When Masahiro Sakurai first drew a couple of stumpy arms, big feet and blushing cheeks on a little pink blob, he was answering a call within Nintendo to make a game for everyone; a game, like the adorable Kirby himself, with no hard edges, where those who found Mario a mite too masochistic might find refuge. Ever since then Kirby has presented a refreshingly casual brand of adventure, serving breezy platformers where there’s never even the threat of falling off a ledge; you can just puff yourself up with air and float away.
Such effortlessness might be boring, were it not for the effort put in by the designers at HAL Laboratory to keep presenting new ideas to keep you entertained. Kirby, at its best, is a procession of new toys to tinker with, new mini-games to be distracted by and new enemies to ingest so that you might take on their powers. They’re bountiful things, the maximalist approach part of their magic.
About Author
