Kirby And The Rainbow Curse can’t feel new, but that doesn’t mean it feels old
Kirby: Canvas Curse, now nearly a decade old, used the unique features of the then-new Nintendo DS to rework Nintendo’s often-prosaic series. It asked players to eschew buttons completely, forcing them instead to move Kirby by drawing rainbow pathways on the screen. Drawn properly, Kirby would roll down these tracks toward victory. In a world where touch-screens were still a novelty, this bold design was considered an exemplar of innovation; our own Anthony John Agnello has upheld the game as Nintendo at its weird and experimental best. Kirby: Canvas Curse was not staid, comfortable Kirby, but a revolutionary Kirby at the vanguard.
Kirby And The Rainbow Curse, as a straightforward sequel to that 2005 classic, cannot be the same kind of innovative leader. But there’s more: the revolutionaries like Canvas Curse? They won. Touch-screen controls are ubiquitous now—the fat, penguin-shaped strongmen of the gaming kingdom. In this modern environment, Kirby And The Rainbow Curse’s path-drawing antics are standard and comfortable. And so weird Kirby has again become staid Kirby, a native in a land it founded.
This is still a Kirby based on a fantastic blueprint, even if it follows that blueprint closely. Rainbow Curse is primarily about drawing paths. Kirby can barely move on his own, but he still has to travel across dangerous lands to collect stars and treasure and get from one level to the next. Drawing a length of rainbow rope under Kirby on the Wii U’s Gamepad touch-screen causes Kirby to roll automatically down the rope, and tapping Kirby pushes him forward in a short rolling attack. Collect 100 stars, and a more powerful charge attack can be used to bust open new pathways. These basic abilities push Kirby into tight spaces, over dangerous depths, and through adorable enemies. The game riffs on these foundations often throughout its short run time. Sometimes Kirby is transformed into different big-eyed vehicles, like a constantly barreling forward rocket-ship form that your rainbow rope can only nudge. Other times, Kirby will be forced to travel underwater, where he’s always floating back toward the surface unless your pathways keep him submerged.