Here it is, the first video review in PNM history!  In our first episode, we are going to take a look at Kirby & The Amazing Mirror for the Wii U’s Virtual Console.  We hope you enjoy it!

Transcript:

 

If you pressured me to sum up Kirby and the Amazing Mirror in one sentence, it would be, “The sum of Kirby’s Adventure and Kirby Superstar’s The Great Cave Offensive, with just a dash of Super Metroid.  Amazing Mirror has the player trek across nine different areas all connected over a main hub in order to track down the nine fragments of a broken mirror.  Each area is quite large, yet most of the individual boards are unique in design.  The first two areas branch just enough to get you used to the idea, but you won’t really get lost until after you defeat the first boss.  Each area has a map to track down, which will show you which room you have and have not visited.  You’ll have to refer to your map frequently in order to keep your bearings.  Even then, there is a good chance you will lose your way, especially since some of the paths are only in one direction, and maps do not indicate which door leads to where. The wrong choice may lead to a good ten or twenty minutes of backtracking.  On the plus side, some trails lead to goal mini-games, in which Kirby rides a warp-start in order to collect batteries, food, and one-ups.  You may not have reached the goal, but the mini-game relieves some of the stress.  Shortcut’s between areas can be found throughout the world map, and can really take the burden off of exploring.  Kirby is also able to his cell phone (go with it) and call his warp star, which will take him back to the central hub.

The controls in Amazing Mirror is amongst the tightest and most responsive in the series.  Kirby’s jumps are precise, and Kirby moves swiftly through narrow corridors.  At no point has Kirby kicked the bucket due to unresponsive or floaty controls.  In an empty map, you would have no trouble navigating its twists and turns.

Cue the monsters.

Enemies litter the map, and more often than not, they will get the drop on Kirby.  Only a few enemies won’t give out special abilities, so there will be plenty of chances to try out different copy abilities.  Unfortunately, there will be plenty of chances to lose copy abilities.  Amazing Mirror plays by Kirby’s Adventure rules in that one hit will cost you your ability.  You have the chance to recover it, but more often than not, the chaos of the fight will lead to a cycle of taking a hit, regaining your ability, only to find yourself taking another hit and watching the ability star fly out of Kirby yet again.  In those cases, it’s best to just move on and find another ability.  This mechanic proves to be a nuisance in most cases, but when the game calls for ability-based puzzle-solving, losing the essential ability is incredibly frustrating. Compound this with the aforementioned backtracking, and you’ll be having to put the controller down for a breather or two (or three in my case).

While the ease of losing abilities is an exercise in frustration, the abilities themselves are extremely balanced.  With the exception of the New Game Plus ability, as well as the rarely occurring “Smash” ability, Amazing Mirror has no single power which stands above the rest.  Enemies and areas have strengths and weaknesses to certain abilities, which encourage players to change up abilities often.  Even run-of-the-mill Kirby is able to hold his own in this GBA adventure. 

Aside from a sprawling map, the other hook in this title comes from the three other Kirby’s that will be exploring the world, and sometimes helping the player out.  I say “sometimes” because the Kirby’s will have their own set of priorities which may or may not include you. There are only a few times where you will need the other Kirby’s help, but these moments can be immensely frustrating. I’m sure this issue can be resolved with the multiplayer function, but… well, this is the Virtual Console port, so that option is out.  

Fortunately, the advantages of four Kirby’s easily outweigh the disadvantages.  These Kirby’s explore the world on their own, gathering abilities and health. However, none of the AI Kirby’s will complete any critical elements of the game; every goal and major boss is up to the player to complete, so don’t worry about missing anything because one of the Kirby’s got ambitious.  If you call them over using your Kirby Cell (that’s what I’m calling it), they will bring you food, and sometimes event an extra life.  Calling your fellow Kirby’s is especially advantageous during tough boss fights. Kirby’s lending some extra muscle is good on it’s own. The Kirby’s lending some extra muscle during boss fights is just one advantage.  If you die during a boss fight with the other Kirby’s on screen, the game will stop just as it would in a normal death; but instead of restarting the fight, you will simply pick up where you left off.  You’ll have to strategize your Kirby Calls, as Kirby’s cell only has three calls before the battery runs out. Batteries to recharge the cell are scattered throughout the world, but they are not so plentiful as you can mash the Kirby Call button. This will require players to pick and choose their calls carefully.

When all is said and done, Kirby & The Amazing Mirror’s strengths also becomes it’s greatest weaknesses.  One hit ability-loss is a tough element to get over, but Amazing Mirror does not have the raw difficulty of it’s NES cousins.  Even if Kirby’s ability is lost, another is just around the corner. Having four Kirby’s is an interesting element, but its potential is cut short by the Virtual Console.  Despite these shortcomings, its strengths far outweigh its weaknesses.  Its solid platforming, exploration, and balance of abilities exceed previous entries in the series.