DIGITISER
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ

REVIEW: KIRBY - PLANET ROBOBOT (3DS)

14/6/2016

6 Comments

 
Picture
Let's face it: Kirby is an aberration. A hairless, pink, orb, he inhales his opponents, squats down, and takes on their attributes. That's quite the evolutionary defence mechanism, but he doesn't even have opposable thumbs. What did Kirby's ancient ancestors look like? What were they?

Show me a chapter in On The Origin of the Species which explains that, Darwin. You can't can you? You have messed-up yet again. As with bumblebees and giraffes, your so-called "theories" fall apart under close scrutiny. The only explanation for Kirby is that God made him.  

And this, sweet reader, is why Kirby is more commonly known by the appellation "Darwin's Aberration". 
QUADRUPLE DELUXE
Weirdly, there have been more Kirby games released in recent years than there have Mario games. For a character that was always sort of Nintendo's dirty underdog - despite having his fans - that seems to be quite the indicator of faith. And good, because - dating back to Kirby Super Star on the Super NES - I've always had a bit of a soft spot for the squidgy fuchsia stress ball.

If you've played Kirby: Triple Deluxe, you'll feel so at home with Planet Robobot you'll be going to the lavatory with the door open.

It's very much that game - traditional side-scrolling platformer, with a main character who can assume the abilities of his opponents by inhaling them - with one major addition. This time around, for large swathes of the levels, Kirby can jump into robotic exoskeletons, which makes him virtually indestructible. 

Nicely, the robotic exoskeletons can also absorb the abilities of the enemies - but they're given a typically big-robot twist. Respire on an umbrella guy, for example, and your robosuit will develop massive helicopter rotorblades. Suck in a sword dude, and you'll be hacking your way through thick wooden beams. 

Like Triple Deluxe, Robobot makes dazzling use of the 3DS's capabilities. Levels stretch into the background, and at points Kirby can move back and forth between the rear of the screen and the foreground. Cars and buses will streak towards the front of the screen. Enemies will lob stuff at you from the distance. Big spinny things swipe across both planes, threatening to poke out your retinas. The graphics - like the levels and abilities - are properly great. 

Also lovely are Kirby's abilities. As well as several old favourites, Kirby can now become a deadly chemist, a a sort of poisonous witch doctor, and a disembodied armpit that whimpers and shivers beneath a tarp.
Picture
IRREGULAR MODES
As well as the regular story mode, there are a couple of bonus modes - a simple isometric arena brawler, and something called Team Kirby Clash, that plays a bit like a turn-based RPG battle.

​Neither lasts terribly long, but they're welcome additions nevertheless.

Bottom line: games this joyful, this beautiful and this uncynical, are few and far between these days. It's a throwback, chronically unfashionable, but it looks backwards with the benefit of modern technology and new ideas. It might not offer anything in the way of challenge, but you'd have to be the most embittered and contemptuous misanthrope not to enjoy it.

In an industry where our games often seem to be reflections of a world that has lost its innocence, that seems to grow darker and more depressing by the day, Planet Robobot is the perfect antidote. 

SUMMARY: A joy. Right now, games don't get more essential. 
​SCORE: 15.7 hominins out of 15.8

FROM THE ARCHIVE:
​REVIEW: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES - MUTANTS IN MANHATTAN (MULTI, PS4 VERSION TESTED)
REVIEW: LUMO (PS4, XBOX ONE, PC, MAC, PSVITA - PS4 VERSION TESTED)
​​REVIEW: DOOM (PS4, XBOX ONE, PC)​
6 Comments
Damien link
14/6/2016 01:16:09 pm

I bought this on a drunken whim and am pleasantly surprised by the first few levels I've played. Very good presentation and exploration. I found whatever last year's gimmicky Wii U Kirby game was called to be hair-pullingly frustrating and unfair, while most of the others have been near on boringly simple. I'll see what my final verdict is if/once I've seen the game through. Got to get back to Fire Emblem first.

Reply
Euphemia
14/6/2016 01:40:52 pm

The kids loved this, although them finishing it across a single weekend in short bursts me feeling like I'd pissed that money up against a wall.

Reply
Mr Biffo
14/6/2016 01:54:39 pm

Hahah! Oh dear. Sorry about that.

Reply
Euphemia
14/6/2016 02:16:03 pm

Much as I'd love to, can't blame you for that! They're obsessed with the little pink, cannibalistic freak.

Ben
14/6/2016 02:02:59 pm

I absolutely loved Triple Deluxe, charmed the pants off me and scratched a long held 'joy itch' that most games don't seem able to quite reach these days. Kirby vacuuming up the giant eels made me laugh like a big, dopey idiot every time.

I have this arriving in the post today and I can't wait; it'll be the perfect distraction when Fire Emblem is prematurely ageing me with hair tearing and teeth grinding (but man, it's an awesome game, convoluted, consumer shilling nonsense aside).

Reply
colincidence link
14/6/2016 06:42:11 pm

I'm a Kirby devotee - you can trust that every moment of a Kirby game will feel intently-designed, with some pleasant extra details. If you consider this as one part of a trilogy with those that share its engine and look (Return to Dream Land; Triple Deluxe), it's got the best pace-changing gimmick by far with the robots, and doesn't resort to Triple Deluxe's repetition, but Kirby platforming in his modern groove is finally starting to feel rote. Is it easier than it used to be?
Lovely little game anyway; hard to argue it's essential but a worthy continuation.
Kirby's 'spin-off' series is more important than the main platformers by now, so if his next 3DS move is a bit subversive and with some new visual gimmick, I'll suck it right up.

Rank the Kirby games for us, Biffman! We must know which are bester and worster!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    This section will not be visible in live published website. Below are your current settings:


    Current Number Of Columns are = 2

    Expand Posts Area =

    Gap/Space Between Posts = 12px

    Blog Post Style = card

    Use of custom card colors instead of default colors = 1

    Blog Post Card Background Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Shadow Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Border Color = current color

    Publish the website and visit your blog page to see the results

    Picture
    Support Me on Ko-fi
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    RSS Feed Widget
    Picture

    Picture
    Tweets by @mrbiffo
    Picture
    Follow us on The Facebook

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2022
    May 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014


    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ