There's a new update for Switch Online's emulators this June, which means I have new stuff to play. Let's start with the Game Boy titles this time. BACKGROUND:
This is one of those Kirby games I don't really know much about, likely because it's a spinoff. SUMMARY: Kirby wakes up one day to find that King Dedede and his subjects are up to something. He decides to follow them and finds that the stars in Dream Land are gone. Three guesses as to what happened there. Instead of the usual 2D platforming action, the goal of this Kirby game is to guide Kirby through the game's many levels by tilting the console and rolling our ball-shaped hero past obstacles and into the goal. In the original release of this game, these motion controls were achieved via sensors inside the game's cartridge. The rerelease for Switch Online replicates this core feature of the game by utilizing the motion controls that are built into the Switch's controllers. I don't know about anyone else, but the fact that Nintendo went out of their way to make this old game playable with modern controls is remarkable. For the most part, you simply have to tilt to move Kirby around, but sometimes, you'll need to flick your controller upwards to make Kirby jump onto platforms or past obstacles, or sometimes press the buttons to activate certain level elements. The jumping can be a tad finicky, so I tend to avoid using it unless absolutely necessary. The game has 32 levels split across 8 worlds, and they each have a variety of mechanics you'll either have to take advantage of or avoid as you make your way towards the goal. These include launchers, pinball-like bumpers, all sorts of platforms (from ones that move, to ones that disappear), an assortment of enemies both familiar and new, and level elements that react to the motion controls (like platforms or barriers that move depending on how you tilt the controller). You'll also encounter world-specific gimmicks like slippery ice, flowing water, sand that slows you down, and a power-up that lets you float and shoot puffs of air. As you may expect from a game like this, the main thing you want to avoid is falling to your death. Motion controls are finicky as they are, and many level elements are designed to send you to the abyss if you aren't precise enough. On top of that, you can't take too long on any level, as there's a timer that winds down. Kirby also has an HP bar that goes down every time an enemy or a hazard hits you, so that's one more thing to worry about. While I wouldn't call any of the levels in this game punishingly hard, there are plenty of instances where I found myself thankful that the Switch Online emulator has a rewind feature. Though levels are mostly linear, you can find secrets like bonus stars (collecting 100 of which gives you a 1-Up), and special warp stars. Blue warp stars make it such that completing a level lets you play one of five bonus minigames (which use the tilt controls in different ways), while red warp stars are required to complete the game 100%. Getting that completion percentage unlocks the Extra Stage, which is simply every level with ramped-up difficulty. Every fourth level of a world ends in a boss fight, although they're all pretty simple to deal with. Use whatever mechanics there are in the arena to hit the boss, avoid their few attacks, repeat. I wasn't expecting boss fights going into this game, so I was mildly surprised by their presence here. VERDICT: While games like this seem designed to infuriate with their finicky control scheme, I had a perfectly fine time playing Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble. There are a lot of neat level mechanics that work well with the ball-rolling gimmick, each level isn't terribly long (but there are still secrets to find), and despite the many ways you can lose lives, the game is somewhat lenient with 1-Ups and timer extensions. Of course, it does help that you can rewind the action in the Switch Online emulator, and that does a lot to ease any frustrations that may come from a game such as this. I suppose what pleases me about this game is the fact that it was even rereleased like this to begin with. A game like this with very specific hardware or gimmicks could have easily been lost to time, and yet here it is, readily available for any Switch Online subscribers. This gives me hope that Nintendo can bring back some of the more out-there games in their catalog with unique hardware requirements. People like to complain about motion controls a lot, and if you are one of those people, you're probably better off not playing this game. If you don't mind or you think you can get past any potential feelings of frustration, I think there's a pretty neat game waiting for you. - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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