Kirby Super Star Ultra
Review
Kirby's a super star yet again!
by Olimar 91
reviewed on NDS
More misses
Another hit and miss area is the visuals. It’s difficult to tell any improvement over the original game. The animations are great, and the developers even threw in some nice 3D cutscenes, but it’s questionable whether or not the game is taking full advantage of the hardware. Adding to that notion is the near complete lack of any touch or dual screen use. Both features are available here and there, but in the grand scale of things they are practically useless.
Then again, it’s not necessarily a bad thing that the developers skipped the whole touch screen feature. Kirby Squeak Squad’s touch screen interface was more annoyance than innovation, and it marred the experience. In that sense, Superstar Ultra may have benefited from taking the old school route. My bigger complaint is the uselessness of the top screen. It could have definitely been utilized more than it was, as it usually displays some kind of pointless map and a logo for your current mode.
Time
At its heart though, Superstar Ultra is a great game. It has excellent gameplay, which is the crux of any platformer. Getting through the first chunk of games will not take extremely long, but there is more waiting for you after the credits roll, including new content not featured in the original game. Getting the 100% completion mark will not be an excruciating challenge for Kirby vets, but there is plenty here to appease them while still making things manageable for newer players.
What’s important to know about the length of a game like Kirby Superstar Ultra is that what you’re willing to put in often equates to what you will get out of it. If you zip in and out of the levels then you could easily finish the game within a few hours. What it all comes down to is how important that percentage mark on the file select screen is to you. If you only care about seeing “The End” plastered on your screen then rest assured, your time with Ultra will be short-lived.
It is also noteworthy that for those who have already been there and done that with the original game, this experience may be a little too familiar. Despite additions to the game, the original games featured on the SNES cartridge still make up a large portion of Kirby Superstar Ultra. If you’ve never experienced the first game your $35 is well spent, but others may wonder why they couldn’t have gotten a similar experience on the Virtual Console for $27 less.
Value
All in all, Kirby Superstar Ultra is a great new entry into a very reliable series. I wouldn’t go as far to say that it is the new definitive entry in the franchise, but it is still a blast to play. The losses from Super Nintendo to Nintendo DS are overlookable, and the extra content rounds out the experience into a more complete game than the original. If you are familiar with other games from the pink puff, you should not be surprised by what you get for your money. Whether or not that value adds up to the price-tag is going to vary depending on who you are, but there are much worse things than an short but sweet adventure.
8.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
