Game Info
Game Name: Kirby and the Rainbow Curse
Developer(s): HAL Laboratory/Nintendo SPD
Publisher(s): Nintendo
Platform(s): Wii U
Genre(s): Platformer
Release Date(s): January 22, 2015 (Japan)/February 20, 2015 (US)
ESRB Rating: E
It wouldn’t be a Kirby game if Kirby didn’t fight a giant tree at the end of the first level
Someone has stolen all of the color from Dream Land. With only Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee able to save it, Kirby must test his might to role and fly through the barren wastelands created by the thief. Guided by Elline, Kirby must stop Claycia and restore Pop Star before it is too late!
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse (Tacchi! Kâbi: Sûpâ reinbô also sometimes called Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush) is a platformer game for the Wii U. Following 2014’s Kirby: Triple Deluxe for the 3DS, the game is a sequel to the 2005 DS game Kirby: Canvas Curse and was released average to positive reviews.
Kirby is a game series that I want to like more. Generally, the Kirby games are fun, but they often feel less challenging and more of something simply to pass time. While this game doesn’t really feel like a Kirby game (you don’t eat and absorb powers), it also is slightly better than a regular Kirby game.
I particularly liked the twin level
The definition of “slightly better” doesn’t necessarily mean good. The game features you rolling essentially and guiding Kirby via the stylus and the Wii U touch screen. The levels sometimes feel a bit tedious and the game only feels like it really spices up when you transform completely into a different vehicle with different abilities. The game progresses through seven four stage levels with the last level being a boss…as a result, it doesn’t surprise much past the first few levels (though the challenge of the levels varies with the ability to skip a level if you die a number of times).
The controls sometimes can be quite frustrating with Kirby essentially following a roller coaster. I like the freedom it gives you to solve mini-puzzles (the game actually feels better as a puzzler when it does allow you to really “draw” and plot Kirby’s course). Kirby sometimes gets facing the wrong way and it is a struggle to turn him around…plus, sometimes Kirby seems to be on top of the rainbow and sometimes he’s below it…and stopping him once he starts isn’t always easy.
The end is near…
Visually the game is great…but there is a big “but” attached to that. The game forces you to use the Wii U game pad and you really can’t look at the screen. Much like Star Fox Zero it feels like Nintendo put innovation over functionality, the game feels like it defeats the purpose of having a nice big screened TV when you are looking at a tiny monitor. The claymation model art is great, but I felt throughout the game I didn’t get to enjoy it.
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse is definitely a worthy purchase if you have a Wii U…there weren’t very many games for the system and anytime you find a solid game, you should enjoy it. While the game does have its faults and doesn’t feel like a classic Kirby game, it still can provide multiple hours of fun if you let it. Kirby and the Rainbow Curse was followed by Kirby: Planet Robobot in 2016 on the 3DS.
Related Links:
