PixlBit

Games of the Decade #07/Blog a Day #24

Hello everyone, how are you?

Kirby Kirby Kirby that's a name you should know. Kirby Kirby Kirby he's the star of this post. You know the rest. I love Kirby, I mean who doesn't? Kirby has been around for a very long time and he has been in a number of games of a variety of genres. Kirby is no stranger to being put in strange situations when it comes to his games, Kirby just works well no matter what type of game it is. But at the end of the day, Kirby's bread-and-butter or strawberry shortcake in this case will always be 2D platformers. For this one, we will be looking back one of my personal favorite Kirby games known as Kirby: Planet Robobot.

                                                       Music in the game is really good ♥

Backstory time: The year was 2016 and that year was pretty dry in terms of releases for the Wii U but it was a different story for the 3DS as it was getting some really good support. Among those games was Kirby: Planet Robobot, the latest Kirby game at the time. At first glance, Planet Robobot looked like another Kirby game thatused the same engine that Triple Deluxe used. But something caught me eye and that was that Kirby was piloting a mech suit. It felt like a strange addition to the series but it looked neat. Question is, was the game good with this new addition?

Kirby Planet Robobot starts off with Kirby sleeping and pretty much just enjoying his life until suddenly a massive mothership known as the Access Ark appears in the skies of Dream Land. The ark suddenly launches an attack and begins mechanizing Pop Star, Kirby's home planet. King Dedede and Meta Knight try to stop its attacks but the massive spaceship proves too much for them. Kirby apparently slept through the whole attack but it's now up to him to restore his planet back to it's normanl, natural state and set things right.

Gameplay in Planet Robobot is largely the same if you have played Triple Deluxe as it uses the same engine but the biggest addition to the already familiar formula is the Robobot Armor. While piloting the Robobot Armor you can destroy various obstacles that only the armor can. You can also lift really large objects, activate certain switches, and defeat larger enemies. There are some areas you can only get to with the number and there are certain puzzles you can only solve while in the armor. One thing I love about the armor itself that while it is available to use in many levels, it is not overused to the point that it will get old or get intrusive to the level design.

                             Kirby has his own Skell from Xenoblade Chronicles X now

Like Kirby, the Robobot Armor even has abilities as well. You can get abilities for the armor by scanning certain enemies which can grant you abilities like flamethrowers to giant blades to name a few. Certain abilities with the armor are needed to solve a number of puzzles as well. The armor even has more tricks up its sleeve as it can transform into a number of vehicles too which are really neat. It's as versatile as Kirby himself. But Kirby himself has some new abilities as well which are a result of the mchanization that happened.

The levels themselves aren't hard but have their own little secrets to find like Code Cubes which are used to unlock more levels on the map to stickers that allow you to personalize your Robobot Armor. One thing I love about the levels is all the little details going on in the game, especially in the background like all the mechanization clashing with all the natural environments that are part of Kirby's home. More like modernization going on. 

"But Captain N, where can I play this game?" On the 3DS. The game came out in 2016 so it could prove a bit difficult to find a new copy at a decent price but you can always opt for a used one if you want. Or you can just get a digital copy but I don't think I've ever seen this game on sale though. The game also a number of different modes as well from a boss rush mode to some mini-games and even the return of a fan favorite which is essentially a mode for speedrunners feature a fan favorite character. If you do see it on sale, definitely grab it though.

                           It was really surreal seeing cars and buildings in Dream Land

Final Thoughts: Kirby games are always a delight to play, they never fail to put a smile on my face and Kirby: Planet Robobot is no exception. I really love the theme the game is going for and if you pay attention, you can see that the story is quite dark, even for a Kirby game but Kirby is no stranger to dark plots in his games if you can believe that. The levels are really fun and I love how the armor is intergrated in the levels that allow you to pilot it. The music is really well done and I love that it has little sci-fi elements to it which kinda reminds me of the Mario Galaxy games in a way. It also has one of my most favorite final boss fights in the series which is full of pure Kirby fan service.

I feel like the game and the plot was really ambitious for a Kirby game. Usually, Kirby doesn't really need the help of any sort of special equipment or anything because he's such a versatile character. But seeing him pilot a mech suit is oddly satisfying and I like that the series has an element of modernization on Kirby's world. When you think of places in Kirby's world, you think of lush green environments, volcanoes, deserts, ruins, oceans and more. Not buildings, vehicles, labs, and industrialization.

The name of the corporation is called the Haltmann Work Corporation and its CEO Max Profitt Haltmann. Kirby is basically fighting back against a corportion or capitalism that intends to harvest Kirby's world for its resources to make a quick buck. Kirby represents nature fighting back against industrialization that wants to destroy his world, which if you think about, it represents the stuff going on in our world too. Notice how in many abandoned buildings in our world nature has taken over where it once stood. The message in this game is telling us to take care of our planet and not to squander our resources. Makes you think doesn't it? All of this present in a Kirby game.

                            Well all live in Kirby's world, he's only allowing us to live in it.

Well that's it for this one. I'll be back for number 6 soon as soon as I help Kirby restore his planet.