Kirby Star Allies
Nintendo’s pink puffball needs more in his locker than imitation skills if he’s ever going to rival Mario and co for 2D side-scrolling supremacy
If you think Luigi is under-appreciated, spare a thought for Kirby. Everyone’s favourite fat pink blob has been kicking around since the NES, but never quite found the franchise that’ll elevate him into gaming’s A League. Star Allies is the ever-jovial fellow’s latest attempt to hit the big time, and one of the few new Nintendo games for Switch this year that hasn’t simply been pulled out of the dumpster fire that was the Wii U. It’s also very much not for anyone over the legal drinking age.
The trouble is, as has often been the case for ‘The Kirbster’, Star Allies is so simplistic and indistinct that most young ’uns won’t find too much that’s memorable in it either. A 2D platformer that sees you team up with three equally adorable buddies, this game is mainly a leisurely canter from left to right with plenty of colourful power-ups, a few ridiculously easy boss battles and some optional co-op play chucked into the mix. Yup, hand one of your Switch’s Joy-cons to the nearest youngling and he or she can also get in on the unrelenting air of drudgery. Actually, that’s taking things too far. Any kid who hasn’t yet made it to secondary school will get some kicks out of solving puzzles by combining their fellow travellers’ abilities and smashing their way through the colourful landscapes. But compared to the riotously entertaining Rayman Legends and Celeste, Star Allies does little to bring new life to the old-fashioned side-scroller in the way Kirby’s stylus-focused Epic Yarn did way back on Wii U – especially when you consider that Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and the new Yoshi game are also both set to riff off a similar theme later this year.
If Star Allies isn’t the game that’ll finally earn Kirby his moment in the spotlight alongside Mario and Link, then at least its mediocrity has one upside for Switch owners: more time to catch up on the better games they’ve already missed for Nintendo’s portable marvel. Sorry, Kirb. There’s always next time, eh? Rob Leedham