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Nintendo's pink foodie mascot finally has his first 3D action game, Kirby of the Stars, Discovery. After being sucked into a mysterious vortex (it's really a day when feng shui turns and you're sucked away), he finds himself teleported into an unknown world that has endured catastrophe. In addition to the skills of the past, Kirby will also learn new tricks such as "stuffing his mouth and transforming" to help Kirby complete a gorgeous 3D transformation.
Kirby's classic abilities are still there and still fun to use, the only difference being that he can now use them in 3D. He can jump, float, or suck enemies or objects into his mouth and fire them at his target. I barely had any problems with the controls, and I was able to complete accurate platform jumps.
Kirby can still copy their abilities by inhaling enemies with his mouth wide open, a system that is the backbone of the Kirby series, and in this game, it is still the basis for Kirby's abilities. These duplication abilities allow Kirby to transform into a swordsman, turning him into a soul-like rolling needle ball, or allowing him to use the "Burst" ability to unleash a super explosion that can clear the screen.
After finding the corresponding blueprint in the level, we can also upgrade the replication ability in the town of Wazurudi. These upgrades add new changes to each attack method. My favorite is the evolved version of Bombs, which turns regular bombs that can scroll into chain bombs, and the more they are connected together, the larger the explosion. Then there's an evolutionary version of the Tracking Bomb.
After upgrading, you can also change back to the previous version, but although each variant may have a specific application scenario, I have never encountered a situation where I want to change back after upgrading. When the original ability is not enough to cope with some obstacles, Kirby can also use a series of new transformation skills.
Now Kirby has a new skill called "Stuffed Mouth Deformation", which allows him to suck strangely shaped large objects into his mouth and wrap them around his stretched body to solve puzzles. After filling the large mouth with a triangular cone, Kirby can smash the ground crack with the tip of the cone, thus smashing a passage. After eating a car, he can quickly navigate through the levels, easily hitting obstacles. These stuffed items are available in each level, and while most of the time they are limited to certain areas and have specific uses, the game is more flexible than I thought.
Almost every mouth-filled deformation is a monster weapon, so I use it whenever I get the chance. If the level is over for the time being, but the game doesn't let you deprecate the StuffEd Mouth ability, 80% of it is because you can still use it to continue exploring. Stuffing the mouth is a lot of fun, and it's a good way to partition the levels, and each transformation brings a different rhythm and gameplay fun. Every time I saw Kirby wrapping her body around something funny and useful, it always made me laugh.
While I love almost every move of Kirby, I also have some minor upsets. The transformation of 3D has a side effect: the spatial range of the vertical axis is not clear, and the maximum flight altitude is much lower than I expected. It's not a big problem, but sometimes you can't jump on the platform that you can reach, and sometimes you can easily get out of the pit, and the inconsistencies are still quite annoying. In addition, the overall game pace is much slower than Nintendo's other platform jumping games, making the exploration process a bit slow. But fun exploration and skills that can improve movement speed compensate for this problem to some extent.
The new world Kirby arrives in is full of plant-covered shopping malls, small towns, theme parks, and the original residents have long disappeared. The setting of this world is very different from the world Kirby has visited in the past, but although the original society has fallen apart and left only countless ruins, Discovery does not dwell too much on what caused people to disappear. That doesn't mean the issue is ignored, but the game focuses on rescuing the missing Wadourudi and retaking the village from the kidnappers — all of which are more pressing issues.
Occupying this place now is the powerful "Legion of Beasts", an animal force led by the mighty monster Boss, who is also the culprit in the kidnapping of Wadouludi. These main bosses will also stay at the end of each world, waiting for Kirby to challenge them.
Each boss's battle field is an open arena, and the camera will focus on them during the battle, rather than using the usual fixed perspective, which gives the boss battle a sense of grandeur. Some bosses have complex moves that are not easy to dodge, such as the agile cheetah Carlo Ling and the dazed armadillo dance. At times like these, Boss Battles feel like a fun third-person action game, rather than a platform jump game. Figuring out the boss's moves and overcoming them with the copying power I have at hand makes me enjoy it.
Each level begins with a beautiful vista shot that generally showcases the beauty of this forgotten land. It's a beautiful world, and Kirby's exaggerated style and realistic areas often blend very well. HAL's use of textures, light and shadow, and depth of field makes the game environment and important cutscenes look great.
After being able to move freely, Kirby's main task is to rescue Wadou Rudi, who is locked in a cage. These cages are located at the end of the levels, which are predominantly linear but also have room for exploration. There are also hidden secondary missions in each area that can be completed to rescue more Wadou Rudi, such as finding hidden rooms, finding and tearing up wanted posters, and eating a certain number of donuts. These missions make me have a great time and naturally extend the play time of each level, and after completing the level, I often run back to search every corner to complete all the hidden missions to achieve 100% completion of each level.
The main level is not difficult, they are mainly ordinary exploration, rather than focusing on difficult platform jumping. It's not that there aren't times when it's hard, but the difficulty I crave is mostly sought in other parts of the world.
In addition to the standard levels, there are additional levels in each world called Treasure Road, which offer challenges that I love and are willing to work on to complete. Each level is built around a specific ability, and the player needs to complete the level in a certain amount of time, and upon completion, they can obtain a valuable "rare stone" that can be used to evolve the ability to copy, so these side quests are very valuable to complete.
The Treasure Trail helped me understand the subtleties of Many of Kirby's abilities, and it was a lot of fun to decipher and complete the levels. Each Treasure Road level also has a more demanding "target time" that allows me to earn some additional coins when achieved, which keeps me coming back to try and break through.
I love the game loop of Discovery: complete the main quest level, challenge the path of the treasure unlocked after completing the level, return to wadzurudi town to see if there are any new buildings, evolve the replication ability with the blueprints and rare stones found in the level, and then repeat the above process. This game always makes people feel that there is something new waiting for you to discover, which makes people feel very eager to play again.
Even the little games unlocked in the town are fun pastimes, like cooking, serving, delicious! Game-inspired serving games such as " , or fishing at a fishing spot are good examples. In addition to this, some of the more challenging quests — such as boss rush at the arena — offer great rewards for blueprints, coins, other collectibles, and more.
Kirby of the Stars discovered is a wonderful game that neither Kirby fans nor platform jumpers should miss. It's not a pink doughnut version of Super Mario 64, but it's a great addition to bringing the Kirby star series into the world of 3D, and it's still a great piece of work even without those new gimmicks. Kirby is still as captivating as ever, and this new adventure can easily provide hours of fun.
—————— overall: 9 out of 20——————
Translation: Yv
Edit: Tony