I was struck a month or so ago with a vicious bug to play a bunch of Kirby after a friend was talking about how they were playing the post-launch content in Kirby Star Allies. I thought what better game to start with than Star Allies itself, as I'd never given much time to the content other than the main story to begin with. I spent some 20-odd hours playing through the post-launch Heroes in Another Dimension mode as well as the Guest Star ???? Star Allies Go! mode and the The Ultimate Choice modes. They were so substantial, particularly the Heroes in Another Dimension mode, that I figured I'd do a writeup just for them, if only a short one.
For a quick recap, Kirby Star Allies' big thing is that it's a 4 player Kirby game, not unlike Return to Dreamland on the Wii was, but the thing this time is that instead of a bunch of Kirbys, you can turn the powers you grab into buddies like you could in Kirby Super Star on the SNES. You can even add elemental powers to physical weapons and such for even more combo power, and it's a really fun time. At launch, there were also a few special guest stars who you could play as after you rescued them in the game, King Dedede, MetaKnight, and Waddle Dee. However, after launch, several batches of more guest starts were added based on further Kirby games (from the group of animal companions in Dreamland 2, to Marx from Super Star, to Dark MetaKnight from Amazing Mirror, and so so many more), and all of these 15+ guest stars play super differently to everything else in the game, and have really cool intricacies as to how they play. You can play through the normal game's levels as these guys, which is fun in and of itself, but you can also play the bonus modes with them, and that's why I felt they really shined.
First of these modes that's been in the game since launch is the Guest Star ???? mode, which in the original game functioned as basically an hour-ish long speedrun of a bunch of levels from the proper game with most of the bosses as well (including a new boss at the end exclusive to this mode) where you have to play as one of the Star Allies, and Kirby isn't a playable option. This wasn't something I had much patience to play through when the game came out, but it's a lot more fun if you play as the guest stars (which you can do after beating it with a normal enemy once). Each of them has a special intro stage that sorta runs you through their particular unique abilities, and they also have a special stage near the end of the run (and sometimes a few peppered in the middle of their run as well) as well that cater to their particular playstyles. I ended up having so much fun that I played through it as all of them, and while all aren't equally fun, I had a blast doing it. The new characters just play SO differently that it really did feel like a great new challenge every time despite the levels largely being the same.
The big thing that shows off these characters best is the Heroes in Another Dimension mode, though. This is a special challenge mode that they added once all the guest stars had been put into the game, and in it you play through a series of challenges as each and every one of the guest stars. This is a lot of puzzle platforming as well as some new extra hard boss fights, and they're put together really well! There are 120 hearts to collect along the way hidden behind a bunch of puzzles and reflex tests that you'll do with the guest stars' unique abilities, and if you manage to get 100 of them, you'll get a special boss at the end and unlock the hidden final guest star! It's all around a pretty darn tough mode, especially those boss fights, but it's a really good time, and well worth checking out if you enjoyed your time through Star Allies the first time.
The last thing I played was The Ultimate Choice, which is this game's Arena mode. It has several levels of difficulty, and you don't get the percentage bonus for completing it until you've done it at the highest level of 8 (Soul Melter difficulty). This is a pretty damn hard mode to do, even with the ability to pick exactly who you have in your 4-person team from the very powerful guest stars (I found Marx to be the best and safest pick, generally), but I actually managed it! I never thought I'd be able to get this mode done and get my save file to 100% completion, so I was pretty proud of myself for finally doing it~. Upon beating it, you even get told a secret code to unlock a super SUPER hard Soul Melter EX difficulty mode, and it's the same difficulty code that unlocks the harder mode in the original Kirby's Dreamland, which I thought was super cute ^w^ (I didn't try that mode though. Normal Soul Melter was hard enough for me XP).
Verdict: Highly Recommended. Giving a recommendation for what's basically free content is a little weird, but it's well worth going back and trying if you enjoyed Star Allies back around when it came out and are feeling the pull to go back and try some more Kirby fun. The normal modes in the base game were already good, but the guest stars add a lot more fun into them, and Heroes in Another Dimension is another really nice addition to an already pretty big package. It all adds up to be a pretty darn impressive free bunch of stuff added to the game, and if you like Kirby, Star Allies is more worth picking up than ever before in my opinion~.
For a quick recap, Kirby Star Allies' big thing is that it's a 4 player Kirby game, not unlike Return to Dreamland on the Wii was, but the thing this time is that instead of a bunch of Kirbys, you can turn the powers you grab into buddies like you could in Kirby Super Star on the SNES. You can even add elemental powers to physical weapons and such for even more combo power, and it's a really fun time. At launch, there were also a few special guest stars who you could play as after you rescued them in the game, King Dedede, MetaKnight, and Waddle Dee. However, after launch, several batches of more guest starts were added based on further Kirby games (from the group of animal companions in Dreamland 2, to Marx from Super Star, to Dark MetaKnight from Amazing Mirror, and so so many more), and all of these 15+ guest stars play super differently to everything else in the game, and have really cool intricacies as to how they play. You can play through the normal game's levels as these guys, which is fun in and of itself, but you can also play the bonus modes with them, and that's why I felt they really shined.
First of these modes that's been in the game since launch is the Guest Star ???? mode, which in the original game functioned as basically an hour-ish long speedrun of a bunch of levels from the proper game with most of the bosses as well (including a new boss at the end exclusive to this mode) where you have to play as one of the Star Allies, and Kirby isn't a playable option. This wasn't something I had much patience to play through when the game came out, but it's a lot more fun if you play as the guest stars (which you can do after beating it with a normal enemy once). Each of them has a special intro stage that sorta runs you through their particular unique abilities, and they also have a special stage near the end of the run (and sometimes a few peppered in the middle of their run as well) as well that cater to their particular playstyles. I ended up having so much fun that I played through it as all of them, and while all aren't equally fun, I had a blast doing it. The new characters just play SO differently that it really did feel like a great new challenge every time despite the levels largely being the same.
The big thing that shows off these characters best is the Heroes in Another Dimension mode, though. This is a special challenge mode that they added once all the guest stars had been put into the game, and in it you play through a series of challenges as each and every one of the guest stars. This is a lot of puzzle platforming as well as some new extra hard boss fights, and they're put together really well! There are 120 hearts to collect along the way hidden behind a bunch of puzzles and reflex tests that you'll do with the guest stars' unique abilities, and if you manage to get 100 of them, you'll get a special boss at the end and unlock the hidden final guest star! It's all around a pretty darn tough mode, especially those boss fights, but it's a really good time, and well worth checking out if you enjoyed your time through Star Allies the first time.
The last thing I played was The Ultimate Choice, which is this game's Arena mode. It has several levels of difficulty, and you don't get the percentage bonus for completing it until you've done it at the highest level of 8 (Soul Melter difficulty). This is a pretty damn hard mode to do, even with the ability to pick exactly who you have in your 4-person team from the very powerful guest stars (I found Marx to be the best and safest pick, generally), but I actually managed it! I never thought I'd be able to get this mode done and get my save file to 100% completion, so I was pretty proud of myself for finally doing it~. Upon beating it, you even get told a secret code to unlock a super SUPER hard Soul Melter EX difficulty mode, and it's the same difficulty code that unlocks the harder mode in the original Kirby's Dreamland, which I thought was super cute ^w^ (I didn't try that mode though. Normal Soul Melter was hard enough for me XP).
Verdict: Highly Recommended. Giving a recommendation for what's basically free content is a little weird, but it's well worth going back and trying if you enjoyed Star Allies back around when it came out and are feeling the pull to go back and try some more Kirby fun. The normal modes in the base game were already good, but the guest stars add a lot more fun into them, and Heroes in Another Dimension is another really nice addition to an already pretty big package. It all adds up to be a pretty darn impressive free bunch of stuff added to the game, and if you like Kirby, Star Allies is more worth picking up than ever before in my opinion~.