Kirby Mass Attack

Kirby Mass Attack
North American cover art
Developer(s)	HAL Laboratory
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Series	Kirby
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS
Genre(s)	Side-scrolling, Real-time strategy
Mode(s)	Single-player

Kirby Mass Attack, known in Japan as Atsumete! Kirby (あつめて！カービィ, Atsumete! Kābī, lit. "Gather! Kirby"), is a puzzle platformer game in the Kirby series developed by HAL Laboratory for the Nintendo DS. The game was released by Nintendo in Japan on August 4, 2011 and in North America on September 19, 2011. It will be released in Europe on October 28, 2011. The game was briefly mentioned at the end of the Nintendo E3 2011 press conference.

Plot

An evil wizard named Necrodius casts a curse on Kirby that splits him into ten pieces. Kirby and his many pieces must venture forth to defeat Necrodius and pull himself together.

Gameplay

The game is played by using the stylus to command up to ten Kirbys on the screen. Tapping the screen creates a star that the Kirbys can follow or cling onto. By tapping enemies or obstacles on the screen, players can send multiple Kirbys to attack them, with the player also able to flick individual Kirbys as projectiles. In order to defeat most enemies and progress through each level, the player must collect multiple Kirbys by collecting pieces of fruit. When 100 points of Kirbys are obtained, a new Kirby appears, with a maximum of ten controllable at any time. If a Kirby is hit by an enemy or obstacle, it will turn blue until the player reaches a checkpoint. If a blue Kirby is hit, it will turn grey and float away unless the player can drag him down and turn him blue again, with the game ending if the player runs out of Kirbys. Bonus items include the classic lollipops known from previous games as Invincible Candy - which turn all the Kirbys into giant Kirbys that can smash through everything, contrary to in previous games - and hidden medals which can unlock minigames and bonus features.

Reception

Kirby Mass Attack has currently received critical acclaim. NTSC-uk gave the Japanese version 9/10, stating that it is "one of the very best examples of stylus-based touchscreen controls on the system.". Destructoid gave the game a 9.5 out of 10, affirming, "Cleverly designed, overwhelmingly cute, and devoted to fun, Kirby Mass Attack is a game that should become part of your handheld library without question."

External Links

Official website