3/5 ★ – TNGLiam's review of Kirby Mass Attack.

Platform: Nintendo DS Time Played: 15 hours Status: Beaten (95%) I remember not liking Kirby Mass Attack that much as a kid. I never finished it and I never played it outside of having it as the only game to play on a trip or something akin to that. And playing to to near completion in the modern day only proves my thoughts from long ago. This game felt a little grueling to get through, and I was thoroughly bored throughout. I didn't enjoy the janky gameplay, the soundtrack, the graphics, or the level designs. I don't think controlling the up to ten Kirbys was as bad as Canvas Curse (I heavily dislike Canvas Curse), but it still wasn't intuitive or fun to control. Some of the Kirbys had minds of their own at times, some would jump over platforms while others failed to do so forcing me to regroup all the Kirbys in order to float them above the platform. Sometimes the Kirbys would jump in areas I didn't want them to, leading to rare cases where I would have to restart the level in order to fully complete them. It just wasn't at all the best, and I feel like it could've used a lot more time in the oven. But the 3DS was practically already out and they needed something out on the original DS before it died out. The soundtrack is the most boring one Kirby has ever had, with its soundfont being its true fault. The graphics are okay, but nowhere near as polished as previous entries on the DS or even the GBA, which is really apparent in World 3 Stage 9 when you fight an ice dinosaur that has better graphical quality then anything else in the game. I sought out to get every Medal in the game, which at some points was rewarding and others not so much, mainly the latter. Most of the time, Medals can be very miss-able, or sometimes there will be branching paths in a level, leading the player to have to play a fairly long level all over again to reach that point. This wouldn't be as bad if they had put secret doors in the levels to get to these branching path areas, like they do with doors that take you to the end of the level. The main villain of this game, Necrodeus, looks pretty cool and distinct from the rest of Kirby's rogues gallery, being a giant skull and skeleton hands shrouded in a cloud of dark clouds. Majority of the enemies in this game also look unique and distinct as well, as this game takes place in a previously unseen area of Popstar called the Popopo Islands (named after Kirby's original name, Mr. Popopo). I also like this game's official art, but that has nothing to do with the quality of the game itself. I can honestly say that I would never play this game again. I've experienced it fully once, and that's enough. But what I would like to revisit, or see return in a similar fashion, is the absolutely amazing minigames that are unlocked by collecting Medals. Three of these minigames, specifically Strato Patrol EOS, Kirby Brawl Ball and Kirby Quest are truly the best minigames the entire series has seen thus far and deserve full expansions of their own, akin to how the minigames of Triple Deluxe and Planet Robobot. With each of these three minigames providing tons of fanservice to longtime Kirby fans. Strato Patrol EOS - 3.5/5 Essentially an "space" shooter where multiple Kirbys face against Kirby's usual rogues gallery, ending with a battle against Nightmare from Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land. A pretty alright and fun minigame. Kirby Brawl Ball - 4/5 This is a great pinball game, and is essentially a successor to Kirby Pinball Land. The graphics are great, the gameplay is tight and responsive and very rewarding and enjoyable. It features Heavy Lobster as one of its bosses, along with a final battle with Marx. Kirby Quest - 4.25/5 This is the one thing majority of fans remember from this game, including myself. Kirby Quest is a super simplistic turn-based RPG gameplay-wise, with a simple meter that you have to time correctly to hit the opponent, and the more dead-on you hit said meter, the stronger and flashier the move you pull, and if you miss, the enemy attacks, with Kirby being able to recover any damaged Kirbys by getting an "Awesome" attack. The amount of obscure references that only true Kirby fans would know tucked into this little minigame is insanely impressive. Two anime characters from Kirby: Right Back at Ya! show up as mini-bosses; an exclusive Copy Ability called Kabuki Kirby from the "Kirby 3D" animated short that was a sequel to the anime shows up as an ultimate move; King Dedede's unused giant robot from the cancelled Kirby GameCube game shows up as a boss, and both forms of Dark Matter from Kirby's Dream Land 2 show up as the final boss. This minigame is truly amazing for fans is the best thing this game has to offer by a longshot. So, all in all, with Kirby Mass Attack, I can't really recommend it. If you're a Kirby fan trying to play through all of the games like I am, go ahead! Other reviews say this game is great, so maybe you'll like it better than I did. Otherwise, if you're a big Kirby fan and you haven't played the minigames from like, especially Kirby Quest, please check those out. Check this game out if you want!