Ok, I know you're thinking to yourself, "This is a Kirby game… I know what to expect." To a degree, you would be right. The thing is though, this Kirby game is not like any other Kirby game out there. When I first picked up this game I was lost, getting my ass kicked, and just in a state of awe. How could that be? An experienced gamer like myself getting my ass handed to me by a Kirby game? It must be some mistake. Well, I assure you, it is not.

Kirby and The Amazing Mirror is by far the most difficult Kirby game I have ever played. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so. In fact, I think that this brings new life back into Kirby for an experienced gamer such as myself.

You're probably wondering what it is that makes this game so difficult. Well, the big thing is that most enemies take 2-3 hits with your weapon versus the old "I hit you, you hit the floor" mentality of previous Kirby games. That, along with the level design in general, makes for a moderately difficult Kirby game. Mind you, this is not the Ninja Gaiden of Kirby, but this isn't Nightmare in Dreamland either (for those who don't know, a remake of the NES Kirby's Adventure, which is also awesome).

Another aspect of the game that makes things more difficult is the layout of the levels. There are nine individual worlds in the game, and you reach each world from the first world that acts as sort of a hub. As you travel, you will find hidden doors to other worlds. You can go into any of these worlds at any time without having beaten the boss of the first world. It's not like in the old days where you just go level by level and world by world until you beat the game. Oh no… it's nothing like that. Now you have to be able to navigate through the levels. There are multiple doors in certain areas that will take you in certain directions. This can lead to a great deal of confusion initially. The levels are of course even more difficult to navigate when you have not yet found the map for that area. When you bring up the map for an area before you have found its map, it looks like just a random assortment of areas. You really can't navigate by it in any way.

Now, I really started to like this exploration theme that was going on in this game. It was no longer about going from left to right and getting to the end. You had to find the right enemies with the right power-ups who might be two or more areas away so that way you can open a certain pathway. It can be aggravating at times when you find yourself running in circles, but it's still better than just having the game hold your hand all the way through.

Let's get back to the enemies in this game. You will see many old favorites from the other games, but there are also a few new ones as well. I did feel like I was missing something though. The hi-jump enemy is not in this game. When I got to the lightning cloud boss, I felt lost by not having a hi-jump power to kill him with. I suppose it could have been worse. We could have lost him, the fireball, the sword, the rock, and everything else that makes Kirby great. Thankfully, that's all we lost. As for new additions, there's really not much. You have a bow and arrow character that makes it so you can float around Kid Icarus style. Then there's a missile, where surprisingly enough, Kirby can turn into a missile and shoot across the screen. It's pretty neat, but that's just about the extent of new enemies. Thankfully, the Kirby enemy palette has always been pretty well rounded, so I didn't feel like I was missing much… except my hi-jump that is. Damn I missed my hi-jump. I'll get over it though.

So far, I've failed to mention a couple of new things in this game. First, Kirby has a cell phone. That's right… Kirby is running around saying "Can you hear me now?" Ok, maybe not, but he does have a cell phone. Sure, it has limited battery power, but it's not like you can't find new batteries.

You see, in this game you have three Kirby buddies of different colors that will help you out. They are great for bosses or when there are a lot of enemies and you are low on health. All you have to do is call them and they'll come to your aid. Shame they're not smart enough to follow you through doors very often, and you really can't use them to hit switches that you want them to hit. Still, they are a help nonetheless.

Also, you can use your cell phone to summon a star to warp back to the beginning hub of the game. This is great if you accidentally went on a one-way street and don't want to go all the way to the "end" of the level before going back to the hub.

I suppose thus far I haven't talked a lot about whether or not this game is actually good. It's different, that's for sure. Most people who have played Kirby think they know what to expect, but the open-endedness of the levels in this game in combination with the more difficult enemies make for quite a different Kirby experience. This is by no means a bad thing though. I greatly enjoyed every minute of this game, and to be quite honest, Kirby's Nightmare in Dreamland is a snooze-fest compared to this game.

If you are a fan of Kirby but have always frowned upon how easy and straightforward the games are, then this will be quite a treat for you. Any Kirby fan should enjoy this game immensely, but anyone looking for a challenging Kirby game with a focus on exploration will also love this game.

I think Hal and Flagship studios did an excellent job putting this game together. My only gripe is that the last boss has multiple forms that you need to beat. This is a minor gripe though and goes for many games… well, except that most games only make you beat the last boss three times. I had to beat him six times. The first four were basically the same enemy, then the next two were two entirely different forms.

But hey… if that's the only bad thing I have to say about this game, then I suppose that's a good thing. I can tolerate bosses that have to be beaten repeatedly. I've actually come to expect that.

With that aside, this is an excellent game that should be in anyone's GBA collection. If you are a Kirby fan, you won't be disappointed.

Jan 22, 2006 | 4 comments
Wayne Phinney