Kirby and the Rainbow Curse

Game Info

It has been almost 10 years since Nintendo originally released Kirby: Canvas Curse for the Nintendo DS.  I don’t know if it was planned this way but the release also happened to fall on the day prior to the 35th anniversary of the developer, HAL Laboratory Inc. I remember enjoying the mechanics of Kirby: Canvas Curse  but with it being so long since I played it the only thing I really remember was that it felt somewhat like a tech demo with a Kirby skin attached.  That being said, it was still a wonderful experience and one of the better uses of the touchscreen that the Nintendo DS had to offer.  Kirby and the Rainbow Curse aims to do the same with the Wii U but has a beautiful aesthetic to go with it to boot.

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse is not a sequel to the original per say, but is actually more of a spiritual successor.  The first thing you will notice when the opening cut scene begins is just how beautiful this game is.  The developers at HAL Laboratory have crafted one of the most gorgeous games that I can remember in recent years.  As I have always felt, a great art style will have legs for years and this is no different.  With the help of the power of the Wii U and glorious HD, the visuals are a mold of clay which just visually looks amazing.  The developers even slowed the games frame rate down to 30fps to ensure that it had the authentic look of stop motion animation, similar to the show Gumbi.  Every model in the game has the unique feel that it was handcrafted and one of the unlockables is the clay figures (similar to the trophies in Super Smash Bros.) lets you look at the beauty with a full rotating 3D camera control.

The story starts off with Kirby and Waddle Dee playing around in Dream Land.  All of the sudden a hole opens in the sky and the color in the world is drained.  Elline, a paintbrush fairy from the land of Seventopia, makes her way through the portal and is the saving grace to Dream Land.  Learning that the evil fairy Claycia is stealing all the color, Kirby, Waddle Dee and Elline all head to Seventopia to save the day.  Most of the games story is told through the claymation drive cut scenes with no words or talking.  There are secret diary pages that can be collected at the end of each level along a area ending ring that goes pretty slow and are easy to grab.  Within these pages you will find more information about the characters and the plot of the game.

The controls are the game are simple yet challenging enough that even expert gamers will have a difficult time collecting all of the treasures.  Gamers will draw their rainbow lines on the GamePad’s touchscreen using their finger or stylus.  The stylus is definitely the preferred method, as you will need pinpoint accuracy in some of the game’s sections.  Just drawing the line is sometimes not enough and you will need to tap on Kirby to give him a little boost.  I found that the direction in which you draw the line is the direction in which Kirby will travel.  Sometimes if you need Kirby to make a quick u-turn you can draw a small line vertical to send him back in the opposite direction.

The amount of paint you use is limited to a paint meter at the top of the screen.  This is were the difficulty lies.  You can only fill your meter by collecting paint buckets or by having Kirby hang out at the ground level.  Now this won’t amount in death or a huge struggle because you will slowly regain paint in the air, at least enough to keep you afloat, but it could affect your reaching of treasure or secret areas.

Kirby will have four bars of health that can be replenished by grabbing a different assortment of food, pill bottles or a maxim tomato.  You will also have to collect stars and every 100 stars will offer you the ability to turn larger and shoot yourself as a speeding bullet that can destroy enemies and normally unbreakable blocks that normally leads to treasure or secret paths.  All of the games levels sans the boss battles offer 5 treasures that can be found.  Most of these treasures are just tucked away cleverly but some are in a 15 second challenge room that you need to either grab the box or clear the enemies within the time limit.  The treasure chests either contain clay figurines or a track that will be added to your music room to listen to later.

Speaking of the 15 second challenges, there is also challenge levels which are unlocked and can be played separately from the Story Mode.  The challenges will string together 4 of the 15 second challenges and will award you with a gold medal if you can clear them all.  There are also levels in which Kirby will transform into certain combat vehicles such as a tank or submarine.  These are controlled completely different then the main objective levels.  In the tank you will be tapping where you would like the cannon to shoot.  This was by far by favorite of the transformations and made for some super quick action levels.  The submarine is more of a point and click level.  You place a marker where you would like to go and then the sub travels.  All the while your sub shoots out torpedoes in 3 round bursts.  It only shoots them to the right and you must make a backwards “C” in order to get them to swing around and hit enemies and obstacles behind you.  These were great levels and a nice break up from the norm.

I would recommend playing your first time through solo, but if you are having trouble getting those hard to reach treasures or completing the challenges, grab some friends and jump into some co-op.  In the co-op mode friends can join the fray as Waddle Dees and help Kirby by attacking enemies and collecting stars, health power-ups, paint jars and even the treasures.  This surely makes this game easier which is why I recommend single player first, but co-op is just as much a blast as going it alone.

There is some Amiibo functionality to Kirby and the Rainbow Curse but it isn’t anything groundbreaking.  As of the writing of this review, it is almost impossible to find King Dedede or the Best Buy Exclusive Meta Knight so their functionality is almost pointless.  When you scan a Kirby figure, you will allow you to use Star Dash at any time. Scanning a Meta Knight figure gives Kirby his mask and increases his attack power. Scanning a King Dedede figure gives Kirby his hat and increases Kirby’s overall health.  These effects can only be used once a day.

The music in Kirby and the Rainbow Curse holds true to the rest of the Kirby series and even has unlockables for songs from previous games that can be listened to in the music room.  If their is one thing I have learned from HAL Laboratory games is that the unlockables are generous and will give you a reason to battle through and earn them all.

The Recommendation

For fans of Kirby or Nintendo games, this title is a day one purchase.  The clay art style really pops to life in HD and the soundtrack keeps the game going with familiar tunes.  The Amiibo functionality feels tacked on, but that’s really a minor complaint and the experience as a whole is wonderful.  You will find yourself lost in Seventopia for hours trying to collect everything and with how gorgeous the world is, you may never want to come back.