Stats time!
Game Complete 76%
Collection 20/40
I have wanted this Kirby game for a very long time. It always looked like a lot of fun since the cover was so exciting and that’s how I judged games back in the day. Alas, the title was 25 dollars and that’s not exactly chump change when you’re a kid. Still, I saved up and over 20 years later I was finally able to snag it. Unfortunately this game does not live up to the hype. Nintendo messed around with the gimmicks a little too much once again and as a result this game is rather messy. There’s a great final boss as always, but the game is just lacking that wholesome feel to it.
The plot of the game is that Kirby has been thrown into the Mirror World and split into 4. He must now team up with himself to save the planet and stop the darkness from consuming it. I do like the plot as teaming up with yourself is always the smartest possible move. You just can’t go wrong there. Of course, you have to take the plot at face value as there will be no more cutscenes at all until the climax of the game. Clearly you are supposed to be playing this game for the gameplay and not the riveting story. Certainly not a bad thing, but worth pointing out.
The gameplay is your typical Kirby experience as you run and jump while going through the levels. You can absorb all of the enemies and most of them will give you super powers. You can only use one ability at a time though so don’t try and overdo it with absorbing everybody or you’ll end up with a weaker move than the one you already had. If you are playing on single player mode then you can use the R button to call in the other 3 at the expense of 1 Wifi Bar. They are extremely OP in this game so if you want to beat a boss really quickly just call them in. Typically they will restore you to full health and also beat the boss in under a minute. Even the final boss is no match for the Kirby crew. Meanwhile you can use the L button to leave a level. Why would you possibly want to leave a level? Well, that’s where things get a little interesting.
This game doesn’t have typical start to finish levels like most Nintendo games. Instead it went the Metroid route (Why would you do that?) and the level just segways into a bunch of others, but they are also connected. Unlike Metroid you do get a bunch of different teleport areas which will take you from place to place so that’s a start. At first the game will be a rather tough experience as there are dozens of entryways to explore. Once you find a portal and activate it you can use it from the hub world. Naturally this does mean that the game will get a lot easier as you go through it. The first 2-3 world keys took me forever to get, but the last 3 were done in a snap because there just weren’t many paths left. It’s not really my cup of tea though. The intro would have certainly been a lot easier if I had realized the perks of each special ability though. Fire Comet lets you break metal blocks in front of you while stomp handled the ones beneath. Most abilities have some kind of purpose to them so just remember where you can find the enemy with the ability that you need. If not, each teleport chamber has 2 abilities so the more that you find, the easier access you have to them. I spent a ton of time just running around without a clear direction because I couldn’t find out how to get past the blocks. If you know which abilities to use from the start that should help considerably.
The graphics are pretty solid and do the Kirby characters justice. The sprites have aged really well and the colors are very easy to look at. You won’t have to squint at the screen and wonder what is happening at any point in the adventure. Likewise the soundtrack is also pretty solid as we get some nice boss themes and level music. It’s really no surprise as Nintendo excels in these two categories, but always nice to see nonetheless. Of course, since the game was so light on cutscenes that probably did free up the budget for everything else.
As far as the length is concerned, I was certainly satisfied. Thanks to the maze like structure of the game I doubt you will be speed blitzing through this title. A lot of the levels involve trial and error as you choose one way the first time and a different one on the second try. Once you get the maps for each world that eliminates such an approach but the irony is that you probably won’t find them until you are nearly at the end anyway. I ended up beating the game while still missing 4-5 of the maps so ultimately they weren’t a huge factor. As far as replay value goes, collecting the rest of the collectibles is naturally the main incentive. That should take a reasonably long amount of time.
Overall, Kirby & The Amazing Mirror is probably the weakest Kirby game. It’s very close between this one and the Rainbow title, but the latter did have a better story. Still, the game holds up decently. It’s just one of those titles that has a really dicey start so you just have to endure it until you’re in the second half. It’s the same situation as Digimon World Next Order for example as your Digimon have to constantly use the bathroom and everything at first, but by the end it’s better. Still, you can certainly find better platformers so buy this Kirby game only if you’ve already played all of the others.
Overall 6/10
Time for those stats!
Unfortunately this is one of those games that doesn’t really keep any. The only one that I can list is that I have unlocked 1/2 of the minigames. Nothing amazing there to be sure, but I suppose it’s better than nothing.
It’s time to look at the Terminator game. This one is based on the 3rd film and also acts as a prequel. It’s a story that naturally takes place in a rather dark environment since Skynet broke the lights. I was a little worried since my tv can’t handle the darkness all that well. Level 2 was incredibly difficult for that reason but after fiddling with the settings for a while the levels were finally bright enough to see. It’s a fun game that may not do everything right but succeeds in enough areas to be called a success.
The game starts off with you playing as the Terminator and blowing up a bunch of robots. The humans have reprogrammed you to be on their side. Then they learn that Skynet is sending their best assassin to the past to eliminate John Conner and his wife. They send the Terminator in pursuit but can he really defeat what is essentially a more upgraded version or himself?
As you might assume this is a 3D shooter. You grab various weapons over the course of a level and blow up all enemy robots on your way to victory. Each level will have a series of objectives and upon completing them you will move on to the next level. It’s important to realize that the mission is the priority so you never have to worry about defeating all of the enemies. If you are supposed to destroy a building and are about to die then quickly destroy it anyway as the success will sometimes override your death. That helped me out once or twice.
If you ever run out of ammo you can swing the base of your gun or throw some punches but that shouldn’t happen with how much ammo is usually going thrown around. Just remember to pick it up every time you defeat an enemy and you should be fine. My favorite weapons are the ones that leave a nice explosion as even if they don’t defeat the enemies they will knock them over which gives you time to finish the job. What you don’t want is to be put in a situation where all of the robots are blasting at you since your health bar will be torn to shreds. One of the weapons allows you to equip two at once which is handy since you knock them down with one while you blast them with the other. Finally, if you’re about to die anyway I recommend using the missile launcher since it will beat any enemy in a single hit and even a lot of the large robots will go down in 2. The catch is that it only has 3 ammo and fires really slowly so don’t use it if you are surrounded.
The gameplay changes into a 2D brawler for boss fights and that was a real highlight. The levels are few, but you can tell that some effort was put into them. You can toss the enemy around and can mix up your punches and kicks for various combos. It definitely got me thinking that a Terminator fighting game would be really good. There is just so much that you can do with the concept and I’m sure it would be a success. The boss fights aren’t particularly tough for the most part, but I did come close to dying in the last fight.
The graphics are pretty solid. The energy effects are nice and vibrant while the levels are nice recreations of the movie. The character models are a little more on the humorous side to be honest but they still at least resemble who they are supposed to be. Assuming your TV is on point you will definitely be able to appreciate the effort here. Unfortunately there isn’t much of a soundtrack but what was there was pretty sound. It works pretty well for the action scenes.
The main campaign should take you a few hours. There are 22 levels in the game and their length varies significantly. Some levels can be around 10 minutes or longer while others are barely a minute. In some cases a level will just take longer than it should because you might end up getting lost as the compass isn’t always 100% reliable. The toughest level in the game is certainly the escort mission where you have to protect John. He has the A.I. of a level one computer as he will walk into the line of fire without a gun and will die to a pair of bullets. That stage must have taken me at least 20 tries. Another aspect that makes this level tough is how you aren’t allowed to destroy any of the humans firing at you. This means you can only shoot each human once which is tougher than it sounds as it isn’t always obvious that you have already hit them once. The best advice I could give here is just to take it slow.
There isn’t a great deal of replay value after beating the story. All that I can think of is trying to find the second mini game to unlock. I don’t know about you but that isn’t a huge incentive for me to be honest. Still you can probably get this game for a cheap price and if so I would definitely recommend it. Yeah, the game is basically a cash in but it’s a fun one that put in some effort. You won’t regret the purchase.
Overall, Terminator has always been a really fun franchise. You don’t have to stretch your imagination to see how it would lend itself well to a video game. Hopefully a new Terminator game comes out soon because now there is only one modern title that I am missing. Ah well, I still have that one to look forward to at least. That was likely my last mech game for a while so at least the genre ended on a high note.
Overall 7/10
DReager1.com 