3DS review: Kirby: Triple Deluxe

The pink puffball makes his debut on Nintendo’s 3DS in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, a platformer which utilizes the 3D gimmick to a wonderfully full extent. Levels are designed with both foreground and background areas, and small warp stars within each stage act transport Kirby back and forth. Though the story of Kirby: Triple Deluxe is not as complex or carefully scripted as in his other recent outings on the Wii or DS, the game certainly deserves recognition for taking its style and presentation into creative territory more akin to a Final Fantasy title that the typical Dreamland fanfare.

While King Dedede is incorporated into the story and Waddle Dee offers Kirby health items prior to each boss fight, the core game is focused almost exclusively on Kirby himself. Plenty of familiar power-ups return, and the fact that fire, ice, leaf, cutter, and so forth all remain almost entirely unchanged is for the best – there’s no point in fixing what isn’t broken. The new power-ups are a bit of a strange mix, but most work fairly well. The bell allows Kirby to create sound waves with a small range that, when used in rapid succession, effectively creates a small barrier around the pink hero. Beetle works in a similar fashion to fighter, allowing Kirby to pick up and throw stars or foes with the horn spike, as well as granting him flight. Circus is the odd one out, as it feels like an unnecessary hodgepodging of attacks all offered by other long-established abilities.

Some levels will grant Kirby access to the Hypernova ability, which changes him to a rainbow color scheme and increases both the strength and range of his inhalation significantly. No longer is Kirby limited to sucking up footsoldiers or blocks – now he can uproot trees, pull back wrecking balls to knock down stone walls, and even devour large worm-like enemies. This Hypernova power may border on ridiculous, but its use is required for those wishing to track down all of the game’s sun stones or 250 collectible keychains. Plus, seeing huge portions of the environment get torn apart is quite entertaining.

In a highly unexpected turn of events, Kirby: Triple Deluxe utilizes the 3DS’ internal gyroscope in ways that hardly any games before it have. Tilting the system left and right allows Kirby to move faster in gondolas, and are used to solve many of the game’s puzzles. The boss fights, though few and far between, have also seen major improvements. While it has been a longstanding tradition to pit Kirby against some variation of Whispy Woods early in any of his adventures, Triple Deluxe takes everything you have come to expect from that fight and turns it on its head. Each and every end-level boss encounter is wonderfully realized, and collectively rank among the best in the entire Kirby series.

A couple of other modes are available from the outset, including a multiplayer versus match and rhythm game that features classic Kirby tunes. The boss battle gauntlet run of the Arena makes a return, and upon beating the main story mode, players are granted the option of performing a time-trial revisit all of the stages as King Dedede. Like most Kirby titles before Triple Deluxe, these modes are nice afterthoughts, but at the end of the day, the core game is what best represents the overall product. And boy, does Triple Deluxe shine as one of the best entries in the series. In truth, the game’s one major flaw is that it feels a bit short, especially following on the heels of the Wii’s Return to Dreamland. That said, if you are looking for a well-designed and just plain fun platformer, Kirby: Triple Deluxe delivers in a handheld fix that does an exceptional job at incorporating the 3DS’ definitive design points.

My rating: 9.25 (out of 10)

DS review: Kirby Super Star Ultra

A remake of the SNES classic, Kirby Super Star Ultra features updated graphics including pre-rendered cutscenes that act as bookends to each stage. Though the black edges to these cutscenes are a tad unnecessary, their presentation is solid, as is the more clean and colorful look of the core gameplay which appears to run on the same engine as the GBA title Nightmare in Dreamland. The main game relies on the D-pad and buttons almost exclusively, retaining a very familiar control scheme, while the three minigames rely heavily on the stylus and touch screen. Two of these minigames, a shooting range and card matching, are very simple, requiring little more than quick reactions from players, while the third is slightly more involved as it demands players clear bugs and bombs off a conveyor belt feeding their respective Kirby.

Meanwhile, the core game is comprised of nine different modes, the majority of which act as samplings of slight variations on the core Kirby formula. The SNES release of Super Star was most notable for its addition of copy abilities, which allowed Kirby to inhale certain enemies in order to gain new attacks including the Cutter, Yo-yo, Sword, Bomb, and many more. These abilities are both plentiful and nicely varied, and Kirby can even abandon his current ability to add a partner character to his side. Every partner character bears the appearance of whatever enemy Kirby originally copied, and bears their own health bar separate from Kirby’s. While Kirby can grab various food items to restore his own health, tapping the partner character will share the health regeneration with them.

Aside from Gourmet Race’s fast-paced run against King Dedede to collect the most food items before crossing the finish line, the remaining five game modes are essentially quick snippets of what any other Kirby game would offer up. Meta Knight’s Revenge includes a countdown timer, making it arguably the most challenging of the lot, while The Great Cave Offensive is the complete opposite – a sluggish, time-consuming treasure hunt that lacks any real challenge, fun factor, or sense of fulfillment. Meta Knightmare Ultra offers up a retread of previous stages, allowing players to don the cape and faceplate of Meta Knight. It is the only one of major subgames that relies on the touch screen to activate Meta Knight’s abilities and attacks, each of which requires a different number of points gathered from defeated enemies. The stronger the enemies, the greater the number of points rewarded. The more powerful the attack, the greater the number of points required to activate it.

The soundtrack of Super Star Ultra is generally quite good, though the quality of the tunes in The Great Cave Offensive sound quite rough on the DS hardware. Super Star Ultra is a decent remake – nothing more, and nothing less. It contains everything that led the original to be so well-loved, but the fact that it does very little to incorporate the DS’ touch controls is disappointing. Because it is divided into many subgames, Super Star Ultra lacks any sense of exploration found in most other modern Kirby titles. While there are few Kirby games that ever feel too terribly challenging, Super Star Ultra is exceptionally easy from start to finish.

My rating: 7.25 (out of 10)

New Kirby game announced for 3DS

It might be strange to some, but not long after I purchased my 3DS, I found myself incredibly excited at the prospects of what a new Kirby title might entail. I quite enjoyed Return to Dreamland and The Crystal Shards, but Kirby is one of those rare series where the home console and handheld releases like Nightmare in Dreamland can convey the same style and quality of game design without having to sacrifice much in the way of presentation to accommodate for their respective consoles. As luck would have it, a 3DS Kirby title has now been confirmed for a 2014 release, and though the trailer only shows off a small preview of what is to come, I couldn't be more pleased with its offerings.

Mewth24's Smash Bros. 4 wishlist - part three

Now comes the part of this series where I talk about the stages where the fighting will actually take place. Keep in mind that some of the new stages I would ultimately like to see are dependent on the inclusion of the characters I previously mentioned in my roster wishlist. Most of the following points are simply arguments I wish to make about the design of a few stages from previous Smash Bros. titles as a collective.

Personally, I've always been a fan of stages that include environmental hazards and moving platforms. I know not everyone is a fan of these, and there are some that I feel are more enjoyable to play and just plain better designed than others. I certainly don't hate Melee's Rainbow Cruise, but it requires that you constantly be on the move, which is obnoxious in comparison to the breaks between vehicles in Big Blue that require you pay attention to your footing. I could certainly see a Sin and Punishment stage designed after the second level of that game, where the characters are stable on a platform that moves about the armada of ships, in a style not unlike past Star Fox levels or even Brawl's Battleship Halberd. A few standstill cannons or other methods for the stage to fire upon players in the midst of a skirmish makes fights all the more entertaining.

That said, I realize that many players prefer the standard stages with a few platforms and zero influence from the environment itself. Battlefield's design is tried and true, and even Shadow Moses proved relatively tame with little more than destructible towers on either side of the stage. Again, I enjoy these stages, and I feel that Nintendo has delivered a solid balance between the standard stages and those with environmental hazards in each Smash Bros. release. However, there are a handful of stages that I find incredibly annoying due to their size and layout. Specifically, I'm talking about Hyrule Temple and New Pork City. It is true that there are other stages in Melee that are quite large, like Fourside and Brinstar Depths. But the former is rather open and the latter constantly rotates, discouraging players from sticking to one spot. Hyrule Temple, however, is a stage that - due to its design incorporating platforms, a tunnel, and pillars for players to hide behind - caters primarily to campers and cowards. The whole point of a four-player fighting game is for the matches to be frenetic, and designing a stage with so many hiding spots/escape routes removes this fun factor. On the other hand, New Pork City seems to have been designed as some sort of successor to Fourside, but the stage is in fact so large that once characters spread out far enough it becomes difficult to track one's own character.

The option to construct your own stages in Brawl was a really neat and unexpected inclusion on Nintendo's part. However, there were only so many pieces allotted and a limited number of ways to place them on a stage. While the stage builder should be retained, Nintendo can certainly do a lot more with it. Aside from new pieces, they could include both new color palettes/themes for the environments (as Brawl only had three to choose from) and the ability to include timed environmental hazards (like the lava spouting forth in Norfair and) or slight/temporary changes in the stage's design (like the extra floating platform that shows up from time to time in Smashville).

With regards to the story modes/single player experience, Subspace Emissary was a great way to springboard off Melee's Adventure Mode. Though it did not feature a perfectly crafted story, a game like Super Smash Bros. does not necessarily need one, as the experience is meant to cater to fans of all Nintendo franchises. Keeping the story simple, yet still creative and fun is great, while offering up the option to revisit Classic Mode caters to fans of the original Super Smash Bros. Boss Battle Mode was quite fun and carried a decent challenge factor, while Home Run Derby and Multi-Man Brawl were only altered slightly from their previous iterations. I can really only complain about All-Star Mode, in that it lost some of its challenge factor during the transition from Melee Brawl. The game did not spawn new foes fast enough during the matches where you were to take on three or four opponents, and not a single one of them felt overly powerful, even on the harder difficulty settings.

Now comes the issue that many a Smash Bros. fan has debated over since Brawl's release: what to do with the Final Smash moves? Personally, I like the idea of Final Smashes from a conceptual stage - they make matches more exciting as players scramble to grab them and simultaneously attempt to keep one another from reaching them. However, they are incredibly unbalanced in Brawl. Pit's Final Smash is basically unavoidable, and will instantly kill most anyone on screen, regardless of how much damage they have already taken. Meanwhile, R.O.B. and Donkey Kong have very underwhelming attacks that can only gain a moderate range and deal relatively little damage in comparison to everyone else. Assuming Nintendo is going to keep the Final Smashes at all, they need to be evened out - either everyone gets an instant K.O. move, or they simply get a temporary power-up of some sort. Frankly I'm more inclined toward the latter. While a tussle over Final Smashes that instantly clear the stage of fellow fighters would be fun for a while, I think many players would ultimately get fed up with them and simply turn said items off. However, a temporary invincibility (ala Ghirahim's ultimate form, which I mentioned in the previous part of this series) or limited use of a powerful attack (ala Travis Touchdown's tiger form) would allow the strategic element to be retained and decrease the likelihood that players become flat out frustrated with matches. If Nintendo decides to completely remove the Final Smashes, it would not completely alienate players - there were two games prior to Brawl that functioned well without them. But I think that Nintendo and Namco could really make the experience fun and fresh by toning down these Final Smashes and evening them out.

Mewth24's Smash Bros. 4 wishlist - part two

Let's assume that all of the characters I mentioned in the last post end up getting removed: Wolf, Ganondorf, Toon Link, Lucas, Wario, Diddy Kong, Lucario, R.O.B., and one of the Kirby characters. This would open nine spots on the roster. Mind you, what follows here is my own personal wishlist, and is not necessarily a representation of what the greater Smash Bros. fanbase might want. However, I do have reasons as to why each of these characters would make for a good fit on a Smash Bros. roster.

As I mentioned last time, there seems to be a trend with the Smash Bros. games altering their presentations of certain characters with their most recent releases - more specifically, I made mention of the Legend of Zelda games, and how Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf's appearances have changed from one game to the next. If the next Smash Bros. game were to adopt a Skyward Sword aesthetic, there's a good possibility that Ghirahim would make an appearance in place of Ganondorf. In Skyward Sword, Ghirahim's tactics relied heavily on swordplay and firing small projectiles. In one of the game's most important cutscenes, he was shown to be capable of erecting a barrier for a brief period of time, and he is also capable of teleporting short distances (which could be integrated as either a jump move or an over+B move). Finally, Ghirahim alters his physical form over the course of the game, making his arms more durable, which could be included as a time-limited move to grant him greater defensive and offensive prowess. Assuming Nintendo wants to keep Final Smash moves in Smash Bros. 4, Ghirahim could either be granted temporary invincibility via his final form seen at the end of Skyward Sword, or (going the more overpowered route) be able to summon the imprisoned for a brief period, allowing the beast to stomp about the stage.

Though Earthbound is probably the game most fans of Smash Bros. are least intimately familiar with due to how difficult it is to come by nowadays, I applaud Nintendo for attempting to better represent the Earthbound/Mother series in Brawl. As I mentioned in the previous part, I felt Lucas' inclusion was entirely unnecessary, but I would love to see another character worked into Smash Bros. 4 - preferably one who has a strikingly different moveset from Ness. Jeff appeared in Brawl as an assist trophy and shot off fireworks, and I think his reliance on weapons could make for a very interesting contrast to Ness' PSI abilities. Admittedly, I'm not nearly as familiar with Earthbound as I am with most other Nintendo franchises, but I think including at least one other character from the game that offers something different from what Ness is capable of would make for a more interesting and diverse roster.

Though I think the Pokémon series is well represented through the presence of Pikachu, Jigglypuff, and the Pokémon Trainer, I would not be surprised if Lucario's spot on the roster is opened up in order to make room for yet another Pokémon. Though Mewtwo and Lucario represent psychic and fighting types respectively, their body types and size are similar, and they even share a few similar moves. A Generation V Pokémon who would fit well with this trend is Zoroark, a dark type famous for his ability to create illusions and mask himself as other Pokémon (and even people, as seen in Pokémon Black 2/White 2). N's Zorua/Zoroark was relatively important to the plot of Black 2/White 2, and he was the first Generation V Pokémon to be officially revealed. Granting him the ability to temporarily disguise himself as opponents (which would either wear off after a short period of time or after he were to take enough damage) as well as a few dark type attacks would allow him to follow the trend established by Mewtwo and Lucario as a mostly close-quarters fighter with a few ranged attacks. At the same time, the sixth generation of Pokémon games will be released by October of this year, so it is entirely possible (perhaps even more likely) that this spot would be filled by a Pokémon representing the new games.

Nintendo has a history of including one or two characters per Smash Bros. game that have not been in any major retail release in quite a few years. In the original Smash Bros., this was Samus Aran, whose only appearance on the N64 was in said beat-'em-up game. Melee saw the return of Mr. Game & Watch and the Ice Climbers, while Brawl revamped Pit. Keeping with the trend of incorporating NES-era characters into Smash Bros. (whether as a teaser for upcoming revival projects or simply for nostalgic purposes) Balloon Fighter trophies, stickers, and music have all previously appeared in Smash Bros. titles, and the incorporating of the game's main character would prove interesting, to say the least. Some of these NES classic characters have a tendency to control unusually, like the Ice Climbers operating as two characters under the control of a single player, and designing the Balloon Fighter as a highly agile fighter with little in the way of defense would add an extra degree of challenge for those seeking it. Sometimes the strategies used by more competitive Smash Bros. players are largely dependent on the unorthodox characters in the roster.

While I did say that I do not expect Wario to make a return, I do feel that the WarioWare games are sort of unsung heroes among Nintendo franchises and ought to be represented in Smash Bros. 4. Kat and Ana are two ninjas who could effectively operate in a similar fashion as the Ice Climbers, with one player controlling two characters, though they would be angled toward quick strikes and offense more than defense. On the other hand, 9-Volt would fit in better with the standard weight class and could dish out a variety of moves inspired by retro Nintendo games, as is his calling card in the WarioWare titles.

Capcom is well-known for making tons of crossover fighting games, as well as notorious in the video game community for their habit of making a buck off of everything possible, earning them the moniker "Cashcom". Regardless, Megaman is a hero familiar to many an owner of Nintendo consoles, and carries a similar aesthetic appeal as many of the fun and colorful Nintendo mascots. He's already seen plenty of skirmishes across other fighting games, so adding him to a Smash Bros. roster would not require much work. Throw in one of his more powerful abilities gained from a Robot Master as his Final Smash and the blue bomber would fit right in.

Travis Touchdown, on the other hand, would be a bit more bold an inclusion. His crude nature and explicit language would have to be toned down for any appearance in Smash Bros., which is just as well since few of the characters spend much time speaking anyways. However, there are still plenty of clever ways his comedic nature could be retained for a story-driven mode like Subspace Emissary: his habit of picking his nose, his sometimes cynical nature, and his general goofy behavior as an outwardly awkward otaku. His collection of beam katanas would provide him with a variety of attacks - Blood Berry providing decent range and acting as his standard means of attack, the Rose Nasty slicing up, down, and all around in a series of consecutive swings, and the Tsubaki Mk-II carrying out a slow but powerful up+B/down+B smash move as Travis leaps up and forward to slam its multiple beam blades into a foe below him. His grabbing a foe could be followed up with one of his many wrestling moves to inflict further damage, though at the cost of leaving him open to attack from others for a few seconds. As for his Final Smash, the most logical answer would be to allow him temporary transformation into Tiger form to inflict significant damage on the other fighters. Though the No More Heroes games do not have as strong a following as many of the other series currently incorporated into the Smash Bros. series, it does have a highly devoted fanbase, and there are plenty of people who would love to see Travis Touchdown make an appearance, even if only for one game.

In order to present a rounded experience, the characters I have presented thus far would have to be offset with the inclusion of a couple of slower characters. In the past, the tradition has been to couple heavy characters with slower motions, but I think having at least one character break from that play style would not be a bad thing. I know some other Smash Bros. fans would like to see Bowser Jr. included, and while I can honestly say that I'm not opposed to the idea of having a small and slow-moving character, I feel that the Mario series is well-represented as is, and I think Namco and Nintendo could do even better by including a strange combination: a standard weight character who moves around the stage at a rather slow jog/run, has an even balance of ranged and close-quarters moves, and whose jump moves are quite limited. Specifically, I am talking about Saki and Airan from Sin and Punishment, a title that was, until its Virtual Console release, a Japanese-exclusive. I suggest the developers include either Saki or Airan, but not both (again, for the sake of avoiding clone characters). It would not be the first time the Smash Bros. series has catered to fans of a series that has seen limited release in the U.S. - Melee included Marth and Roy before the Fire Emblem games really caught on stateside, while Lucas is from Mother 3, which never saw a U.S. release.

There would also need to be at least one more slow and heavy character to balance the experience. I don't have one specific character in mind, but I do feel there are certain franchises that are underrepresented. For Donkey Kong, this character could be K. Rool, a character that many other fans have asked for in the past. His variety of combat methods across the Donkey Kong games would open up plenty of options with regards to his moveset. Samurai Goroh of F-Zero has had cameos in both Melee and Brawl via trophies, stickers, and even an assist trophy. Meanwhile, Fire Emblem's Hector could focus almost entirely on heavy close-range swings of his axe, while the weight of both this weapon and his armor would limit his jumping and speed.

The third installment of this series will focus on the gameplay at large. There are a few alterations I would like to see with regards to how the different game modes are handled and the difficulty factor that accompanies them. I also have a few ideas on how to handle stages in the future - no drastic changes, but a few complaints that I have about a handful of stage designs. And of course, I couldn't properly cover Smash Bros. without giving my own input on the topic of the Final Smash moves.

Mewth24's Smash Bros. 4 wishlist - part one

With the next entry into the Super Smash Bros. series currently in development, I decided it was time to make my own wishlist regarding what changes I would like to see in the fourth game. The game is being developed by Namco, with Nintendo still being heavily involved in the process. At this time, Namco has said that they are hesitant to include characters from any of their own games (Tekken, Pac-Man, etc.). This likely stems from the fact that the Tekken games are much different fighting games that the Smash Bros. titles, and there is no doubt a challenge in trying to sell new, non-Nintendo characters in a game that is all about the Nintendo brand. However, Smash Bros. Brawl opened the door to newcomers Sonic and Snake, characters owned by SEGA and Konami, respectively, and I think it is certainly possible that other non-Nintendo combatants could enter the ring in Smash Bros. 4.

One thing that was made clear by Namco shortly after they announced their involvement with Smash Bros. 4 was that the roster size would likely not be changing from Smash Bros. Brawl's thirty-five playable characters. So we can assume is that there will be at least a few characters that will not be returning for the next game, in order to make room for new fighters. I think the first fighters to be cut would be the clone characters, which have been a point of contest among fans since the release of Smash Bros. Melee. Clone characters are defined as characters whose move set is strikingly similar to another fighter, though their weight, speed, and offensive/defensive capabilities may differ. For example, Falco is a lighter and faster clone character of Fox, while Ganondorf is a slower and heavier clone character of Captain Falcon. Frankly, I was rather surprised that Falco made the cut for Smash Bros. Brawl - despite how much I enjoy playing as him, he didn't seem all that different in the third game, and the inclusion of Wolf made me question just how necessary it was to keep Falco around. I don't know that I am convinced that Falco will be cut from Smash Bros. 4, due to his popularity in the fanbase, but I can't imagine that Wolf will return. If Falco does make a comeback, I think his moveset will likely be reworked to some degree, and hopefully (assuming Namco chooses to keep the Final Smash moves in the fourth game) his Final Smash will be different from Fox's (I'll get into my thoughts on Final Smash moves in greater detail later on).

Though Falco's return is a matter I am still on the fence about, there are a few characters I highly doubt will return: Wolf, Ganondorf, Toon Link, Lucas, Wario, and Diddy Kong. The first four characters are clone characters. Wolf, Toon Link, and Lucas are easily the least necessary fighters in Smash Bros. Brawl, and perhaps even in all of Smash Bros. history. Their movesets are too similar to the characters they are cloned from - even Young Link from Melee had fire arrows to set him apart from Adult Link. Meanwhile, Toon Link is simply there to cater to fans of the Wind Waker aesthetic. Lucas' moves are almost identical to Ness', with one or two slight discrepancies. The same could be said for Luigi in relation to Mario. However, I can't imagine Nintendo approving the removal of such an iconic mascot of their flagship series. While Wario and Diddy Kong both presented something new and unorthodox to the experience, they seem like characters who would be difficult to build upon in future releases, and I feel they will be one-hit wonders in the same fashion as Dr. Mario was in Melee. With Pikmin 3 just around the corner and Kid Icarus: Uprising still fresh in people's memories, it's only smart for Nintendo to keep Olimar and Pit in the mix. That said, I think Pit is easily the most unbalanced character in Smash Bros. history, due to his insane knack for recovering from falls and ridiculously overpowered Final Smash, and needs to be reworked significantly before the fourth game releases.

The Zelda characters tend to represent whichever Zelda game is most recent. With any Zelda WiiU news currently far off, it seems likely that the next Smash Bros. would include a Skyward Sword Link, as the original Smash Bros. and Melee both featured Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask Link(s), and Brawl featured Twilight Princess Link. Zelda's presentation would be drastically different if she were to adopt a Skyward Sword look, so it may also be possible that the Skyward Sword, Ocarina of Time, and Twilight Princess looks may simply come in the form of alternate colors/costumes, while the movesets remain largely unchanged. However, Ganondorf is not in Skyward Sword - instead, the role of primary villain falls on the shoulders of Ghirahim, who would make for a very different and interesting fighter, due to his reliance on projectiles, his sword, and his highly durable arms.

Two characters that I think have a slim chance of returning are Lucario and R.O.B. Lucario will probably be swapped in the same manner that Mewtwo was (though I don't understand why Mewtwo was dropped in the first place; I thought he was a great Pokémon to add to the roster). The question is, with the Pokémon Trainer being introduced in Brawl, will Lucario be replaced by another Pokémon or someone entirely different? I feel that R.O.B. will likely follow the same path as Wario and Diddy Kong, but I never expected Mr. Game & Watch to return after Melee, so I can't be too sure on this one. Meanwhile, I expect only one of the newcomers from Dreamland to return, not both. Dedede is more or less a heavy-hitter version of Kirby, while Meta Knight is a light defensive close-quarters variant. Meta Knight's unusual flight patterns and style of attack make him a more likely candidate for dismissal, but Dedede is a more direct clone of Kirby.

In the next part of this series, I will present my own personal wishlist of characters. I doubt that all of these characters will match up with those most-requested by fans, but I have arguments prepared as to why each character would make a solid entry among long-lasting fighters like Mario and Pikachu.

Wii review: Kirby’s Return to Dream Land

From an artistic standpoint, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land is largely a throwback to the Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. The worlds are all rendered in 3D with 2D backdrops, and the brief cutscenes adopt a storybook frame and filter. The gameplay, on the other hand, is largely a throwback to the SNES era, with emphasis on utilizing copy abilities one at a time. While plenty of familiar copy abilities including Cutter, Beam, and Spark make their return, there are a few new ones like Leaf, Whip, and Water – all of which feel right at home alongside their long-established counterparts.

The story of Return to Dream Land is relatively simple in scope – Magolor, an individual from another part of the galaxy, crashes his starship, the Lor Starcutter, onto Kirby’s home world of Pop Star. As most of the ship’s major pieces have been scattered across the planet, he asks Kirby and friends to track them down while he tends to his ship. Collecting main pieces like the mast and oars are required to progress the game and unlock new levels. Each region that Kirby visits – from Cookie Country to Nutty Noon – is new to Return to Dream Land, but features design elements used in previous Kirby games. There are the traditional island stages, snowy stages, and underwater stages.

The game’s best moments of creativity shine through in levels that incorporate puzzles that require Kirby to use his new super copy abilities, as well as the intense gauntlet that precede each boss fight with one of the new Sphere Doomer enemies. Upon defeating each Sphere Doomer, Kirby is rewarded with two Energy Spheres, though others can be found in the various stages he visits. Collecting enough Energy Spheres unlocks minigames and copy abilities for Kirby to grab at any given time from inside the Lor Starcutter. As with most Kirby titles that preceded it, the minigames in Return to Dream Land provide brief distraction from the main game, but are largely unrelated to it.

Though Kirby is the only playable character capable of using the copy abilities, friends can drop in or out of the game at any given time, allowing up to four players on the screen at any given time. The other playable characters include King Dedede, Meta Knight, and Waddle Dee, each of whom is granted decent range and attack via their respective hammer, sword, and spear. While the early stages are largely a cake walk, the game progressively amps up the challenge factor. Later bosses can take as much of a beating as they are capable of dishing out, and collecting each and every Energy Sphere requires quick thinking on the fly and well as precise timing.

Upon completing the main game, a bonus mode is unlocked that challenges players to revisit levels now stacked with greater trials. In this, Return to Dream Land does well to present a decent amount of replay value and substance for completionists. The main game is not terribly difficult, but later levels will quickly deplete your extra lives should you rush in without caution. There isn’t a whole lot new with regards to the gameplay, but at the same time the core Kirby games hold strong to a formula that has worked well since the series’ earliest releases. Return to Dream Land is sure to delight, whether you are a hardcore Kirby fan intent on exploring every nook and cranny of Pop Star’s latest levels, or you are simply looking to enjoy an afternoon playing cooperatively with your friends.

My rating: 9 (out of 10)

25 Days of Villains - #21: King Dedede

He might not classify as a villain in the most traditional sense of the word. Frankly, Dedede's negative character traits are primarily rooted in his selfishness and greed. Nevertheless, he has caused a great deal of trouble for Kirby over the years, more often in the early games than in more recent Dreamland adventures.

He tends to hole up in his castle fortress, sending Waddle Dees and the rest of his minions out to face Kirby. But it's difficult to consider Dedede a coward. Anytime Kirby shows up to face him, Dedede exhibits a strong will to defend his stronghold. He proves a solid contender, floating around to try and knock Kirby out of the air and using his own breath attack to suck the pink puffball in and shoot him across the screen, and swinging a giant hammer around like nobody's business. He is stubborn and steadfast in his aims, despite the fact that his intentions may be more selfish than evil.

Boss theme:

25 Days of Villains - #24: Master Hand

Master of the Smash Bros. Universe, Master Hand is one of the few lead video game villains to have zero lines of dialogue. Howevver, his devious laugh and hand gestures - like a rocket boost, charged flick, clenching grip, and steam-powered fist pound - provide this boss with plenty of personality.

While it is true that Master Hand and Crazy Hand present a greater threat together than either does apart, Master Hand is clearly the more gathered and logical of the two. Crazy Hand flails and lashes out, hoping to land a hit on players. Granted, Crazy Hand's attacks yield significant damage when they land on a character. But Master Hand's move set is much more varied and accurate, thus proving more practical overall.

As far as Master Hand's actual intentions, he seems primarily invested in testing the abilities of every character on the Smash Bros. roster ...by beating the ever-loving crap out of them. If you've played through Classic mode on the Very Hard difficulty setting, you've witnessed Master Hand at his prime. But there is also the possibility that he simply enjoys having the ability to toy with the cast and assume some degree of control over them, as would be evidenced by the intro cutscene to the original Super Smash Bros., wherein everyone starts out as a doll under his control.

Because we really don't know a whole lot about Master Hand, (whether he acts as a sort of judge or is on a maniacal power-trip) it's difficult to gauge just how evil he really is. Still, he's endured through all three of the Smash Bros. titles as one of the most memorable final bosses in any fighting game I've played.

Boss theme:
I actually love all three of the Final Destination themes. But I have a real soft spot for the original - it was a pretty epic way to conclude the single player mode.