Kirby Super Star Ultra (DS) Preview

Posted by Drew Robbins on 08.19.2008

Kirby returns for a third time to the DS, this time in the remake of the classic Kirby Super Star!



Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Genre: Platformer
Players: 1-4
Release Date: September 22, 2008

It has been a little under 12 years since Nintendo brought Kirby into the 16-bit era with Kirby Super Star on the Super Nintendo. Since that time, several Kirby games have come out but all of them have failed to live up to Kirby Super Star. Now, 12 years later, we are finally getting a remake of the classic game that turned Kirby into a Superstar.

So far, Nintendo has been very shy on details about this remake. What we do know is that each of the original games included in Super Star will be making a return. The only new features announced so far are two new game types (Revenge of the King and Meta Knight Ultra) and three more mini-games (Kirby Card Swipe, Kirby on the Draw, and Snack Tracks). Unfortunately, Nintendo hasn't said anything about the new game types outside of their names. What can you expect from the original games, well, lets take a look…(Note, descriptions are based on the SNES original, as every site has declared these modes practically "unchanged")

Spring Breeze - Spring Breeze is just as its title would lead you to believe, a breeze. This mode serves only as an introduction into the world of Kirby, for those who have missed out on the series so far. It takes you through each of the levels from the original Kirby's Dream Land (minus one, for whatever reason), leading up to a boss confrontation with King Dedede, the king who has stolen all of the food from the citizens of Dream Land. Clearly, this game isn't too well written but…you aren't playing Kirby games for their story are you? I'd hope not.

Dynablade - The next game mode in Kirby Super Star is Dynablade, which yet again, you can derive the point of this game from the title. Kirby must track down the giant bird, Dynablade, because she is causing general havoc in Dream Land. This is the first of two games in Kirby Super Star that utilize the map feature, similar to the one you would find in Super Mario Bros. 3. Much like in Mario, there are small extras that can be encountered on your travel throughout the map. This mode consists of more levels than Spring Breeze, and leads up to the confrontation with (you guessed it), Dynablade. Being a Kirby fan for quite a while, I can assure you that this is one of the better fights in the series history.



The Great Cave Offensive - The third game you unlock in Super Star is also the only one that the game doesn't require you to completely beat in order to unlock the Arena (more on that later). That decision was made with good reason, because beating the Great Cave Offensive takes a ridiculous amount of time. Unlike most Kirby games, this one is open-ended, as opposed to being on a linear path. Your goal is to find all of the treasure scattered throughout a cave, until you have found all sixty pieces of treasure. As an extra bit of fan-service, Nintendo included treasures from its other franchises, such as the Triforce from Zelda. When you ask some people what there favorite Kirby game is, a lot of them will point to this one, as it required more dedication than was usually required by Kirby games. Instead of being a game you could beat in a sitting, it was a game that required a much larger investment of your time.

The Revenge of Meta Knight - I just said, when talking about the Great Cave Offensive, that many fans will point to that game as their favorite Kirby game. Well, the same can be said about the Revenge of Meta Knight, which forced Meta Knight into the role of the main antagonist (albeit only for the hour this one takes to beat). You start out on Meta Knight's ship, and each level you beat brings you closer to the head of the ship, where you have the very memorable showdown with Meta Knight. The showdown forces Kirby to use the sword ability to take on Meta Knight and his sword mano-a-mano. Upon victory, you are greeted with a very Metroid-esque escape scene with Meta-Knight chasing you down as his ship explodes. Of all the Kirby games, I'd say that this one is not only my favorite, but it also has some of the best music ever seen in a game.



Milky Way Wishes - If you've read everything up to this point, you'll know that most of these games, outside of Great Cave Offensive, have been pretty content light. That is to say, most of them take about an hour to complete. Milky Way Wishes, however, is about the normal length of Kirby games. It takes you across the galaxy, going to planets and destroying their respective bosses. The twist here is that you can no longer gain abilities by simply sucking up enemies. Instead, you must find power-up pedestals, which add one power-up to your menu, allowing you to pick any power-up you have found and equip it whenever it fits the situation at hand. The boss in this mode is NOVA, a giant machine that is causing the sun and moon to fight. This is another great boss fight, even though it isn't quite to the level of the showdown with Meta Knight.

The Arena - After each mode has been defeated, the final challenge is unlocked, Arena mode. Much like Boss Rush mode in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Arena takes you through every boss encounter in the game, until you have downed each one. You can do this alone, or with a partner (by the way, I should have mentioned it earlier, but this game was completely co-op on the SNES. The only reason I didn't mention it is because I don't know if Nintendo has confirmed the same abilities to be available on the DS). The comparisons to Smash Bros. continue as you will notice that the lobby, where you rest before a fight, looks very similar to the lobby in All-Star mode on Super Smash Bros. Melee. This game was made by Masahiro Sakurai, creator of Smash Bros., so I'm willing to bet it is more than just a coincidence.



The mini-games in Kirby Super Star can be summed up as simply "all about timing." While they are fun little distractions, they don't add too much to the overall package, but hopefully Nintendo gives the new min-games more depth in the upcoming remake, Kirby Super Star Ultra. While the mystery still hangs about the two new modes, that mystery will disappear next month, as Kirby Super Star Ultra launches on September 22, 2008!