Kirby Mass Attack

Review

Common Sense Media says

New twist on sidescrolling action games with easy controls.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
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Parents say

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Kids say

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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Kirby Mass Attack is an action-adventure game with lots of very vague cartoony violence. Your team of little Kirbys (smily pink puffballs) pile on their enemies and battle them, though the actual fighting is depicted as nothing more than a whirring of arms and feet. Defeated Kirbys turn into ghost/angels and begin to float away, but they can be grabbed and brought "back to life." There is some strategy involved in deciding how to use your many Kirbys, and the game encourages experimenting.

  • Positive messages3
    Teamwork is the big positive message here. Despite all the little heroes being tiny "pieces" of Kirby, they function as individual characters and need to work together to get things done.
  • Positive role models3
    Kirby is a brave and fearless hero. And the bad guys are the literal forces of darkness, so there's no blurring of the lines between good and evil here.
  • Ease of play4
    Moving and maneuvering is quite easy in this game, thanks to the super-simple touchscreen controls. The difficulty ramps up as you progress in the game, but does so at a nice gradual pace. The game also offers a lot of hints.
  • Violence & scariness2
    The Kirbys "pummel" their enemies (evil plants, birds, and animals), which means they jump on the baddie and move around a lot until the villain vanishes and is replaced by a piece of fruit. When a Kirby is hurt, it turns blue; if a blue Kirby is hurt, it turns into a ghostly white Kirby with wings and begins to fly upward. If one of your other Kirbys can grab a ghost Kirby before he flies away, he'll be restored.
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What's it about?

An evil villain arrives to eliminate all light from the world of KIRBY MASS ATTACK, and to make sure his wicked plan succeeds, he begins by zapping the land's greatest hero: Pink puffball Kirby. Kirby is broken up into ten little versions of himself, most of which are easily defeated by the Skull Army. You control the one remaining tiny Kirby, traversing the land to vanquish the bad guys and reconstituting the other nine mini-Kirbys.

Is it any good?

 

While some of the action in Kirby Mass Attack is obviously derived from the classic Pikmin (moving around little heroes en masse, flicking them at enemies), it's put to fantastic use in this wonderful new 2-D side-scrolling adventure with a nice old-school feel to it. Using the stylus to control your band of Kirbys is remarkably easy, and launching them at giant baddies is a blast. But the combat is only a small part of the adventure; there's also a great deal of exploration, with plenty of bonus items to discover. This game isn't much like Kirby games of the past, which could disappoint fans of the franchise, but as a stand-alone adventure, it's an awesomely good time.

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What families can talk about

  • Families can talk about violence in video games. The fighting here is so non-descript; does it still have an impact on players? Does the cartoon nature of the graphics make the violence less problematic?

  • Did you go back and try a level again with more Kirbys? What did you find the second time around?

This review was written by Christopher Healy

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This review was written by Christopher Healy
Topics:superheroes
Platforms:Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi
Available online?Not available online
Genre:Action/Adventure
Developer:Nintendo
Release date:September 19, 2011
Price:$24.99
ESRB rating:E for Comic Mischief, Mild Cartoon Violence
This review was written by Christopher Healy

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.
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