I didn't really notice how Kirby doesn't have the ability to take enemy powers in this game (the enemies don't have powers to take), until I went back and played the other Kirby games. However, at the end of each stage (more or less), there's a segment in which he transforms into some sort of vehicle (tank, buggy, surfer, etc.) I actually like the art style, and especially the music.
It's a pretty basic platformer, but I really couldn't have been happier with it. Not too challenging (you can't die), but in some cases, I can't help thinking the whole concept of "dying" or "losing" in a video-game has become obsolete. What's the point of starting you over at the very beginning of a stage when you die, other than to make you tediously trek back through the stage, to make the same mistake over again, and not really give you a chance to learn from it? And what's the point of even dying, if you just start right off where you died?
Something about this game had a serious Christmas-y feeling to it, maybe just because it was first released around the holiday time, or the music in-game, and how you do a bit of virtual shopping in the game itself.
[comedy bit]
I always thought Kirby was kind of a jerk, picking on and beating up happy, defenseless forest animals, but this game really makes Kirby's condescension clear. In this game, he befriends a prince, gets an expensive high rise apartment (condo)? and buys $20,000 pieces of furniture. Kirby thinks he's The Man, man! He's new/young money! The Dreamland equivalent of Whitebread Silverspoon! He's part of the entitlement generation! He's the reason we're all in this economic mess, because he's writing checks that can't be cashed, and defaulting on his mortgages! He's the upper class pink ball keeping the common class pink balls down! He's rubbing elbows with Wario!
Okay, I'm done. This would probably sound funnier if you actually heard me saying it.
Incidentally, the game actually kind of feels like it was made by the same team that made Wario Land (Shake It!) also for the Wii: The two games have treasure collection, and not being able to die, those two aspects, these two games share in common, at least.
The actual part of buying furniture, and then placing it in your apartment, was kind of broken. You could stick a piece of furniture in mid-air if you wanted to. It's the digital equivalent of those "create a scene" activities you might have been given as a kid, alongside coloring books.
