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| Released on February 20, 2015 by Nintendo, and developed by HAL Laboratory, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse features stylus-centric gameplay, in a claymation world |
I can make this quick.
Why would you want to rush through...
Look, I don't even have time for the usual counterpoint voice in this review. I don't feel like giving this game that much attention.
Look, I don't even have time for the usual counterpoint voice in this review. I don't feel like giving this game that much attention.
Okay, can I at least tell a joke before you banish me?
Make it quick.
There once was a girl from Nantucket/who didn't know how to...
Hey, this is supposed to be a review of a kid's game...just like this is supposed to be a kid's game!
For some reason, Nintendo and Hal Laboratory decided
that Kirby's 2015 Wii U Adventure should feature stylus-centric gameplay, just
like the series' 2005 Nintendo DS entry, Kirby: Canvas Curse. The DS was
a stylus-centric system, featuring two small screens that are right next to each
other. The Wii U, while containing a stylus wedged into its Gamepad, is not a
stylus-centric system, and features a large video screen on its Gamepad, as well
as gameplay on a television several feet away. A game where the player must
continuously use the stylus on the Gamepad screen doesn't really make a lot of
sense for the Wii U. Does HAL Laboratory make this rather unwieldy gameplay
style work?
Barely, but it's QUITE frustrating.
The hook here isn't the gameplay, but rather the game's beautiful claymation graphics. Rainbow Curse features a bright, stop-motion animated world, molded out of clay, and the Kirby universe is perfect for this aesthetic. The graphics here are beautiful and imaginative with everything down to the last environmental effect, like the game's gorgeous waterfalls, being perfectly executed in unique clay style.
The story here is similar to the Wii U's Paper Mario: Color Splash in that some villain is trying to suck the color out of the world, but Rainbow Curse doesn't really explore that element, as the world here, from verdant forests, to glimmering oceans, to vivid volcanic plains, are always shaded as colorfully as possible. Visually, Rainbow Curse is absolutely stunning.
The game's soundscape is similarly well done, continuing Nintendo's Wii U musical winning streak from games like the aforementioned Color Splash, and Yoshi's Wooly World--fully orchestrated, yet folksy work, quite evocative of the worlds Nintendo is attempting to present. As for sound effects, they're cutesy and well-executed in the way you'd expect from Nintendo. However, as great as these production elements are, they're unfortunately outweighed by gameplay that doesn't quite satisfy.
The gameplay here, at least on paper, is simple. Rainbow Curse forgoes the armada of buttons on the Wii U Gamepad for stylus-to-screen gameplay. This is the only allowable way to play Rainbow Curse. Kirby can be forced to perform a little dash roll move if you tap behind him. This move is frustratingly difficult to aim. However, his main mode of locomotion here is by rainbow ropes that the player draws. The player draws lines on the screen that become ropes, which must be drawn on Kirby's path. Kirby then moves along that rope, even as it quickly dissolves. The player can only use so much rope at a time, and when their rope meter depletes, they must wait for it to start refilling before more rope can be drawn.
I'm not a fan of this gameplay style. Directing Kirby by the ropes is imprecise and frustrating. This isn't bad at first, when you're just rolling over the ground. However, as Kirby starts having to travel over bottomless pits and instant death lava, you'll want to throw your Gamepad across the room. Throughout each stage, enemies fly at Kirby, puzzling obstacles stand in Kirby's way, and the player has to draw ropes to get through them, essentially to more and more difficult degrees, but this gameplay loop just isn't very fun. The dash roll is the only way to kill foes, which is frustrating, as well. The rope meter also fills up just a bit too slowly. Kirby games have traditionally been geared toward children, but I can't see a child having much success with this game, unless their goal is crying. Just the nightmarishly difficult boss battles alone are enough to give a child nightmares.
Perhaps even more frustrating is the way the game handles its little bonuses. As in a Donkey Kong or Mario game, Rainbow Curse features collectibles strewn and hidden throughout each stage. Often, Kirby must perform an unexpected task very quickly to get each collectible (generally a treasure chest containing a figurine), and as the game is often scrolling, there is no way for the player to go back if they miss the item. However, as the game isn't very fun, the player has little incentive to play the level again and make another attempt for the item. It's lame. Almost as lame as the fact that you can't even look at the TV while playing this! You have to focus all your visual attention on the Gamepad screen!
You don't even get to swallow enemies and steal their powers, the basic Kirby trademark. There are a few stages where you get to transform into a vehicle like a submarine or a tank, but you're still stuck in the rope and stylus mechanic! It's so disappointing! There's also a multiplayer mode where the second player gets to mercifully use regular controls on a Wii Remote, but not only are they bound to follow you ala Tails in Sonic 2, but the ease of the second player's control system just reinforces how much better this game would be with traditional controls. In the end, Rainbow Curse is redeemed, and just barely at that, by its aesthetics. The stylus-based gameplay is frustrating, few of the 30 or so levels are fun. If you enjoy the graphics and sound as I did, you might push through as I did, but even I don't ever plan on returning to Kirby and the Rainbow Curse.
Barely, but it's QUITE frustrating.
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| TAP TO START...with the stylus? We're still using that? Okay. |
The hook here isn't the gameplay, but rather the game's beautiful claymation graphics. Rainbow Curse features a bright, stop-motion animated world, molded out of clay, and the Kirby universe is perfect for this aesthetic. The graphics here are beautiful and imaginative with everything down to the last environmental effect, like the game's gorgeous waterfalls, being perfectly executed in unique clay style.
|
| Even that stupid tree that is always trying to kill you is clay now |
The story here is similar to the Wii U's Paper Mario: Color Splash in that some villain is trying to suck the color out of the world, but Rainbow Curse doesn't really explore that element, as the world here, from verdant forests, to glimmering oceans, to vivid volcanic plains, are always shaded as colorfully as possible. Visually, Rainbow Curse is absolutely stunning.
.jpg "Kirby and the Rainbow Curse")
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| Wow, so glimmery! |
The game's soundscape is similarly well done, continuing Nintendo's Wii U musical winning streak from games like the aforementioned Color Splash, and Yoshi's Wooly World--fully orchestrated, yet folksy work, quite evocative of the worlds Nintendo is attempting to present. As for sound effects, they're cutesy and well-executed in the way you'd expect from Nintendo. However, as great as these production elements are, they're unfortunately outweighed by gameplay that doesn't quite satisfy.
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| Does it matter how beautiful this sunset is when I want to throw my Gamepad through the TV? |
The gameplay here, at least on paper, is simple. Rainbow Curse forgoes the armada of buttons on the Wii U Gamepad for stylus-to-screen gameplay. This is the only allowable way to play Rainbow Curse. Kirby can be forced to perform a little dash roll move if you tap behind him. This move is frustratingly difficult to aim. However, his main mode of locomotion here is by rainbow ropes that the player draws. The player draws lines on the screen that become ropes, which must be drawn on Kirby's path. Kirby then moves along that rope, even as it quickly dissolves. The player can only use so much rope at a time, and when their rope meter depletes, they must wait for it to start refilling before more rope can be drawn.
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| I just realized the ropes make me so angry, I didn't take any pictures of them |
I'm not a fan of this gameplay style. Directing Kirby by the ropes is imprecise and frustrating. This isn't bad at first, when you're just rolling over the ground. However, as Kirby starts having to travel over bottomless pits and instant death lava, you'll want to throw your Gamepad across the room. Throughout each stage, enemies fly at Kirby, puzzling obstacles stand in Kirby's way, and the player has to draw ropes to get through them, essentially to more and more difficult degrees, but this gameplay loop just isn't very fun. The dash roll is the only way to kill foes, which is frustrating, as well. The rope meter also fills up just a bit too slowly. Kirby games have traditionally been geared toward children, but I can't see a child having much success with this game, unless their goal is crying. Just the nightmarishly difficult boss battles alone are enough to give a child nightmares.
|
| I feel like this fwuffy snail is going to be mean to me |
Perhaps even more frustrating is the way the game handles its little bonuses. As in a Donkey Kong or Mario game, Rainbow Curse features collectibles strewn and hidden throughout each stage. Often, Kirby must perform an unexpected task very quickly to get each collectible (generally a treasure chest containing a figurine), and as the game is often scrolling, there is no way for the player to go back if they miss the item. However, as the game isn't very fun, the player has little incentive to play the level again and make another attempt for the item. It's lame. Almost as lame as the fact that you can't even look at the TV while playing this! You have to focus all your visual attention on the Gamepad screen!
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| Turn into a cute little submarine, Kirby, SEE IF I CARE!!! |
You don't even get to swallow enemies and steal their powers, the basic Kirby trademark. There are a few stages where you get to transform into a vehicle like a submarine or a tank, but you're still stuck in the rope and stylus mechanic! It's so disappointing! There's also a multiplayer mode where the second player gets to mercifully use regular controls on a Wii Remote, but not only are they bound to follow you ala Tails in Sonic 2, but the ease of the second player's control system just reinforces how much better this game would be with traditional controls. In the end, Rainbow Curse is redeemed, and just barely at that, by its aesthetics. The stylus-based gameplay is frustrating, few of the 30 or so levels are fun. If you enjoy the graphics and sound as I did, you might push through as I did, but even I don't ever plan on returning to Kirby and the Rainbow Curse.
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| Yes, I did beat this game. I didn't collect every figurine, and I never will. I didn't complete any of the additional challenges I unlocked, and I never will. By the way, this game has a lot of figurines to collect and unlockable challenges to complete. If you somehow enjoy Rainbow Curse beyond the production values or REALLY enjoy the production values, have at it. |
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