If out of nowhere an evil wizard comes to split you into 10 little copies of yourself, follow the example of Nintendo’s little pink mascot we know as Kirby. In “Kirby: Mass Attack” for the Nintendo DS, Kirby uses his misfortune to his advantage, setting his sights to take down the evil wizard Necrodious so he can return to normal. He’ll have to go through plenty of obstacles using copies of himself, which has proven to be an innovative core appeal to the game.
For starters, the visuals in this game are reminiscent of what Kirby is all about. The colorful animations in the background and the exquisite character design of Kirby, his friends and even his enemies are something to marvel at. There are a total of four worlds to explore — each with 11 different levels — and all of them are a must-see. Kirby is a character that begs to be adored just by his looks alone, so it’s only natural that the world he travels through emits the same kind of atmosphere.
“Kirby: Mass Attack” plays very differently from other Kirby games as well, but this change is more than welcome. Kirby is able to make up to 10 copies of himself by eating fruits that are scattered throughout the levels in the game, and the number of Kirbys you have greatly affects game play.
Several levels require a certain number of Kirbys to be able to play. It can also cause the player to miss out on hidden items and even determine whether or not you’re ready to face enemies.
In this game, one small Kirby can’t fight a boss battle alone. You’re going to need a hoard of pink little guys to force your way through each level and enemy. The number of Kirbys also determines how well you fare performing different tasks like pushing, pulling and breaking certain objects in the game.
In addition to fruit, medals are also dispersed throughout levels. Collecting these medals can also grant you access to specially intuitive mini-games that you can play when you want to take a break from saving the world.
Players are likely to spend their time going through a certain level more than once to collect all the medals in order to unlock all the mini-games, which is a great way for the game to offer some replay value.
“Mass Attack” is a heavily stylus-based game, so players won’t have to worry about using d-pad controls. While using your stylus, you’re able to lead a herd of Kirbys and make them move around. Pointing onto the bottom screen in a level brings up a star for your Kirby army to follow. You can hold all the Kirbys together and drag them all, drawing a line from Point A to Point B.
Flinging Kirbys has several uses, like taking down an enemy or mashing them all onto a block to break through.
The challenge certainly lies in fancy stylus work and keeping your Kirbys in a group at all times, but this can get tedious and a bit overwhelming during certain levels where you have to pay attention to a lot more than your little pink army.
Kirby’s ability to suck up enemies and copy their special techniques are absent in this game. While this makes sense because there isn’t just one Kirby, it does limit the amount of moves he has left in his arsenal. This is somewhat disappointing to avid fans who are used to seeing this in every Kirby installment, and it would have been a nice touch to see the Kirby gang possessing different abilities all on one screen.
“Mass Attack” has a knack for being repetitive throughout the game; however, it’s far from annoying. Many of the levels become challenging if players try to go for all the hidden medals instead of just running through the level, but the feel of the game never becomes too frustrating or tiring.
Anyone can pick up this game and enjoy playing it. It’s an innovative platform that successfully focuses on one aspect of the DS — the stylus — and turns it into a massively enjoyable adventure for kids and adults alike. “Kirby: Mass Attack” is hands-down a must-play for any user of the DS, DSi or 3DS, and especially worth it for Kirby fans everywhere.
