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Kirby Mass Attack (DS) Status: Stopped playing - Got frustrated I started playing this game on Tuesday 27 June, 2023 // I stopped playing this game on: Wednesday 16 August, 2023
Current opinion of this game
No comment, yet.
August 16, 2023 06:27:57 PM
Finally decided to put this on the shelf - I didn't QUITE finish it, but got close enough I feel. I'm still always impressed by how much subtle variation there is in the game such that things always feel fresh and clever without being complex or convoluted - and even when the variation isn't particularly to your liking, well - it's gone soon enough and you move on. While the game is developed by HAL laboratory - it really feels like a Nintendo game-design aesthetic through and through... I wonder what people will think about Nintendo games in, say, 100 years, assuming they're looked at and examined. Will they be seen as having a coherent and consistent gameplay aesthetic in the same way we now talk about "the impressionists"?
July 14, 2023 05:21:39 PM
I thought I would play this for a few hours and then move on. Somehow, I've almost implicitly decided to see it through to the end. The main problem I'm having is that the game is overloaded with cool "mini" games that are super fun to play and not mini at all in terms of length and depth. My two favorite so far as a complete pinball table with 4 bosses you have to defeat (each on their own table). OMG, I love pinball and miss playing pinball videogames - and this scratched that itch so well! The table is rather simple, but not SUPER simple, there's interesting targets to aim for, extra objectives, etc. (the main one unlocking the chance to get whacked over to the boss table). The next one is a 2D shmup...with power ups and more! Lots of levels (6?) - I beat it in perhaps my 2nd attempt. Again, super fun and way more features than it needed to! The main (only?) way of unlocking the mini-games is by finding medals in the game's main levels - each level has a different amount - and the mini-games are unlocked by reaching certain thresholds of medals. I doubt I'll get them all, there's like 200 or something, but so far so good. As for the main game? It's also fun and interesting and VERY Nintendo-like in it's design. Everything that appears is fresh, used a few times, and never seen again BUT also intuitive and usually a neat/fun/clever twist or variation on something you've seen before. So, it's neat to see how much the designer's play with different elements in a game. THere are rings you hang on - but they're repurposed on enemies (that then deflate like baloons when the rings are pulled out). Or you hand on the rings to tilt something one way, or the other, for different effects. And so on. The game is stylus driven which would give me some pause - but it's forgiving enough and low in the challenge enough that it all works pretty well. And the premise is fun as well - you have tiny Kirbys (up to ten of them) that you guide around with the stylus, you can flick them at enemies or blocks, and also scoop them up to slowly carry them around. But, the game is mostly a 2D platformer with few platforms and more environmental interactions... You start with one mini-Kirby and by eating enough fruit you get another, and so on. Some levels have a minimum threshold of mini-Kirbys you need to even start and there are often places inside a level that have a theshold you need in order to (usually) get a coin - or access to an area that has a coin. I'm super impressed, and I'm kind of sad I've missed out on all the DS Kirby games...maybe it's time to hit ebay, there's quite a few of them!

Kirby Mass Attack (DS)