Kirby Star Allies

This game plays itself. Never in a Kirby game do I keep my copy ability no matter the damage done, save for a boss fight. For one thing the music is inspired, gone are the perfectly manic arrangements of Jun Ishikawa, or the vaudevillian show-stoppers of Akira Miyagawa. This is Jazz fusion with Casiopea and T-Square, and I would like to applaud HAL for going there.

The main gimmick in this game is multiplayer, which unfortunately cannot be done because of COVID-19 and the lack of online functionality. Kirby Star Allies is forever stuck in a capsule before the virus, further proving that Kirby is a stagnant franchise.

Kirby Star Allies is a tribute to the cuteness and simplicity that can be offered in a platformer. This is probably a bit TOO easy and simple for me, but I still think I'm missing one or two of those main puzzle pieces and missing one secret level. I haven't give the other games mode much of a try yet either, but once I finished the Story Mode, I realized this game is made for the more casual gamer in mind. Even the final boss felt a bit less traditional Kirby. The art and controls of the game were great and fluid, but overall the game lacked some classic Kirby-feel. The soundtrack isn't bad, but missing some of my favorites (but that doesn't mean they should be reusing the original songs over and over again).

I still really enjoyed the game and think the multiplayer aspect is great, even though it can get extremely hectic and confusing.

Free DLC is a plus (even if it is just characters, its good to see this practice going forward with major release Switch titles).

Overall the game felt unfinished and a tad short, yet still was fun and exciting to play. I would recommend this game to anyone looking for a fun Switch title or any previous Kirby fans!


After playing through most of the mini-games, I can see them adding some bonus fun and game time. They are similar to other Kirby game mini-games in which you redo stages or re-battle many bosses in a row.

This $60 game plays the way a $20 appetizer eats. You pay all that money, but it's still not a full meal.

Art design gets two thumbs up though! And it's definitely a fun game for casual multiplayer.

I gotta say that I’m very unimpressed here with Kirby’s latest outing on Switch. Swooping in at 80 dollars Canadian this game’s already a problem before you even press the start button. You may have heard some folks describe this game as just MORE of the same Kirby; but to be frank this is very much LESS Kirby; less in a sense that the two games prior to this release (Kirby: Triple Deluxe and Planet Robobot) were far more innovative, challenging, and meatier experiences than this new game despite costing a faction of the price on 3DS. The main focus of Kirby Star Allies is multiplayer yet without interesting level designs and ability mechanics this thing just falls flat.

Look I know that beating down on Kirby for a lack of story is like kicking a disabled kid who fell out of his wheelchair, but is it me or are we getting even less context and story background with every new Kirby release? Planet Robobot had a lack of story sure; but there were still charming character moments and over the top set pieces that warranted mercy points. This game has nothing, like you get 30 seconds of some wizard looking dude corrupting the hearts of some people and then you’re off to the races. You later meet a woefully uninteresting henchmen type trio who describe their goals of awakening their dark lord for whatever reason and then plan to… Hell if I know, I mean I only beat the damn game… I’ll surrender the notion that the game’s emphasis on friendship and teamwork is cute, but there’s nothing below the surface here.

Mechanically this game feels like every other Kirby game only you have a gang of three other minions following you around possessing various abilities of your choosing. On paper this is a decent idea because you’re able to power each other up with elemental upgrades and mix and match abilities in order to solve puzzles. The problem is that these puzzles are EXTRODINARALLY easy and more often than not the computer AI was more of a hindrance than anything; they’d get themselves killed, change abilities without my consent, or kill enemies who’s abilities I’m trying to collect. It’s obvious at least to me that this game was really designed to flourish with human teammates, but hell if I could convince any of my friends to play this game with me. I did quite like the “special buddies” you can unlock like King Dedede or Meta Knight; they always had my back.

I felt this game was suspiciously short I mean I completed it in about 4 hours and that’s including all of the bonus stages and trying out some of the lacklustre mini games. I’d say that the bosses were fairly straight forward for Kirby, the only time the game really got wild is with the final boss battle which is to be expected for the franchise, but even that fight pales in comparison to previous final boss fights in the series. I was really looking for this game to present something in the way of unique or interesting level design concepts but this thing really came up short, so much so that this has got to be the most uninspired Kirby game in over a decade. If you really want some great Kirby games then I’d suggest picking up Planet Robobot or Epic Yarn, or download some of the classics like Kirby’s Adventure or Crystal Shards. This game is not worth your money unless you're desperate to find a distraction for your kids.