Kirby's Epic Yarn - Review

Just in case you missed my earlier blogs about my feelings toward Nintendo let me preface this review with a brief summary. I grew up with and love Nintendo. However, like many gamers, I felt jilted by the casual market the Wii and DS were (and are) directed toward. While I remain supportive of Nintendo and will heatedly argue that the company still makes some of the best games and consoles out there I am not an advocate of motion gaming or a waggle enthusiast of any kind.


This brings me to the good news: it appears Nintendo has finally decided to listen to a large chunk of their die-hard core fan-base and provide ample fan-service in the form of a handful of classic 2D side-scrolling platformers. One of the latest of these being a long-awaited console reappearance of everyone's favorite pink-puff-ball in Kirby's Epic Yarn for the Wii.

Kirby's Epic Yarn - It feels like pants.

Yes, you read that right - Yarn - and seeing as there isn't much of a point in trying to ignore that seemingly misplaced noun I'll start the actual review right there. From the get-go, Kirby's Epic Yarn's intriguing visual style and concept grabbed me and gently reeled me in like wool around a spool. Any foreboding feeling or thought that this might be yet another gimmick was quickly done away with when I began playing. The title is easily one of the most aesthetically pleasing and interesting on the Wii to date. Everything from the colorful and soft felt backgrounds, to Kirby's smooth animations, to the tiniest details of threads, buttons, and cotton balls is crafted meticulously and not only affects the visuals but adds a certain flair to the game-play itself.

Despite changing forms several times in the game, Kirby remains dimple-inducingly adorable.

 If you've ever played a 2D side-scroller the game-play of Kirby's Epic Yarn will immediately be familiar and easily accessible. Developers Good-Feel and HAL Laboratories have managed to take that tried-and-true formula and smoothly stitch in enough game-play quirks and genius level-design to keep the title from ever getting boring.

Though being turned into yarn takes away Kirby's inhalation-and-transformation powers, our carefree hero still finds a way to shift into different forms and shapes using his new yarn body. Aside from the always available abilities of turning into a car, submarine, parachute, and a handful of other shapes with ease, there are also large sections (and sometimes even entire levels) where Kirby finds extra yarn and makes a game-play altering change - such as turning into an enormous missile firing tank, a beam shooting UFO, or even a mole-like digging machine. These sections help to create a wonderful pace that shakes up the game just enough to keep it from getting repetitive.

In previous games Kirby would have had to eat an entire tank to do this. Isn't yarn wonderful?

Graphics and gameplay aside, my absolute favorite aspect of Epic Yarn is something that I didn't foresee or even realize until I was well into the game. The sound design and musical compositions are downright fantastic - epic even. The light feel-good world is brilliantly accented by magical-sounding piano-backed tunes that will have you smiling and humming along in no time. Many of the classic Kirby tracks such as those played in the Whispy Woods, Butter Building, and many more are redone brilliantly here.

When it comes down to it, the only real negative thing I can say about Kirby's Epic Yarn is that it is, without question, too easy. There is no health system or lives, but instead a simple medal and scoring system according to how many beads you collect each level (beads are dropped when you are hurt). While the game does get slightly more difficult as you progress, odds are you'll only have to play a few levels over again if you want to collect all the bonuses. Oddly enough, this didn't bother me too much. Like most gamers, I enjoy a solid challenge but Epic Yarn's simple and fun world managed to pull me.

Did I mention there's co-op and it's just as fun? Well now I have.

In conclusion, Kirby's Epic Yarn is somewhat like a kitten or a puppy - fluffy, adorable, fun, and entirely non-threatening. If you own a Wii you should definitely give it a try - especially if you grew up on NES or SNES games.

Pros:

•  Unique, colorful, adorable graphical style
• Classic gameplay with enough small tweaks to keep it fun
• One of the best soundtracks in recent memory
• YARN!
• Cooperative play is a blast
• More beads than Mardi-Gras

Cons:

• No real challenge
• Not much replay after reaching 100% level completion
• May just be too adorable for the human brain

The Verdict:

Presentation/Concept: 10/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 9/10
Music/Sound: 10/10
Value: 8/10 

Final Score: 9/10

~Ben Gentry