Well, I bought this game at Wal-mart today because I didn't feel like waiting for it.
I have to say, at first, I was very pleased with it. I figured it was going to be pretty much the same as
the SNES version. Well, I was wrong. It far surpasses the SNES version. Every-time I thought it was the end, more
games kept popping up. I was able to perfect my file the same day I got it but, it was hard to do and this game has excellent re-play value. It would take any normal gamer at least a couple days to perfect. I'm not bragging, it's just that I had to play it non-stop until 2 in the morning... Not to mention I'm quite fast at these types of games. Anyway, I'd like to do a mini review on each of the different games. First, the ones from the SNES version.
Spring Breeze - This is the same as the SNES version pretty much. 3 levels and then a fight with King Dedede.
Dyna Blade - Again, the same as on the SNES. 4 different levels (2 secret item levels) and a fight with Dyna Blade.
The Great Cave Offensive - Another one from the SNES Version. One giant level with 60 hidden treasures to find.
Gourmet Race - From SNES, more like a mini-game where you race King Dedede in 3 races and try and get the most food.
Revenge of Metaknight - Another one from SNES, a timed adventure on an exploding ship. Metaknight waits at the end.
Milky Way Wishes - Last one from the SNES and perhaps my favorite. In this game, the enemies don't give you powers, instead, you need to find special ability trophies. Once you find them, anytime you want, you can have that power for unlimited use. Soar across 7 different planets, gather special abilities, and defeat Marx at the end.
Now, here are the new ones, special to the "Ultra" version.
Revenge of the King - This is like an extension of Spring Breeze. The levels are a bit more dark and mysterious.
The bosses are also harder and different looking.
Meta Knightmare Ultra - This is quite a long one. It's split up into 5 parts. Those five part are all from the SNES games shown above minus Gourmet Race. In this game, you play as Metaknight as have special abilities. In the touch screen, there is a sword shown with 4 special abilities. To use them, Metaknight needs to defeat enemies to store power in the sword. The sword's number goes up to 50 and each normal enemy gives about 2-3.
Special Abilities:
Knight Call - Calls up a "Swordy" partner to fight along side Mightknight until his HP reaches 0. Costs 2 points.
Meta Quick - Speeds Metaknight up for a short period of time. Costs 8 points.
Heal - Fully heals Metaknight and his partner (if one is present). Costs 10 points.
Mach Tornado - Defeats all enemies in the screen. Also does major damage to bosses. Costs 30 points.
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The Arena - This one is part of the SNES version but because it's coupled with the new version, I'll put it here.
The Arena was one of my favorite things back in the SNES version. It's a game where you fight every boss in the game (19) in a row with a short break to heal or get a special ability (5 max tomatoes and 2 random ability options per boss). In the very beginning, before you fight your first boss, you have your choice of any ability in the game (with some exceptions like Blast Kirby and Mic Kirby). Marx is waiting for you if you can reach the end.
The True Arena - This is the new version. Compared to this, The normal Arena is easy. This one only features 10 bosses but they are much harder than the previous ones. These are the new bosses from the new Kirby. It's pretty much the same as the normal arena except for a few deadly differences... First, instead of Max tomatoes to heal you, you now have normal tomatoes (only heal about 1/6th of max health). To add to that, the special ability selection is now down to one per match (technically there is a second but it's always a "sleep" ability). I don't even want to talk about the last boss in this arena...
Helper to Hero - In this game, you play as a helper that you choose. If you haven't played Superstar yet, a helper is someone Kirby can summon to help him in battle. They resemble the normal enemies you face through-out the game. This one is quite fun actually. There are 13 bosses to face and you only have one ability to use.
Anytime you clear it with one of the twenty helpers, you get a pretty little coin attached to verify that you beat it with that helper.
That's pretty much it except for the mini-games. I was actually a little depressed that the old mini-games weren't in this version because I really liked those. Well, once again it surprised me... They actually are on the game, it just takes a while to unlock them. Here they are along with the new ones.
Megaton Punch - One of the two from SNES. In this simple, yet entertaining mini-game, two players stand on two blocks of some sort of platform (concrete probably) and are given three timing challenges. The first one is a red bar that goes up and down. Hit it at the very top and it turns white. Second is two bulls-eye-like targets spinning in a circle. Match them up perfectly and they turn white. And finally the third one is similar to a pendulum rocking back and forth in front of this small circle. Match it up and it'll turn white. Depending on how you did, a star-like planet will split by the accuracy of the challenges. Match them all up perfectly and crack the planet it two. This is actually quite hard to do and I've probably only done it like 10-15 times.
Samurai Kirby - The second of the two from SNES. This is basically a reflex game with three difficulty levels.
Kirby and another enemy are facing each other, being very still... As soon as you see the marks you need to press the A button as fast as you can. If you do it before the marks appear, you'll get an X, get two X's and you lose. There is a sign that starts counting up very fast. The fastest time on the hardest difficulty, I think was 8.
I got a 0 a couple of times before, but I'm pretty sure it was just luck.
Here are the new ones...
Kirby Card Swipe - In this one, there are a number of cards shown face down. They are flipped up and all players can see them. A few seconds after, in the top screen, a picture is shown. The first player to match up the correct card, wins the first round. Once someone wins 3 rounds they are the winner.
Kirby on the Draw - Targets pop up randomly and players are awarded points depending on what they shoot. If a player shoots a bomb target points are reduced. Players have 8 shots to start with, to reload, the player must tap the bottom of the touch screen where the arrows are located. Obviously, the one with the most points wins.
Snack Tracks - The last of the mini-games. In this one, the Kirbies are lined up with a conveyor belt to their mouths. The goal is to get as much food into Kirby's mouth as possible. The only thing the player must do it tap the worms, bombs, and worms in maximum tomatoes to get rid of them and to make sure Kirby doesn't eat them. Also, rocks are present in harder difficulties. The player must tap them twice to rid them of the conveyor belt.
I think that just about covers the game. Other that what's listed above, a few extras include the Theater with 35 of the video clips through-out the game as well as the Sound Test (also in SNES) that includes all of the past and present music and sound effects.
Overall, I would highly recommend this game to anyone with a DS, especially Kirby fans.
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Kirby Super Star Ultra.
