Game Review - Kirby Super Star Ultra

Kirby Super Star Ultra, released September 22nd, 2008 in the United States, for the Nintendo DS, is a remake of an old Super Nintendo game of the same name (minus "Ultra"). With its remake on the DS, KSSU gets some upgraded graphics, adds a few new mini-games, and the cutscenes are now actually movies.

Living Vacuum

Kirby, for those that don't know, is one of Nintendo's iconic characters. Maybe not as iconic as Mario or Donkey Kong, but he's up there. He's the little ball of pink you see to the left and right. Not that threatening, I'll admit, but he can inhale and eat just about anything. That's how he takes care of whatever's going on in his world. Certain enemies he inhales give him powers. Swords, bombs, magic, the ability to turn to stone, etc.

Mini-games, Get Your Mini-Games

KSSU is essentially a collection of mini-games. Some are extremely short, like Samurai Kirby where you wait for a signal to hit a button and try to defeat Samurai Kirby's enemies in a sword drawing contest. Others are longer, such as The Great Cave Offensive. But most can be finished quickly enough, with my own average for the longest (Meta-Knight's Revenge, which combines all the previous content) being an hour or so.

As a whole, the collection of mini-games works. They are all varied, both in difficulty and in goals. The Great Cave Offensive has Kirby running through several areas collecting treasure. Milky Way Wishes has him hopping from themed planet to themed planet (Water Planet, Fire Planet, Machine Planet, etc) to collect power to make a wish.

Short but Mostly Sweet

As I mentioned above, the game is kind of short. That is probably its biggest problem. I was able to blow through it all in one sitting, though I've returned a few times to complete harder things (i.e. beating the Arena opens up the True Arena, trying to collect all 60 treasures, etc). So there is some replay value.

I suggest this game mostly to those who played the original (I'm one, and I bought it for sure nostalgia value alone), Kirby fans, and those who want a good varied set of mini-games. You won't be disappointed.