That's right, today we get a 3-fer with some more Kirby spinoff puzzle/sports type games that I checked out over the weekend. Not going to actually finish any of these, but I'll get a gander at them. Never played this trio before this, so they're all new to me. First up is the fairly popular Kirby's Dream Course from 1994.
Got a unique naming system here: You actually draw your name, or coat of arms. I accidentally drew an Alpha Metroid.
Now that that's done, let's see what's going on with this game.
Looks like six or so worlds here, each with 8 courses. Two lives, and if you run out you start at the beginning of the current world (yeah, the beginning of all 8 courses). Right off the bat this is shockingly unforgiving and difficult for a Kirby game. WHAT ABOUT THE KEEDS? Think of the KEEDS!
The game begins, and....it's a golf game. A super charming golf game, but... a golf game. Never been huge into golf games. Got a cool spin on things here though, with the objective being to annihilate random Kirby NPCs by batting Kirby into them.
The world boss (in this case Whispy Woods) appears as an obstacle rather than an actual boss fight. Whispy just functions as a block to occasionally get in the way of your shots.
The toughest part is getting Kirby into the hole once it appears (which happens when only one enemy remains, and it happens where that enemy is, so you can strategize this a bit). Miss your shots slightly and you start losing HP (the tomatoes) and can actually lose a life trying to get into the hole. The tough part should be defeating all the enemies!
I game over, and I can tell this game probably had a loooooot of game overs in it for most people. 1P mode, at least, is a bit much.
The other toughest part is getting the Kirby-ball over walls without him flying out of bounds, which - of course - costs you a life.
After a bunch of tries, I manage to make it through world 1. No boss.
World 2 has the menace of Kracko hovering overhead, dropping lightning bolts. Much more of a threat than Whispy Woods lurking around.
Annnnd that's about it for this game, you hit Kirby through golf courses.
Final verdict on this one? Well, it'd be a lot better if it were somewhat accommodating and not so limited on extra lives. It's a really cool idea in theory.
Next up, another SNES game. This one isn't golf. It's probably a Tetris clone given the name. I really don't know until I start it.
We get an enemy ladder! First up is Poppy Bro. Just one.
Whoa, that's pretty violent for this series! Easy, Nintendo!
This was 1995, so they were in full swing with their being "x-treme" and brimming with "tude" to compete with Sega.
WTF.
I think they overdid it with the "90's tude". This was Kirby, not the WWF.
After all of that trash-talk (when did Kirby become such a jerk?) it's time for the actual game. Basically, it's Tetris Attack. You're competing with the boss and trying to send "junk blocks" over to mess up their day. You get these by...
...putting same-color blocks* together. Get four of the same color linked up (in any configuration, can be an L-shape, a square, anything) and it'll make those blocks poof and send junk to the opposition's screen.
* - Blocks? DQ Slimes? Germs? Protozoa?
It's definitely an interesting twist on Tetris. Poppy looks pretty happy for a guy who is about to lose.
First stage down. I think Poppy is dead
This enemy ladder is like something out of Mortal Kombat II. Like the music from that game plays in my head every time I'm back on this enemy ladder. Kirby's Avalanche is some serious f***in' business!
Next stage is Whispy, and it's WAAAAY harder than the first stage. I basically get whooped here.
Yep, lost that one several times over. So this is another uncharacteristically hard game, like Kirby's Dream Course. Weird how the series known for entry-level action games has such deadly spinoffs.
At least Whispy is really polite about it as he repeatedly destroys our hero.
My God.
Well, I tried. Too much of a barrage of junk blocks raining down to stay ahead of it. They constantly cut off your combos by covering everything up. This makes the game quite a bit more frustrating and less-fun than, say, Tetris or Tetris Attack. Well, it's a good try at a game of this nature and I'm sure it's got plenty of fans.
The next one is Kirby's Star Stacker, and you can tell this one's from 1997. It's got the Kirby's Dream Land 3 art style.
This one was never released in the U.S. (not on the SNES, anyway) so all we've got for this one is the Japanese version.
Kirby could be saying anything! He could be swearing up a STORM right now.
It's... another puzzle game. This one is much, much simpler and easier to play than the previous one. Far as I can tell, you just trap blocks between same-character tiles. It also doesn't have the competition aspect of Avalanche so it's just you clearing blocks in peace.
...and continuing to clear blocks...
...annnnd continuing. Is something supposed to happen? When do I win? I managed to get every star block off the screen and it's still going.
I keep going...and going...and going. Eventually reach 348 cleared blocks, with no ending in sight to the stage. Did I pick Free Play or something? Can't read the menus. I picked the first option, which generally would be the main mode in any game of this nature.
Decent game. Seems fine, not sure what's going on. Wish I had more for you on this one.
Alright, now he's definitely cursing up a storm. Did he trash this club? Kirby kinda seems like an asshole in the last couple of games. They were definitely trying to compete with Sega Attitude.
A fourth one that totally would have ended up in this post if I hadn't covered it already: Kirby's Block Ball
OMG that final picture of Kirby
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