Kirby's Epic Yarn Review

If you look at all my past articles and such, it should be fairly obvious that I partake in many a violent, mature game. However, I have also stated that nothing gets my rocks off more than a (well done) first party Nintendo game. Mario, Zelda, etc, etc; I love pretty much all of them. So when they announced a new Kirby at E3 I kind of developed an excitement filled blood-lust where I went running through the streets killing everything in my path as a sacrifice to the great gods of Nintendo for not forsaking me this quarter. So after playing the game, I would say that all of those deaths were not in vein. I fell in love with it.

Now the first thing that should be quite apparent about the game is that it's extremely adorable. Like... really adorable. Maybe... Overly adorable. Every grown man, including myself, that I've seen come into contact with it immediately reverted to 5 years of age with the vocabulary of a toddler. Basically, the effect a man's puppy has on him. The yarn look is well realized and used extensively (in a good way). However, the stuff that impressed me the most was the other material in the game that had more of an arts and crafts theme. The snow, for example, can be rolled into a ball by enemies and tossed at you. Only it isn't snow; it's cotton and it looks amazing. It's more like Kirby got sucked into an hobby book and I loved every minute of it. Overall, the theme never gets old.

Speaking of most everything being made out of yarn, it is animated as such and it is amazing. Everything from Kirby's feet turning into a little spring when he jumps to unraveling enemies looks gorgeous and I couldn't get enough of it. Kirby's transformations are also fun and add some variety to the gameplay. Everything from Tank Kirby to Space Ship Kirby is fun to play as and left me wanting more. As far as typical gameplay, it's a pretty basic sidescroller. You progress from one side to the other killing (freaking cute) enemies and finding the occasional secret. In fact, the secrets are where the actual challenge lies.

Co-Op Tank Kirby activate!!!

One problem many people seem to have with the game is that you cannot die... at all. This would annoy me, but the penalty for getting hit is almost as bad. Throughout the game, you can pick up beads that you can use as currency, which I'll talk more about in a moment. The thing about them is that you need a certain amount to gold medal a level. It's harder to do this on some levels than others and if you don't care then it takes the challenge out of it, but there is actually one problem with this. When you fall down a pit, a bird-like creature comes to your rescue. Naturally, fitting with the games punishment, you loose beads for this. However, loosing them this way seems unfair. The thing is, when you fall, you continue to drop beads until the bird drops you. This kind of sucks because you can't retrieve them this way, but the bird also takes you back a ridiculous distance. It would have been better if he took you to the platform you fell off of, but he seems to enjoy you getting frustrated a bit too much. Needless to say, watching your hard earned beads fall to nothingness pisses me off. Like I said, if you don't care it's not a big deal... but I do... so it was.


I couldn't find a picture I wanted, so here's some d'awe-inspiring gameplay. Yes, I did just make that up.

The other challenges come from finding hidden treasure which contain the games (amazing) soundtrack and items you can use to decorate a little apartment you get in town. It's a little fun to do at first, but there is really little payoff for it. You can also use beads to buy more items and expand on the apartment complex. The point of this is to add more empty rooms, that when you decorate a certain way, attracts new tenants. This tenants give you access to mini-games (hide-and seek, racing, bead-collecting, ect), which are only really there to provide a challenge and give you more beads and wallpapers, which is actually kind of roundabout. I tried to do all of them for the sake of 100% completion, but then I realized I was getting bored with them and that there was little point. They are still fun for a while, but I preferred to focus more on the challenge of gold medaling levels and finding all the treasure.

This is actually kind of misleading... Kirby never looks this angry in the game.

The other optional challenge lies in the boss fights, which are actually some of the coolest ones I've seen all year. The magician boss fight in particular was extremely different and impressive. If you collect enough beads in a boss fight, you unlock a new patch which can be used to open new bonus levels. All well and good. The two player mode is also fun and even changes up some of the transformations. For example, when you play as the tank with two players, the tanks gets an arm add-on that only the second player controls. All very cool and fun.

I don't know why yarn/fire doesn't just burn up, but it's best not to ask questions.

There is really little more to say beyond all this. It is a well realized experience that's as hard as you want it to be. Some might find fault with this, but the fact of the matter is that Kirby games have never been especcially difficult. They are about being cute and having fun and Epic Yarn accomplishes both of these goals in equal measure. If your Wii has been collecting dust, do yourself a favor and dust it off for this one.

9 out of 10 balls o' yarn. Derp.