Kirby Star Allies
A 2.5D platformer with cooperative ally mechanics.
Kirby Star Allies, a platform game for the Nintendo Switch, came out in 2018 from HAL Laboratory and Nintendo. As the twelfth main Kirby game, players guide Kirby through levels to stop the priest Hyness from awakening a destructive force. The game had mixed reviews at launch, praised for its graphics and music but criticized for being too easy. After free updates added tougher challenges, opinions shifted positive. It sold 4.38 million copies by late 2022, becoming a major Switch hit.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- HAL Laboratory
- Publisher
- Nintendo
- Director
- Shinya Kumazaki
- Producer
- Tadashi Kamitake, Hitoshi Yamagami
- Designer
- Kenichiro Kita
- Programmer
- Keita Tanifuji
- Artist
- Riki Fuhrmann
- Composer
- Hirokazu Ando
- Jun Ishikawa
- Yuuta Ogasawara
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
In Kirby Star Allies, players guide the pink hero through side-scrolling 2.5D stages, and he can bring up to three friends along. Kirby tosses hearts at foes to recruit them as allies, and these companions can be controlled by the game's AI or by other players in co-op. With allies in tow, Kirby gains special attacks that blend his powers with theirs, a returning idea from Kirby: Super Star that last appeared in Kirby: Squeak Squad. Some elemental fusions last until the power is swapped, while others are one-shot moves like those from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. With a full team of three, Kirby can trigger Friend Actions such as Friend Train or Friend Star on certain levels. Collecting 100 stars scattered around stages earns an extra life, and doors serve as respawn checkpoints. The Dream Friend system lets players summon past Kirby characters with expanded move sets, including Bandana Waddle Dee, King Dedede, and Meta Knight, with more added through updates.
Plot
On the Jambandra space station far from Planet Popstar, a dark crystal heart explodes due to an imperfection in a ritual, sending Jamba Heart fragments into space. Many characters, including King Dedede and Meta Knight, are possessed by the hearts that land on Popstar. A pink heart hits Kirby, giving him the ability to befriend enemies by throwing hearts. Kirby investigates after noticing Waddle Dees bringing food to Castle Dedede. After defeating Meta Knight and King Dedede and freeing them from the Jamba Heart's influence, a fortress called the Jambastion lands on Popstar. Kirby defeats the Three Mage-Sisters—Francisca, Flamberge, and Zan Partizanne—and flies with his friends to space. They breach the Jambandra Base and battle Zan again before meeting Hyness, an evil cleric planning to restore the dark force Void Termina using the Jamba Hearts. Kirby uses a Friend Pedestal to summon the Friend Star, which transforms into the Star Allies Sparkler via four Heart Spears. After overcoming Void Termina's humanoid and bird forms, its true form appears as a purplish pink cluster with three dark eye-like spots that can resemble Kirby's face. Kirby destroys Void Termina with the Star Allies Sparkler, which is destroyed in the explosion, but Kirby uses a Warp Star to return everyone safely home.
Development and release
Kirby Star Allies came from HAL Laboratory and was put out by Nintendo. Its core idea of Kirby creating multiple helpers is believed to trace back to a cancelled GameCube Kirby game, as shown in that project’s trailer. Work on the title started during the franchise’s 25th anniversary. It was first hinted at under the working name Kirby at E3 2017, with the full name revealed during a Nintendo Direct in September 2017. The Nintendo Switch release date was 16 March 2018, and a free demo covering two levels hit the eShop on 3 March 2018. Developer Shinya Kumazaki handled the world map design and took advantage of the Switch’s ability to produce more open, higher-resolution visuals. The team decided to spread out the screen, making Kirby smaller while keeping his shape clear and showing more of the background at once, which stopped players from feeling lost. Downloadable content was meant to shine a light on older Kirby games. Instead of building on an existing story, the developers aimed for a fresh experience with the characters; Kumazaki felt a complicated plot would spoil the fun. A rule was set to pick just one character from each past game to represent the main series.
Reception
Kirby Star Allies received a mixed or average rating on Metacritic based on 83 critic reviews. It was nominated for Family Game of the Year at the 22nd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. Critics praised the visual appearance and strategic elements. Mitch Vogel from Nintendo Life called the visuals top notch but wanted a more distinctive design. Destructoid's Chris Carter praised the gorgeous rendered backgrounds and said recruiting enemies goes beyond an adorable gimmick. EGM appreciated the friend concept for keeping puzzles and elements fresh. IGN's Brendan Graeber liked the layer of strategy and rearranging friends for different puzzle solutions. Critics also appreciated the soundtrack, calling it catchy and noting its gradual change. GameSpot's Peter Brown praised the visuals as perfectly executed and said the soundtrack provided ample motivation and entertainment. However, critics complained of a lack of difficulty, which induced a sense of being uninvolved. Polygon's Jeremy Parrish called the game predictable and familiar, saying it plays things incredibly safe compared to recent titles like Kirby: Planet Robobot. Game Informer's Kyle Hilliard found the game forgettable and felt the difficulty made him feel as if he was barely playing. After the final post-launch content, some critics reevaluated the game positively. Kotaku's Stephen Totilo commented that while the main game was a cakewalk, the additional Heroes in Another Dimension mode was a head-scratcher and reflex-tester, calling Star Allies one of the most-improved Nintendo games on the Switch. Upon launch, it became the fastest selling Kirby game in the United Kingdom. It sold 222,031 copies in its first week in Japan, topping the all format sales chart. By the end of March 2018, it had sold over a million copies. As of March 2019, sales reached 2.56 million, and by 31 December 2022, the CESA Games White Papers reported 4.38 million copies sold.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who designed Kirby Star Allies?
Kirby Star Allies was designed by Kenichiro Kita.
Who composed the music for Kirby Star Allies?
The music for Kirby Star Allies was composed by Hirokazu Ando, Jun Ishikawa and Yuuta Ogasawara.
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