After watching the preview video for Kirby’s Epic Yarn, I have once again been thinking about what it is Nintendo does that makes us all smile. Admittedly, I have never been much of a Kirby fan. I played one of the Gameboy games. I always thought Kirby 64 was a really cool game, in theory, but I never actually played the game. I also love Kirby, as a character, in the Super Smash Bros. games, cheap as he is. What alchemy is it that Nintendo brews that ensnares us all?
The patchwork art style of the game is a beautiful mix of children’s craft time. Yoshi’s Story definitely comes to mind because of Nintendo’s happy-go-lucky use of color and light. The textile look and feel of the game is reminiscent of Little Big Planet. I hope the WH-imsy of the latter title is represented in the game. But, the mechanics of the game are just as intriguing.
In true to Kirby fashion, he turns into different objects that will help him on his journey. Seeing him bounce around on a surfboard, as he glides across the environment is smile inducingly cute. The small U.F.O. Kirby flying through the air also will make even the most jaded gamer smile. The small pink sports car that he transforms into brings back childhood memories of Micro Machines.
The use of the yarn in the game is going to lead to very open-ended gameplay. The same people who tried to recreate the developer speed run videos from New Super Mario Bros. Wii are going to attack this game with the same OCD behavior. Using the yarn to change the environments is going to lead to some pretty interesting Easter Eggs. In the trailer, when Kirby grabbed on to the zipper attached to a building and pulled cloth wall down, we weren’t able to see what was hiding underneath, but there will probably be many opporotunities like this to open up secrets. Later he activates a lever with his yarn that collapses the environment to make it easier for him to jump across a chasm. Upon entering a building, later in the trailer, there isn’t a screen change but we just see his body walking and jumping under the cloth. This brought the biggest smile to my face, if only because it reminds me of my cat snaking through the sheets of my bed.
Nintendo’s ability to take the stale genre of the platformer and innovate and perfect it in small, useful ways is the reason behind their continued dominance. There are few developers that could make a grown man smile or giggle while watching this pastel covered video. There are even fewer that could make a game that will appeal to men and children alike. While Little Big Planet did appeal to young and old alike, as always Nintendo is paramount of these developers.
