I played Kirby Super Star entirely through co-op with a friend, something which I definitely feel enhanced the experience for me. Oft cited as one of the top tier Kirby games alongside Return to Dream Land, Forgotten Lands and Planet Robobot, Super Star absolutely brings a ton of innovations into the Kirby formula. The Helper system for co-op is fun and I liked how the second player functioned different from Kirby (such as being able to escape death by getting a different copy ability during the death animation) and how like. It's funny having to kinda roll with whatever power Kirby has on the spot and pop out your friend and then change it up later or what have you, it helps keep it from getting stale is what I'm saying. Then of course you get stuff like the ability to Guard, the NOVA, the Halberd, a LOT of stuff with Copy Abilities from how they work from visual appearances to introducing a bunch of new ones, Super Star might not be the first Kirby game around (in fact it is the fourth) but it feels like it and Kirby's Dream Land 2 form the genesis of Kirby as we'd call it today.
As fun as the sub-game and multigame format is, I gotta say that it doesn't really come across the best here. Spring Breeze is cute as a nod to the very first game but it is very much a Nothing mode, being so abridged that you kinda just complete it and then forget. Dyna Blade feels like pretty much directly a marginally more in-depth Spring Breeze, albeit it also is very short, the Kirby gameplay is unsurprisingly a fun vibe as usual (and figuring it out with my friend enhanced the fun) but these felt like very "junk food" modes. They did make me think that this game, overall, feels like it would be much more suited to a handheld experience where you're likely to be flipping between short gameplay sessions (although me and my friend did play shorter sessions). Perhaps fitting given Kirby STARTED on the Game Boy? It does make me think that Kirby Super Star Ultra might be the ideal form for this game to take. Dyna Blade DID make me think a Kirby game with a Super Mario Bros. 3-style World Map (already underutilized) could be fun, imagine one where you can have up to 4 friends and whoever has the most level completed panels at the end gets a fun bonus for some co-opetition! Kirby's large repertoire feels like it would offer up some unique options there.
I assume that it is programming or camera issues that prevent Gourmet Race from being 2-Player here, the camera failing to follow Dedede doesn't matter when it is the AI but would with a buddy, but it frankly blows that you can't play the mode with a friend. It feels like that would be super fun and without that it feels like the mode is more of a Minigame like Samurai Kirby or Megaton Punch than the main "Games" of the group. So while I was enjoying myself early, it definitely starts off overall on a bit of a "Nothing" feel to it. The Great Cave Offensive is...fun, including the BEST boss in the game for sure in Computer Virus, but to an extent it feels like maybe it drags a little bit while at the same time being a touch underbaked? It has the vibes of a bit of a Metroidvania (which makes me wanna try Kirby & the Amazing Mirror), but there's some parts that feel a bit janky (like the cloud area in the final group of levels was a bit of a Thing at points) and I dunno. I did enjoy it and I enjoyed it being a lot more unique than Spring Breeze or Dyna Blade, I could see this being fun to return to for 100% treasures.
Fortunately for this game, the last three modes are all bangers. Revenge of Meta Knight feels like the standout of the entire game as it keeps up a very pounding and frantic pace throughout the entire thing, plus I'm a sucker for these kind of cutscenes in platformers and it felt like it gave it a very unique vibe compared to all of the other games. Not to mention getting to go Wheelie Rider with my friend at the very end was pretty fun, Heavy Lobster is pretty easy but some good boss fight design, the banter of Meta Knight's underlings helped underlie the pace. I can see it being difficult to keep up for a full game but man do I wish there was some more here, I kinda wonder if combining it and Dyna Blade or Dyna Blade and Spring Breeze would have been a good idea. Milky Way Wishes is the longest and most intricate of the modes, bringing in a unique mechanic that treats Kirby's copy abilities more like a Metroid power-up which was fun (though sometimes it did slow the pace sometimes with all the ability swapping me and my friend did) and the levels had a lot more meat to them than most of the game. Marx is obviously a very fun fight (right up there with Computer Virus) and feels like a true challenge of your skills through the game.
That all cumulates with the (secret) final challenge: The Arena, something else Super Star introduced to the series, and in turn inspired Smash Brothers' own All Star Mode. This is a very fun way to do a boss rush mode and Kirby feels particularly well suited for a boss rush format. What powers are you going to choose to go through it? For me and my friend, we began with me on Bomb and them on Mirror for an offense and defense combination, but following a good fight with Computer Virus we tried a Hammer and Mirror combo due to Hammer's stronger per-hit damage. But as we got better with guarding the use of Mirror for defense decreased and so we ended up with me on Bomb and my friend on Beam for a good ranged damage combo with less risk than Hammer. When do you use your tomatoes? Getting riskier and feeling when we could press the edge at low damage was critical to us finally beating it, which was immensely satisfying after three sessions of grinding it out.
Outside of all the gameplay stuff, Kirby Super Star is a very pretty game overall with Kirby being vibrant (I love the little hats they gave him), this isn't really graphics related but I do like that each of the Helpers is their own unique enemy with their own portraits. Kirby gets a variety of portraits and all of them have a lot of personality to it and that personality oozing out really just helps the game a lot overall. Kirby's unhappy "Ouch!" portrait or him looking very nervous when he has the Bomb ability are some real standouts, Sleep and Sword too. The music is also pretty good. Marx's Theme, anyone? Gourmet Race obviously became a classic, although if you asked me for my favorite it would definitely be Meta Knight's Revenge.
Kirby Super Star was truly a game that shone more brightly the further into the game it got. The start is on the weak side, relying entirely on the charm of a polished Kirby experience more than anything, but by the time we get to Revenge of Meta Knight the game starts putting out serious bangers and leaves on a high note. High enough to surpass Kirby 64 as my favorite out of the admittedly-small-number of Kirby games I've beaten? No, but it is one I'd recommend people give a shot, especially if you have a friend with you!
As fun as the sub-game and multigame format is, I gotta say that it doesn't really come across the best here. Spring Breeze is cute as a nod to the very first game but it is very much a Nothing mode, being so abridged that you kinda just complete it and then forget. Dyna Blade feels like pretty much directly a marginally more in-depth Spring Breeze, albeit it also is very short, the Kirby gameplay is unsurprisingly a fun vibe as usual (and figuring it out with my friend enhanced the fun) but these felt like very "junk food" modes. They did make me think that this game, overall, feels like it would be much more suited to a handheld experience where you're likely to be flipping between short gameplay sessions (although me and my friend did play shorter sessions). Perhaps fitting given Kirby STARTED on the Game Boy? It does make me think that Kirby Super Star Ultra might be the ideal form for this game to take. Dyna Blade DID make me think a Kirby game with a Super Mario Bros. 3-style World Map (already underutilized) could be fun, imagine one where you can have up to 4 friends and whoever has the most level completed panels at the end gets a fun bonus for some co-opetition! Kirby's large repertoire feels like it would offer up some unique options there.
I assume that it is programming or camera issues that prevent Gourmet Race from being 2-Player here, the camera failing to follow Dedede doesn't matter when it is the AI but would with a buddy, but it frankly blows that you can't play the mode with a friend. It feels like that would be super fun and without that it feels like the mode is more of a Minigame like Samurai Kirby or Megaton Punch than the main "Games" of the group. So while I was enjoying myself early, it definitely starts off overall on a bit of a "Nothing" feel to it. The Great Cave Offensive is...fun, including the BEST boss in the game for sure in Computer Virus, but to an extent it feels like maybe it drags a little bit while at the same time being a touch underbaked? It has the vibes of a bit of a Metroidvania (which makes me wanna try Kirby & the Amazing Mirror), but there's some parts that feel a bit janky (like the cloud area in the final group of levels was a bit of a Thing at points) and I dunno. I did enjoy it and I enjoyed it being a lot more unique than Spring Breeze or Dyna Blade, I could see this being fun to return to for 100% treasures.
Fortunately for this game, the last three modes are all bangers. Revenge of Meta Knight feels like the standout of the entire game as it keeps up a very pounding and frantic pace throughout the entire thing, plus I'm a sucker for these kind of cutscenes in platformers and it felt like it gave it a very unique vibe compared to all of the other games. Not to mention getting to go Wheelie Rider with my friend at the very end was pretty fun, Heavy Lobster is pretty easy but some good boss fight design, the banter of Meta Knight's underlings helped underlie the pace. I can see it being difficult to keep up for a full game but man do I wish there was some more here, I kinda wonder if combining it and Dyna Blade or Dyna Blade and Spring Breeze would have been a good idea. Milky Way Wishes is the longest and most intricate of the modes, bringing in a unique mechanic that treats Kirby's copy abilities more like a Metroid power-up which was fun (though sometimes it did slow the pace sometimes with all the ability swapping me and my friend did) and the levels had a lot more meat to them than most of the game. Marx is obviously a very fun fight (right up there with Computer Virus) and feels like a true challenge of your skills through the game.
That all cumulates with the (secret) final challenge: The Arena, something else Super Star introduced to the series, and in turn inspired Smash Brothers' own All Star Mode. This is a very fun way to do a boss rush mode and Kirby feels particularly well suited for a boss rush format. What powers are you going to choose to go through it? For me and my friend, we began with me on Bomb and them on Mirror for an offense and defense combination, but following a good fight with Computer Virus we tried a Hammer and Mirror combo due to Hammer's stronger per-hit damage. But as we got better with guarding the use of Mirror for defense decreased and so we ended up with me on Bomb and my friend on Beam for a good ranged damage combo with less risk than Hammer. When do you use your tomatoes? Getting riskier and feeling when we could press the edge at low damage was critical to us finally beating it, which was immensely satisfying after three sessions of grinding it out.
Outside of all the gameplay stuff, Kirby Super Star is a very pretty game overall with Kirby being vibrant (I love the little hats they gave him), this isn't really graphics related but I do like that each of the Helpers is their own unique enemy with their own portraits. Kirby gets a variety of portraits and all of them have a lot of personality to it and that personality oozing out really just helps the game a lot overall. Kirby's unhappy "Ouch!" portrait or him looking very nervous when he has the Bomb ability are some real standouts, Sleep and Sword too. The music is also pretty good. Marx's Theme, anyone? Gourmet Race obviously became a classic, although if you asked me for my favorite it would definitely be Meta Knight's Revenge.
Kirby Super Star was truly a game that shone more brightly the further into the game it got. The start is on the weak side, relying entirely on the charm of a polished Kirby experience more than anything, but by the time we get to Revenge of Meta Knight the game starts putting out serious bangers and leaves on a high note. High enough to surpass Kirby 64 as my favorite out of the admittedly-small-number of Kirby games I've beaten? No, but it is one I'd recommend people give a shot, especially if you have a friend with you!