Kirby was at Penny-Arcade Expo in Seattle in force. Sadly, I did not survive the encounter.
But on the plus side, before I was swarmed by the Kirby bean-bags, I was able to play his new games! Both Kirby:Mass Attack for the DS and Kirby’s Return to Dreamland for the Wii. They’re both traditional Kirby, while at the same time anything but.
Let’s start with Kirby: Mass Attack. I posted a video before showing the gameplay, which was a bit of a mix of LocoRoco for the PSP/PS3 and Kirby Canvas Curse. Both of those games were fantastic, so it stands to reason that Mass Attack would be as well, yes? Thankfully, I can say that it is. Just like in LocoRoco, you start off with a single little Kirby ball, and you explore levels leading him around with the stylus to find more Kirbys to add to your arsenal. Some puzzles require a certain number of Kirbys, and will involve you backtracking if you haven’t found enough yet. There are hidden areas and neat things to find, exactly what you would expect. However, in LocoRoco for the PSP you lead your little blobs by tilting the world, Mass Attack is much more like the PS3 version, in which they followed your cursor. This is handled with the stylus, which does a much better job.
You flick your Kirbys so they can jump and attack things or launch themselves at hand holds or over obstacles. A touch and hold on your group allows you to draw a line for them follow through the air, ala Canvas Curse. Tapping an enemy makes your Kirbys pile on (like they did to me) and repeated tapping defeats the enemy. It is charming, easy to play and the right amount of challenging at the same time. The line to play it was huge, and they had to tear people away from the demo machines. Sorry people behind me! I was cautiously optimistic about Mass Attack, and I have to say it is now a day 1 purchase for me. If you love Kirby or loved LocoRoco, you need to pick up Mass Attack. Stay tuned for the review, it comes out September 19th.
Oh, and there was a cotton candy machine with free pink cotton candy. It was awesome.
