Kirby (3)

True story: I’d never played a Kirby game until last week. I’d been aware of the little pink blob, a cute fella who shared an unattended toddler’s propensity for shoving weird things into his gaping maw, for several years. I knew enough about the franchise, to realise that Kirby was a constant mascot for Nintendo’s younger audiences and fans who had spawned a few kids of their own.

Kirby (4)

Last week allowed me to check off at least one item on m bucket list then, as I finally went hands on with Kirby’s Blowout Blast. A game which both sucks and blows. Which is a good thing in this instance. While Blowout Blast isn’t the Kirby of the classic platforming days on other Nintendo systems, it is a handheld taste of what the pink vacuum cleaner does best: Inhale enemies and regurgitate them with the force of a car crash at other foes.

Kirby (5)

One of the bigger differences in this instance at least, is the ability to inhale multiple foes and spit them back out in an even bigger blast as you work your way across bite-sized levels. That’s where Kirby’s Blowout Blast shines, as it’s the perfect lunchtime game. It’s a diverting diversion, a quick romp through levels which can be clocked in under a few minutes as you seek to score top marks and grab all the coins. An added wrinkle is that while the levels of this Kirby game appear to have a 2.5 dimensional build to them, your attacks require a more three-dimensional finesse to pull off.

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I like that. I like a game which doesn’t insult my time, as Kirby’s Blowout Blast has a terrific pace at which it throws score rush obstacles at you. It’s not the kind of game that’s meant to be played at a leisurely pace. Speed, precision and beating the clock, that’s how you suck ‘n gun your way to victory as you plot the best path to the finish line.

Where Kirby’s Blowout Blast does falter as it sprints to the end line, is that it does end up feeling repetitive at times. Big bad bosses such as Lalala, Kracko, Lolo and King Dedede make not one, but several appearances, each time with only the barest of modifiers present to give some challenge to his latest return. The frantic nature of clocking a stage as quickly as possible also doesn’t do much to really add more to the simplistic structure of these levels, with tedium quickly setting in.

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Kirby’s Blowout Blast is at least enjoyable for the first couple of hours, before your mind is distracted by something shinier. Micro-levels at a breakneck pace when played a certain way, at least it’s a colourful method for killing time. And maybe even a solid introduction for first-timers to the amorphous pink orb with the suction power of a vacuum cleaner on steroids.

 

Last Updated: July 19, 2017

Kirby's Blowout Blast
Kirby’s Blowout Blast is the very definition of short and sweet. It’s a lunchtime diversion, that doesn’t pack any surprises but does at least have a somewhat addictive speed-running nature if you’re not easily distracted.
7.0
Kirby's Blowout Blast was reviewed on Nintendo 3DS
69 / 100

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