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Kirby and the Rainbow Curse is coming on Febrary 20, and I’m excited. Aren’t you? I admit that I am a little bit of a Kirby fanatic. I may or may not have tagged along with some folks to a Battlefield 3 midnight release back in 2011 just to ask if they would be selling any copies of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land. And maybe I do have every Kirby game that’s ever been released. But you should be just as excited for Rainbow Curse as I am, honestly! Why? Because it’s the spiritual sequel to one of the best touch based games ever, the one and only Kirby Canvas Curse.
I can’t believe it’s been almost ten years since the release of that early DS game. We now remember Nintendo DS as having one of the greatest gaming libraries of all time, but if you were an early adopter of the platform like I was, there were not many innovative games to play at first. Sure, the launch brought us some neat stuff like Super Mario 64 DS and Feel the Magic, but the touch screen still just seemed like a neat novelty that did not seem entirely necessary. It was not until the summer of 2005 that Canvas Curse arrived. It used the touch screen in a unique way and proved how Nintendo DS could have games that were not replicable on any other platform. The game bent platforming on its head with its clever gameplay that had players using the stylus to draw paths that Kirby followed. Poke the enemies! Pull the levers! Use your copy abilities! Conserve your ink!
Yes, Canvas Curse is one of my favorite DS games, if not my top choice. There’s so much content to dig into, with medals to find, characters to unlock, and other collectibles to uncover. The soundtrack is also a highlight, featuring remixes of some of Kirby’s best music! If you still haven’t played it after all this time, you really ought to pick up the game for DS! Maybe it’ll make an appearance on the DS Virtual Console someday?
Anyways, Kirby is never one to rest on his laurels and do one thing for too long. For every few traditional Kirby games, there’s always a spin-off or odd genre title thrown into the mix. Canvas Curse seemed like an experimental title, a one-off idea that had played out its time. Fortunately, HAL recognized that such novel gameplay could be taken in new directions– and here we are with Kirby and the Rainbow Curse!
I’m already in love with its rich HD claymation art style and proven compelling gameplay. I know that Rainbow Curse will be a worthy follow-up to Kirby’s curse of the canvas variety. This week’s Nintendo Direct also revealed the many secrets, collectible figurines, and Amiibo features the game will have! The keychains in Triple Deluxe were an awesome touch, and it’s nice to see a similar aspect returning here. But really, how can you not look at footage of the game and just feel all warm and gushy inside? Kirby does have a knack for that. (See also: Kirby’s Epic Yarn)
So if you can’t tell, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse has been one of my most anticipated games of 2015 since it was revealed. There’s going to be a ton of great games this year, from Splatoon to Zelda, Star Fox to Code Name S.T.E.A.M.. Kirby games are sometimes filed away in people’s memories and overshadowed by Nintendo’s bigger franchises, and Rainbow Curse‘s release at the beginning of the year will make it easily forgotten by the time we’re thinking about games coming out in 2016. Don’t let that happen, and join me in looking forward to Kirby’s new adventure! Perhaps Kirby will show us how a stylus on a home console can be used to its greatest ability, just as he showed us on handheld a decade ago.
