Kirby (Hands-On) (Wii U) Preview

Personally not seeing what all the fuss was about the DS touch-based Kirby outing, named Power Paintbrush for folk in the UK but more commonly referred to by its US name of Canvas Curse, what is currently deemed merely as Kirby for Wii U (but rumoured to be titled Kirby and the Rainbow Curse) was approached with trepidation at EGX 2014. Sadly, after walking away, all that had happened was memories of how annoyingly awkward Power Paintbrush could be were brought flooding back.

Before getting onto that, though, visually this takes on a Claymation-style approach, looking like a Stop-Motion animation, similar to Wallace & Gromit, et al. It is cute at first, but when compared to the absolutely gorgeous Yoshi's Woolly World it looks far less appealing. In its own right, though, it brings the usual Kirby charm and bright colours to the fray. However, that zip of speed found in more recent games appears to be lacking. The booth attendant assured that later levels increase the tempo, but the actual control system was what made it far too laborious, rather than the stages themselves. The drawing of lines to guide Kirby simply cannot compare to the smooth platform action gamers normally receive.

Tapping on Kirby is how the hero moves - no button inputs, and certainly no watching the big screen. This will be played on the GamePad alone since accuracy is imperative, ruling out the dual-screen set up, despite the action being shown on the monitor at the event. On the surface it looks like a rudimentary Kirby adventure, but the whole dynamic revolves around drawing lines to guide Kirby through levels, finding plenty of hidden goodies along the way. However, although Press Play's Max and the Magic Marker got the balance of platform action and drawing abilities right, Kirby on Wii U is painful, slow, fiddly…just like Power Paintbrush. It sucks all of the enjoyment out of the series and walking away from it, especially after enjoying Yoshi's Woolly World so much, left a bad taste in the mouth. Saying that, opinions in general are split over this foray into something new, so those that adored the DS stylus-filled Kirby outing will no doubt have immense fun here. Those that grew increasingly frustrated with it will find exactly the same issues here - nothing has changed.