Kirby Super Star: 30th anniversary

Kirby Super Star is a compilation of seven short games (plus two mini-games), one being a remake of the original Kirby's Dream Land! All the games are enjoyable and add up to much more than your average SNES game.

The first game is Spring Breeze, a remake of Kirby's debut outing. As a fan of the original, I was happy to play it in 16-bit graphics and color, and with Kirby's signature copy ability, which he sadly lacked the first time around. With only five levels, what was once a whole game now feels like it belongs in a compilation. I beat it on my first playthrough after just a few minutes.

There's a cool new option: simultaneous two-player. Pressing A turns Kirby's current copy ability back into its enemy, who works with Kirby as a partner. If there is no second player, the computer controls it for you! This is a fun addition, though it makes an already easy game even easier. I also noticed a small control improvement compared to Kirby's Adventure: instead of pressing ↑ to inflate himself, you simply press the jump button (B) again.

There are thirteen new copy abilities (25 total) in Kirby Super Star. For example, Poppy Bros. Jr originally gave no ability when inhaled, but now he gives Kirby the powerful bomb ability, which lets him throw bombs. The mini-boss Chef Kawasaki gives Kirby the cook ability, which sucks all enemies on screen into a pot, transforming them into restorative food. The plasma ability, obtained from the new Plasma Whisp enemy, is an attack that can be charged up to multiple attack levels by rapidly tapping the d-pad.

The second game is Dyna Blade, which is similar to Spring Breeze, including the just mentioned two-player mode. A five-stage world map presents your standard Kirby fare, leading ultimately to the robotic bird boss Dyna Blade. 

Next is Gourmet Race, in which Kirby races against King Dedede, collecting as much food as possible along the way to score points. There are no enemies. You race on three different segments in succession. Whoever finishes each part first is awarded 30 additional points (so up to 90 total). At the end, the most points wins. I found this mode quite challenging until I realized Kirby can dash by pressing → twice! *facepalm*

The Great Cave Offensive is a little different. The world is a maze-like cave, with many interconnected doors. The object is to collect as many treasure chests as possible, up to 60. Thematically, it reminds me of Spelunker. Three bosses appear throughout the caves. The monetary value of each treasure differs. Upon completing it, I had found fourteen treasures, worth $2.3 million, but that's barely one-fifth the maximum. This mode is, in my opinion, more challenging than your typical Kirby level.

A great treasure indeed!

Once you beat Dyna Blade, you unlock Revenge of Meta Knight, who was a boss in Kirby's Adventure. The game is a bit longer with seven stages, all set in Meta Knight's flying airship, the Halberd. The confined spaces make it a bit more difficult than Spring Breeze, but the gameplay is still the same Kirby formula (not that that's a bad thing!).

Once you have beaten the first five games, you unlock the penultimate game: Milky Way Wishes. This is the largest with nine stages. The map is outer space, and you can move Kirby about it freely, riding a star. Each planet you see is a stage, and you can do them in any order. One stage is hidden by being small.

In this game Kirby can't copy enemies. Instead, he permanently adds copy abilities to his arsenal by finding and picking up Enemy Symbols. To equip one, press START to bring up a menu. Or you can skip the menu by pressing X repeatedly to scroll through them without pausing. On the menu, each ability comes with written instructions. From these I learned that his abilities have multiple attacks! For example, if you use the beam while dashing, he fires a wider, short-ranged attack. If you hold down Y and release, he fires a big blast. I had just been spamming the Y button with everything! When Kirby gets hit by an enemy, his current copy ability bounces out of him as a star as usual, but you can just re-equip it again immediately from the menu, or change to another one. You can also press A to turn your ability into the computer-controlled helper; when it dies, just make another! Powerful.

The Heart of Nova (final boss)

The final stage of Milky Way Wishes is a side-scrolling shooter! I love it when games do that. The final boss is a series of moving targets, which is kind of interesting, though I was hoping for some huge, exciting, tough spaceship! Incidentally, the plot of Milky Way Wishes is about trying to stop the sun and moon from fighting each other in order to save Kirby's home planet, which apparently is called Popstar!? Did everyone else already know that?

Once you defeat the Heart of Nova boss, you unlock the final game: Arena, a boss-rush mode. With six games to draw from, you get 19 bosses in a row! They are delivered in a random order. Before the first fight, you choose any copy ability. After each fight, Kirby goes to a rest area with a couple copy abilities and five tomatoes to refill his health bar. These do not replenish, so ration them! Although Kirby games are notoriously easy, I was skeptical I'd be able to beat 19 bosses in a row. Indeed, I haven't even come close.

You'll need great reflexes to beat King Dedede.

As for the two mini-games, Samurai Kirby is essentially Wild Gunman but samurai-themed: it's a button-press reflex test. Megaton Punch is also reflex-based, but requires three different reflex tests in a row. These mini-games are probably more fun two-player.

Kirby Super Star is the latest Kirby game I've enjoyed. The game has a lot going for it: cute graphics, the many modes, simultaneous two-player, classic Kirby gameplay, many varied boss fights, and a boss-rush challenge for Kirby experts. A Nintendo classic, to be sure! I look forward to tackling some later Kirby games soon, like Kirby 64 and Kirby & the Amazing Mirror.

Grade: A+

Linked Review
"Not only are there quite a few homages to classic releases in the series strung throughout, but there are also enough new gameplay ideas tossed into the mix to please even long-time fans of the series. Kirby Super Star is widely regarded as the best release in the series."
— Corbie Dillard, Nintendo Life, 9/10

"Though the fare can get a teensy bit repetitive (especially the bosses/mini-bosses), you won't hunger for fun with this sweet smorgasbord of games."

— Asheton Phinney, Ultimate Nintendo: Guide to the SNES Library, 4.5/5