Category: 
Kirby is an unusual creature. He is a puff ball. He enjoys eating things and going out for picnics. Unfortunately someone stole his shortcake. The thief, who seems to be named after a character on Carlos Mencia’s show, is called “King Dedede”. He leads a gang of cake thieves called the Squeak Squad. The game title should actually be Kirby vs the Squeak Squad. The game is simplistic and since the enemies are “Dedede” it is very easy with little or no learning curve.
Just as an aside what is up with Nintendo and strawberry shortcake? A good trivia question would be: “How many Nintendo games can you name that involve that particular desert?” Next we will have Cake Mania coming out soon for DS from Majesco. I guess no calorie virtual deserts are good for us.
Game - play
You move Kirby unfortunately by controlling the game using the DS’s buttons rather than the touch pad. You use the D pad and the A button to jump, the B button to pick up stuff like treasure chests. Hopefully you find the right one and get back his shortcake. To access the skills of the enemies that Kirby vacuums up, you press the Down directional. The game’s levels take no longer than a few minutes to complete. It makes it a good time waster. The game is very short however.
Kirby will inhale any object and it ends up in his inventory on the bottom screen. Game play mainly deals with using his skills to balloon up and float around the environments. Then he also will copy the attack abilities of inhaled enemies. He can store multiple items. You collect bubbles that contain power-ups and health boosts. You can combine two small health power-ups to turn them into a big one, or collect three little Kirby bay bubbles to make another life / continue. There are more than twenty -five abilities for Kirby to copy and play with. Watch out for the little guys in the stocking caps, they are cute but deceptive and will make Kirby fall asleep and expose him to damage.
The mini-games are repetitive and addictive. There are multiplayer modes for both options of letting someone play on your copy of the game and also to play with someone that has their own copy of it too. The mini games are more touch-screen focused and they can be played both single-player and multiplayer.
Graphics
The best part of the game is all the little costumes that Kirby puts on when he copies the enemies’ abilities. My favorite was the bubbly fish that allows Kirby to blow bubbles and capture many power ups. The game is heavy on the cute factor. Kirby can be a sword fighter, a metal mech, and even a magician. Then Kirby gets decked out in an adorable little top hat. He tosses playing cards for a ranged weapon and there are also doves that he lets loose. Even though the game is all done up in 2D, it is still very bright and colorful. The backgrounds are very nice. They give an illusion of depth of field as Kirby soars over forested mountains, and lush river valleys. Clouds look like sticky marzipan candy that can be burned away when he has his fire ability like toasted marshmallow fluff. There are bubbly underwater worlds where he puts on his scuba gear. too. Of course there is a fire world, a forest world, an ice world, and a sky world, as you would expect in the Story Mode. The environments look great, and his tiny costumes will give you a good laugh.
Conclusions
The strengths in this game come from its simplicity. It is done right. However the short story mode may disappoint some people. You can go back and replay any of the levels that you enjoyed and try to find more stuff and hidden areas. There is some re-playability with that. The game has it’s clever moments, and it is mainly all about the cute. If you want a game that is going to give you the instant gratification factor, and brighten up an other wise dull time while waiting for the bus, then this game is for you. It is also fine for little kids and there is little or no reading needed like there is in Pokemon and Animal Crossing. I give Kirby (vs. the) Squeak Squad a 7.5 out of 10
Pros: Very entertaining, and super cute.
Cons: Does not make enough use of the stylus and touch pad.
Total Rating - 7.5
Gameplay - 7.5
Enjoyment - 8
Graphics - 7
Sound/Music - 5
Published by: Nintendo
Developed by: HAL America Inc. / Flagship (JP)
Genre: Platformer
Number of Players: 1-4
Release Dates:
US: December 4, 2006
Japan: November 2, 2006
ESRB: “E” for Everyone Content Descriptors: Mild Cartoon Violence
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