Kirby Canvas Curse for the DS

[merlot]

IGN's glowing review gave it a 9.

It's an outstanding design that captures what the Nintendo DS platform is all about: unique and creative gameplay, and speaks volumes of the potential this system can offer gamers down the line.

 

I've never played any of the Kirby games, but I may have to pick this up. Anyone have it or plan to get it?

[Ryan FB]

I've had it since yesterday, and it's very enjoyable so far. From the way reviews describe the control scheme, I was worried about it being 100% "on rails", but it's not, and the controls are intuitively awesome. The best way I can describe it is it's kind of like Kuru Kuru Kururin (Irritating Stick) combined with a platformer, and the results are great.

[Camp]

It reminds me a lot of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat in that it's essentially the same platform game you've been playing for 15 years with a non-traditional control mechanism forcing your brain to re-learn platforming all over again.

 

As with Jungle Beat, it's quite fun. With PSP releases drying up it's nice to see a quality DS title hit shelves.

[Ryan FB]

I finished the main game the first time around last night (the final boss will definitely make you hone your ink skills if you haven't already), but I'm definitely not done with it. This game definitely encourages replay. There are four unlockable characters other than Kirby once you beat the main game (and they aren't just palette swaps, they actually control differently and have different moves), and you have to collect medals for most of them. This means revisiting levels and hunting them down, or doing time trials and ink trials (trying to get through a stage while drawing as little as possible). Like the main game, the first few levels are easy, but it quickly becomes quite challenging. This game is fantastic in my opinion - if you own a DS, you really should consider getting it.

[merlot]

I'll probably grab it when I pick up Meteos.

[The Daisy]

I picked this up last Thursday and I've just been loving it. It's great to see a DS game that uses the touch screen and actually provides a good bit of gameplay.

 

I wrote up a few reviews of Pac Pix and Yoshi Touch & Go for a little site I'm working on and I felt that there was no real replay value other than to get a different score.

 

Kirby just seems so much more... complete.

 

Glen

[OddJobPrime]

So far this game is golden. Definitely one of the top DS releases, IMO. Has that magical Nintendo touch.

[Carlucci]

My son bought this game, and I played through the first level last night. It was fantastic. I can already tell there will be much replay value in a game like this.

 

 

Carlos.

[GreenMonkey]

Kirby Canvas Curse OWNS

 

My wife ran out and bought Meteos and Kirby for my DS. Good thing because I wouldn't have any games for it otherwise, perhaps until Lunar Dragon Song shows up. She bugs me to drop it off on my way home from work to her work (I get out at 11p, she works 3rds 11p-7 sometimes)

 

I haven't played a platformer I've enjoyed this much in years. I kinda stopped liking them in the 3d era (I loved Maximo though). Totally makes the stylus make sense.

 

I will say, so far the game is a bit too easy. Still fun, and that's saying something, because I hate easy games. I'm on lvl 4, and I've gotten most of the speed/ink medals.

[GreenMonkey]

I finished the game tonight - my complaints about it being too easy were rectified by levels 6/7. Talk about tough - sometimes, definitely cheap. And I unlocked a couple of extra health bars for Kirby with medals - still tough. Most original game I've played in a while, and very entertaining.

 

My play time was 5 hrs 47 minutes, and it says I have cleared 24.2%. I haven't played that many levels in line-trial or speed-trial, but it is almost a totally different game when playing either way (save ink or complete as fast as possible). Speed trial makes you feel almost like you are playing Sonic, as you frantically spin Kirby towards the end of the level

 

I'm tempted to write a full review, this is the first game I've completed in ages.

[Ryan FB]

Did you purchase the US version of Canvas Curse and feel left out because you didn't get a nifty pink stylus like the Japanese version had? Don't feel out of place enough being a grown man who's curiously giddy over manipulating a cute pink ball? Just happen to have lost your DS stylus and own a copy of K:CC? Nintendo has you covered! Register your copy of the game with Nintendo and they'll send you a free pink stylus:

Welcome to the Kirby: Canvas Curse Pink Stylus Giveaway

 

Thank you. You should expect to receive your stylus in four to six weeks. Keep checking Nintendo.com for more exclusive benefits for My Nintendo members!

 

To help ensure delivery, make sure your address information is current in your My Nintendo profile.

 

Quantities limited, available while supplies last. Offer valid only in the United States.

[Mark E]

Only in the United States!? Boo! Hiss!

 

I might have to pre-order Phoenix Wright for that novelty stylus now after all

[matt]

My wife plays on the DS more often than I do and I think a pink stylus would be perfect for her!

[Whooter]

You don't already have a "pink stylus" for her?

[Romier S]

:lmfao

[Mark E]

God forbid I drag this back on topic, but I would like to say that this is one fantastic little game. I finished it just a couple days ago at 33.4% completion overall. What I actually found was that the ink and time trials are arguably more fun than the game proper. And the game proper rocks. But the challenge of using as little ink is better than most puzzle games I've played of late :tu

[matt]

You don't already have a "pink stylus" for her?

 

Dude, if she used that pink stylus on the DS Kirby would freak.

Might work for Feel the Magic though....

 

 

On topic:

 

I haven't played this yet, but my wife put a few hours into it and didn't seem too impressed. She is rather particular about the types of games she likes, however. She's a master of Zoo Keeper. Hates Advance Wars.

 

I'd like to give it a go soon, but that ever rising stack of games yet to be played is a tough beast to manage.

[Mark E]

It's worth trying though

[The Daisy]

Mark,

 

I agree with you on the ink and time trials. They're frustrating as hell sometimes, but they really are great to play. Usually I think things like time trials are just an easy way to get more gameplay out of the same level, but there is something about Kirby that makes me enjoy the game playing those same levels again in a different way.

 

Glen

[Mark E]

The time trials are not bad, but the ink trials are where it really shines, since it forces you to adapt a whole different mindset from the typical play of the regular game.

 

I love having to shoot Kirby over those long stretches of spikes where you have to keep drawing little tiny ramps for him to hit and fly off .

[The Daisy]

Oh, I keep forgetting to ask this, what's everyone's best on the "ramp" bonus game at the end of a level.

 

I have 1300 as my best distance so far, but maybe I'm just missing some technique to get a much further run.

 

Glen

[GreenMonkey]

I got like 1900 once but it was an accident.

 

It helps to make the ramp curved upwards. A straight 45 degree angle doesn't work, as I think you lose momentum when you hit it.

 

Remember that you can keep tapping Kirby in the air all the way until he stops, for extra velocity/length.

[Mark E]

I suck so incredibly badly at that damn mini-game that I am not even posting my score.

[The Daisy]

Damn, I forgot that you could keep tapping Kirby in the air.

 

I'll have to try it again.

 

Thanks for the tip.

 

Glen

[JFo]

I just realized that I've owned my DS Lite now for over a month, but until now, I have not posted anything about this fantastic game. Even worse, when I searched for a thread here in the Portables section, I found that none existed at all. It's a shame too, because this is not only one of the best games out there for the DS, it's one of the best portable games, period.

 

The premise is simple. Kirby has been transformed into a limbless ball and transported into a world of paintings. Using a magical paintbrush (the stylus), you can guide Kirby through the game's 24 levels by drawing lines for him to ride along. Tapping Kirby will make him do a quick dash, and tapping enemies will stun them allowing the little pink puff ball to kill them, and in some cases, steal their powers.

 

Many of the conventions of the 2D platformer are on display here, but the key difference is that you do not control Kirby directly. Rather, he rolls along with his own inertia and must be guided to where he needs to go by the player. The level design makes good use of these abilities and their complexity ramps up nicely throughout the game. In fact, I think the level design is Kirby Canvas Curse's strongest element. Each level is unique and keeps the game feeling fresh and interesting.

 

As a portable game, it works remarkably well because it is so simple to just pick up and play. It also auto-saves after you've completed each level, so it can be played in quick bursts. It does have a distinctly old-school 2D sprite visual style, but the quality of the animation and the art design is far beyond anything you'd ever see on the SNES. Believe me when I tell you that it looks wonderful on the DS Lite's awesome screens.

 

If I do have one complaint, it's that there aren't enough boss battles. While there is one good fight at the end, the other levels substitute a trio of mini-games that make use of the stylus in some way. Unfortunately, these games are pretty shallow overall and don't provide nearly as much thrill as the final battle. It would have been nice if Hal has developed more pattern-based enemies, which require Kirby to make use of his powers to defeat them.

 

Still, I'm overwhelmingly in love with this game. In total, I've sunk over 17 hours into now, trying to get all of the medals. I almost have them too, but I have to complete the game as one more character and get an A ranking on those mini-games I mentioned above. Honestly, I'm just looking for an excuse to continue playing it. Here's hoping for a sequel sometime soon!