Welcome to VC Weekly, N-Europe’s guide to the wonderful world of Nintendo’s download service. Written by Sam C Gittins

I hope that everyone is having a good start to the New Year for me it's time to catch-up with last years VC releases and in this edition it's the turn of Kirby. Of course it's impossible to mention the expressive pink mascot without recapping on the excellent 24 Hours of Kirby which was streamed by Dean, Glen and Hazel earlier last year in honour of the untimely passing of Nintendo President Satoru Iwata who we all still miss dearly. It was also in during this live-streamed event that we were introduced to their very inventive Kirby Dance which I now can't help but sing in my head upon completing a stage and watching the Kirbies dance to that memorable tune; I have also come to realise that I need to play more of these fantastic titles which is why I'm glad that I got to experience two which were entirely new to me. Anyway enough from me and on with the games!
 
Available for download this week we have...   

Kirby Mass Attack
Kirby: Power Paintbrush

If we take Kirby: Power Paintbrush as being a gentle introduction to touch-screen based controls being applied to our favourite franchises, then surely Kirby Mass Attack is the product of extended experience over the years from developing for a dual-screened machine. Our story begins as Kirby is peacefully napping within a field on Popopo Islands in the Southern region of Popstar when suddenly the evil Necrodeus - leader of the Skull Gang - soars through the skies as the world is plunged into darkness; it's within all of this relative scene of perilous chaos that Kirby is zapped by a magical staff which seperates him into ten copied Kirbies who are then each defeated apart from one last pink puffball who spots a star - which in our realm is the stylus you're using to control the action - so he follows the "star" in the hopes that it will defeat evil and restore peace to the land again in addition to reconsolidating Kirby. Well as far as narrative-driven excuses for a crazy adventure, you have to admit it's not bad!

So you can have control of up to ten Kirbies at once, this makes the usually simple platforming template into one which incorporates more strategic elements more akin to something out of a Nintendo RTS such as Battalion Wars or even Pikmin because you need a certain amount of copied Kirbies in order to progress past puzzles or to beat bosses, even enemies which would otherwise have been deftly dispatched by dealing a single blow to them now require a bit more persuading to peg it. In order to amass more playable characters you need to forage for fruit including Bananas, Apples... even the famous Maxim Tomato in order to fill up the meter displayed on the top screen which creates more copies for you, soon enough you'll find yourself flinging, dragging, swinging or even just gently nudging your parade of pink pawns around the on-screen environments with satisfying results.     

♪Kirby has just "pwned" you all...

There are some rather significantly sized stages which will take some traversal techniques to overcome, while some of them are a simple slog to the end there are some parts which you'll need to have enough pink blobs to get past which gives a very slightly Metroid feel of needing to return in order to back-track so that you can nab more of those medals - five per stage - which are vital if you are intending to unlock everything this game has to offer you; and why wouldn't you when this includes a rather fun Whack-a-Mole type mini-game, a sound test mode plus other excellent extras besides including a rather cool in-game awards section. Over the course of the reasonably-sized adventure you'll be using your mass of pink minions to push blocks, trigger levers, press switches and much more besides in addition to slaughtering any enemies who will inevitably get in your way; it has more strategy to it than Nintendo would have previously taken credit for when the game originally came out a few years back towards the end of the DS' lifespan.  

Considering all of the technical-based gameplay which is going on, the visuals used within this title are fairly solid indeed as they manage to remain faithful to the history of Kirby while throwing in some fresh flourishes throughout coupled with some excellent animation even for a later launched DS title. All of the audio puts in a fair fight as well, it's universally upbeat just as it should be with all of those hummable tracks you would expect complete with all of the adorable effects we have become accustomed to, but then you didn't really expect anything less from such a game did you?

...you didn't stand a chance

While it's certainly a game with an identity all of it's own, there is still no denying that this is a proper adventure in the Kirby franchise just that it has a more technical twist to it which isn't too tricky at all; indeed it manages to hit that sweet spot of being a platformer which makes you think just the right amount, not too much and also providing some solid gameplay mechanics throughout which really have to be sampled to be believed. So if like me you had never previously played this gem then you really don't have much of an excuse, grab the gamepad and get your squad of Kirbies in order because they need a leader now more than ever! Don't deny yourself this highly original and inventive title which plays to Kirby's strengths in ways you wouldn't have felt possible before.

A whole ten years before the recently released Kirby and the Rainbow Curse we had the precursor which was built from the ground-up for the Nintendo DS game system called Kirby: Power Paintbrush - Canvas Curse across the seas - which saw our hero turned into a ball and being warped to a world which is under control by the thoroughly evil Drawcia... Oh curse her plan of plot convenience! In any case this gives an excuse to control Kirby with the touch screen by freely drawing a line using special rainbow coloured paint as you sweep the stylus all over the play area, then give 'dat 'dere Kirbeh a prod to send him hurtling across it, hopefully knocking enemies flying if he has enough momentum.

Indeed keeping speed up is key to conquering some areas but it's still very much about exploration along the way as well which is rewarded as there are medals hidden in each stage of which there are three contained within each of the eight distinct levels which at least gives you twenty-four challenges to beat in the main mode; all of them are appropriately alliterated as well which earns them extra points in my book. Things start out simply as you either push through enemies or tactfully avoid them instead just making your way to the warp at the end which you can only reach after passing through a few doors, it's not long before puzzle elements come into play though so you'll need to be attacking certain enemies in order to steal their powers which seem to stick to a sensible selection this time around; for example though there are elemental blocks to be broken which require Fire or Electric Kirby so you'll need to think carefully about how you go about things.

now everyone who is not dead...

Tracking your place on the map - which I opted to have on the TV screen - can help you plan how you attack the stage but you might find that if you stare at the top screen for too long it might cost you a quarter of your small health bar if you make a mistake by running into an enemy - though you can stop this by tapping the enemy or drawing a line without thinking too much - so if you want to use restore points to reduce deaths then I'd say it's justified here because although the stages are fun to play having to go back to an earlier point is just annoying in this instance. If you were to just rush to the end of each stage, forgetting about any hidden extras then you could likely finish the main game in a single sitting, but with back-tracking, taking part in three different mini-games - involving variations on a simple race and block ball mechanics - which you choose at the end of each world, tackling challenges in Rainbow Road mode and unlocking everything; there's a good chance you could make the experience last for several substantial play sessions.

Visually versatile would be the best way to describe the aesthetic approach taken here as so much has been done here with relatively little, what is there though is fantastic as you have backgrounds which look hand-drawn, often with a style changing with each stage for variation and an overall vibrancy which shines through to this very day as it all still looks solid on the Gamepad screen. And of course the soundtrack is simply superb as it takes some of the best tracks from the series, then remixes them in a way which takes the essence of what makes them so joyful yet manages to enhance them further; it really is a joy to behold... oh and As a fun fact the sound effect used when breaking blocks is the same one as used in the Break the Targets! mini-game in Super Smash Bros. Melee, which I thought was pretty neat.   

...can do the Kirby Dance!♪ (^-^)/)

Clearly a lot of work went into producing Kirby: Power Paintbrush when it launched on the DS a few years back, judging from the fact that perhaps not everyone would have got to play it the first time round - myself included - it's probably about time this title was granted a new lease of life. There's no shame in playing this after the latest Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, if anything it will probably make you appreciate it more and in turn the sequel with its fantastic clay aesthetics; whatever you decide to play you really can't go wrong with Kirby titles which are on the right side of quirky, this is definitely an example which delivers copious amounts of joy for a very small price.  

That's it for another installment of VC Weekly which will return again soon. So until then, enjoy the rest of the week and Game On!