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Kirby Super Star (that is what you are) By: PoisonRamune, the Apathetic Lizardman When I was 14 years old, $50 was a lot of money (it’s still a lot today, mind you. It’s just harder for me to say that now, as I pretty much smoke a fifty a week). And being a junior high school student with a limited budget, I was constantly looking for a good value. Back in 1996 there was no greater bang for your video gaming buck than Kirby Super Star. “8 GAMES IN ONE” proclaimed the little banner on the box art. However, “$400 WORTH OF GAMES FOR $50” was what I read there.
When I finally got Kirby Super Star, I was surprised to see that HAL Laboratories had a much looser view on what’s considered a game than I did. Most of the games were so short that they could easily be completed within 10 minutes and/or many of games were very easy, requiring nothing but errant button mashing. Being quite disappointed over my purchase, I put the game away and never played with it again. Perhaps, I was immature an a gamer then. But there was something about Kirby Super Star I never realized. While the box does advertise “8 games in one;” the game itself is actually 8 games that join to become one, like a retro gaming Megazord. Fast forward ahead 12 years to the current. Upon hearing about a re-release of Kirby Super Star on the DS, I decided to give the game another try. The game plays pretty much exactly the same as the game I hated over a decade ago, but something was different. I actually liked this game. Well, “liked” may be the wrong term as I had always liked the Kirby game engine. However, this time I actually understood what Kirby Super Star was supposed to be about. Kirby Super Star isn’t supposed to be a circus of value, giving you 8 games for the price of one. It’s supposed to show you various ways you can approach playing a “standard” video game.
For example, in the game Spring Breeze you are to linearly complete the game. No secrets, no hidden items, no completion percents; just get to the end of the worlds alive.
After you go through “the basics” of Spring Breeze two new games unlock, demonstrating your next method of video game completion, speed running. In Gourmet Race and Revenge of Meta Knight you are to complete the levels as fast as you can. Gourmet race has its focus in collecting items and outrunning a CPU controlled enemy as you go. While Revenge of Meta Knight has you flying through hordes of baddies and bosses as you race against the clock.
The games The Great Cave Offensive and Dyna Blade touch on the opposite end of the game completion spectrum by being about 100% completion. In Dyna Blade you work through 4 pretty simple levels to take out the titular evil robot bird. However, if you look around and take your time exploring each level you’ll find 2 bonus levels and an extra boss that is quite a bit trickier than Dyna Blade himself. The Great Cave Offensive plays in the same way. However, your exploration is more of about exploring the game engine, rather than the game map. Allow me to clarify; in The Great Cave Offensive you’re to travel 4 themed areas collecting 60 treasures along the way. Many times the treasures are in plain view, though they require a very specific move or strategy to collect them; thus forcing the player to hunt around the area for that elusive ability carrying enemy. Milky Way Wishes is somewhat like the final exam of Kirby Super Star. In the game Kirby must collect 19 different enemy abilities while playing through approximately 8 levels. How this game is to be completed is totally up to the player. As they can play through the game with the sole objective of completing it, they could try getting every secret and ability in the game, or they can play for the fastest playthrough. Out of all the games on Kirby Super Star (and Ultra) this is the one that felt most complete. Finally, there’s a boss rush mini-game called the Arena. There’s not much to say about it, as it’s a typical boss rush mode. You play a random order of 20 bosses and see how far you can get. It’s simple and fun, but is truly a just for fun game/extra mode. You should know that Kirby Super Star Ultra has a few other games in its ensemble. However, all these other games can easily fall into one of the above categories (ie: Meta Knightmare Ultra is basically Revenge of Meta Knight where you play as Meta Knight and Revenge of the King is essentially a harder Spring Breeze). Kirby Super Star (Ultra) is a really strange game. I’d almost describe it as a pride of colored robotic lions that could form an awesome fighting robot known as Metroid or Castlevania if they all came together. However, playing each concept of a game is pretty fun and interesting in itself, I’m sure would be just as fun as some one on one time with Princess Allura.
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