Kirby Super Star (Get it? Taste…because Kirby eats things). It came out in 1996 and I remember vividly renting it during summer break multiple MULTIPLE times. It had 8 games in one! Each game you played you would unlock another game which supposedly was a harder difficulty. Spring Breeze was the first; it was pretty basic, Kirby running through levels sucking up powers from all enemies. Oh, and a Boss Battle with King Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee.
Next, was one of my favorites, Dyna Blade. It’s kinda like Super Mario World in a way because it has an over world map and secret levels to unlock but it’s also super short. An even shorter game is next, which was a mini game called Gourmet Race. What you do is race and get food … that’s it. Then there was the Great Cave Offensive which, in my opinion was the hardest. You would run around a fairly large (Metroid like) level, hunting for memorabilia from other games like a Triforce or Pegasus wing (P. Wing). Oh, and one of the bosses is the first manifestation of Master Hand from the late Smash Brothers series (Rest in peace Smash Brothers we miss you).
Revenge of Meta Knight came next, you would have a timed battle with The Halberd, Meta Knight’s ship, and then you would fight Meta Knight at the end (He’s not OP in this game Cough/Brawl).
The last real game in the original title is Milky Way Wishes. This is the game that really blew me away. It’s less like a Kirby game and more like a Mega Man game though. Still running around, you find or maybe I should say “unlock” the different powers, opposed to sucking up enemies to get them like previously. Now, the best part about having to unlock the powers is that whence you’ve unlocked them they stay unlocked and you are able to turn into any Kirby you want AT ANY TIME!!!11!11 My favorite part about this is that in order to unlock new powers you need to use other powers (i.e. “oh no! There’s a big ice sheet blocking that secret, better use fire to melt it.”). It’s a freaking blast!
There is also a short but fun game called Arena. In this you battle a bunch of bosses and are brought to a lobby where you can use one of your limited Max Tomatoes to heal yourself.
Now that I have covered the original game, I can talk about the new and improved “Ultra” part of Kirby Super Star Ultra! I’m not sure but I believe the new games that have been added to this can only be unlocked if you have completed the original games. There are a total of four new games which I’ll describe a little of, Revenge of the King, Meta Knightmare Ultra, Helper to Hero, and lastly, The True Arena. HAL didn’t really add a whole ton to this port but, it’s better than not adding anything at all I guess.
Revenge of the King is pretty much a remake of Spring Breeze (Short classic Kirby game) but harder, with an extra level. The fact that it’s harder is great because the original can be beat while in a coma. The extra level is near the end of the game and is very fun although, by the time you get to it you pretty much just want to blitz through it to beat the game.
Meta Knightmare Ultra is probably the one reason to buy this DS version of the game, if you (Like me) played the crap out of it as a kid. In this game you are playing as the mysterious, winged, masked, and sword bearing creature known as Meta knight! That’s right! You get to run through the entire game while playing Meta Knight. Emphasis on “run” by the way, you play Spring Breeze, Dyna Blade, The Great Cave Offensive, Revenge of the Meta Knight (Don’t ask me why you’re attacking your own ship) and Milky Way Wishes while timed. It’s extremely long and brings a whole new light on the levels you just spent maybe 3 hours beating. Meta Knight has special abilities which can only be preformed after accumulating point’s received after killing baddies. There are 4 skills that Meta Knight can perform all of which are tremendously useful and overpowering (Like in another HAL made game with Meta Knight as a playable character Cough/Brawl). Meta Knight can heal, active hyper speed, and one of the lowest cost abilities, (I think it’s like 2 points) summon a second character that player 2 can control. The last one is the BEST! Once you have your point meter maxed out (Which is like 30 points) and you use your forth skill it completely kills everything on the screen. It’s called the Mach Tornado! I don’t know if the Japanese know what Mach means but I’m pretty sure it’s not what they think it means. This move is pretty entertaining to use on bosses because most will die in one hit from the MACH TORNADO! The fact that you’re timed through this game keeps you going even when you’re playing through the incredibly tedious Great Cave Offensive. But the fact that you’re soooo freaking powerful makes it exciting playing though these same maps again.
After that Meta Knight sprint, it’s pretty safe to say that the player is done with going through those levels. This is when the game throws Helper to Hero-ero-ero-ero (That’s an echo) into the mix which is pretty much a series of random boss battles. This game is unique because that jerk Kirby (bubble gum ball?) never shows his face; instead you pick one of the helpers at the beginning of the game and fight bosses like in The Arena. You should pick Bonker the hammer guy be tea dub, he’s pretty incredulous. Just like in The Arena after a battle, you are brought to a lobby area where you are shown a picture of your next opponent, which can help you decide on whether or not you’re going to use one of your few max tomatoes. I really enjoyed myself while playing this game; it reminded me of the All-star mode in Smash Brothers.
You unlock the most challenging game last (Imagine that!), The True Arena! The other arena was a false one I guess. This game pretty much treats you like crap, the enemies are harder, you’re given less items to heal you, and the last boss will forcibly put you into a BDSM relationship. After you beat it there are many high-tens to be had.
Likes-
Brought the good old-fashion-side-scrolling Kirby games to the DS
Most of the games weren’t too long
Added diversity to the idea of the Kirby character
Replayable like mad!
Stood the test of time, 10+ years later and still fun
Dislikes-
Not a ton of extra things added which they could have easily done considering how large the DS cartridges are
A little on the easy side although this might be because I was playing
The 3D cinematics didn’t make a whole lot of sense like why Meta Knight was attacking his own ship
Artist - Novo Interactive
