Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush was released in Europe in May. The game was known as Kirby and the Rainbow Curse in America. We unfortunately got it a few months late but regardless I’m here to give you my opinion on this beautiful Claymation adventure with Kirby.
To start let’s talk gwaphics. Right from the opening loading screen to the opening cut scene and even to the game play this game displays a beautiful clay art style. The textures in this game all have a handmade feel. Literally everything sports fingerprints. There’s no hokipokery at play here, just clay textures. It’s a simple technique which in my opinion really pays off.
What your probably itching to know though is how does it play? The answer is simple, great. The game centres around a mechanic that’s a bit different from standard platforming that you have come to know and love. Instead of running and jumping Kirby just rolls along. You draw a path with the stylus on the gamepad and Kirby follows it. This mechanic though has led to one of the biggest and most common gripes with the game. The visuals on the T.V. are gorgeous, but one is constantly being asked to direct their focus to the gamepad. The only time people are actually looking at the T.V. is in multiplayer which I will talk about next. The T.V dilemma was never an issue to me as I simply played most of this game with the T.V. turned off. Heck if I don’t have much time I’ll play most Wii U games without the T.V.. I will say though even though I never had a problem with it I do understand where everyone else is coming from.
If Multiplayer is the only justification aside from the graphics of this being on the Wii U then is it any good. Yes, pretty much. Players 2, 3 and 4 play as Waddle Dees. They are your normal side characters noting to mind blowing there. It’s ultimately fun in the same way that New Super Mario Bros is. It’s Simple trolly fun. One criticism I will make though is that the multiplayer works better in some stages than others. Certain stages in this game have next to no ground what so ever. This means that the player with the gamepad has to not only draw a path for Kirby but up to three other players. One is probably better off just completing the game before they play it with friends so that they can just skip these stages but really one shouldn’t have to do that.
There are vehicular levels which are a nice change of pace. There is the submarine which is slower and one taps where on the screen they wish for it to go. The rainbow paintbrush is then used to aim the sub’s torpedoes. There is the tank which auto scrolls and fires by tapping on enemies. Finally there is the rocket. This one comes off a bit flat. One controls the rocket in the same way as Kirby, but it’s constantly being propelled forward. It’s just a bit awkward. On the bright side the normal levels are good except for the basket levels which involve Kirby climbing into a basket and zip lining along various tracks of rope and it doesn’t feel quite as polished as the rest of the game, as the basket doesn’t always click onto the right rope.
There are also a ton of collectables in this game. There are the story pages which serve to flesh out the story. They’re really just a fun distraction though. There are Smash Bros style Trophies made out of clay based on various Kirby characters. To top it all off there is not just the entire game’s sound track in a sound test mode, but there are also a plethora of tracks from the Kirby franchise. Not only are the songs great but, just take a look at this.
To some up Kirby is a fun game with a unique art style. Not all of its ideas pay off but the game is fun from start to finish and definitely worth a play if you have a Wii U. 🙂
My youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE6Li8MPEYsPyQkUUN-zzvA
The Wii Splatoon 