Early in the lifespan of the Nintendo DS, the good folks over at HAL Laboratory released an experimental title in the popular Kirby series that used nothing but the stylus and touch screen to navigate Dreamland. During a time where Nintendo’s latest “gimmick” was declared dead in the water with the emergence of Sony’s first handheld, it was a brave move to take such an established franchise and change the formula so drastically on a system that was still trying to find its footing. Thankfully, this risk was rewarded when Kirby: Canvas Curse became a fondly remembered part of the character’s history, highlighted by its innovative level design, high amount of replayability, and its advanced difficulty, but with little expectation that anything like it would ever see the light of day again. Nearly ten years later, I wasn’t the only one surprised when Kirby and the Rainbow Curse was found on the show floor at E3, bringing this brand of excellence exclusively to the Wii U with an added co-op mode and a gorgeous Claymation art style. But despite our fond memories, does Rainbow Curse prove that the formula still works?

Rainbow Curse reintroduces us to Kirby and his foe turned friend, Bandana Waddle Dee as they’re kicking back and enjoying the peaceful life. Out of nowhere, a black hole opens in the sky, draining Kirby’s planet of its color and freezing everyone in place. It’s not until Elline, a fairy fleeing out of the hole, uses her power over paint to reanimate Kirby and Waddle Dee back to life. In order to save Dreamland, the three heroes travel through the portal in order to stop the one responsible for the color theft, while saving Elline’s world in the process.

If you’re unfamiliar with the premise of these touch based Kirby games, the pink puffball is almost always in ball form. It’s up to the player to help Kirby through each of the game’s stages by drawing paths on the Game Pad for him to roll on. As the game continues, what simply starts as drawing paths becomes creating obstacles to reverse his momentum, drawing barriers to protect him from stage hazards, and building momentum to move him into hard to reach areas. When enemies become a problem, a simple tap of our Kirby ball performs a charge attack, defeating enemies in his path while destroying most objects that might block his path.

As hidden areas become harder to reach and enemies, (such as bosses,) become more resilient, the combat abilities that Kirby has at his disposal become more varied. To start, collecting 100 stars, (or tapping the Kirby amiibo on the pad,) activates a charged rolling attack. This ability wipes out anything unlucky enough to be in your path, as well as causing huge damage during the game’s boss fights, (assuming you can tap the screen fast enough.) When rolling won’t get the job done, Elline helps add some variety by transforming Kirby into one of three vehicles, including a tank, submarine, and a rocket. Each type plays drastically different from each other, offering some much appreciated variety into the mix. The tank involves tapping the screen where you want Kirby’s missiles to land, while the sub navigates the game’s often hard to control underwater sections with ease while automatically shooting off torpedoes, and the rocket flies in whatever direction you lead it to, forcing the player to stay on their toes while trying to reach the end of each level. All three control well and are fun to play in their own way, which definitely adds to an already enjoyable experience.

But what about your friends who might want to join in? Thanks to the aforementioned Waddle Dee, they can do just that. Supporting up to three additional players, the Waddles play much more like you would expect from a traditional game in the long running series. Using their spear to attack and a multi jump to climb hard to reach areas, they serve as a strong support character to help advancement through the stages easier. The fact that they can’t die and can’t advance past where the main player is, all while getting pulled ahead when player 1 decides to advance, establishes a somewhat restrictive, yet strangely addicting way to play with a group, since no one is able to keep the group from advancing, (which is a major flaw in co-op platformers such as New Super Mario Bros. Wii and even Kirby Epic Yarn.) Certain game play elements are even added specifically for multiplayer, including a mid boss fight in certain stages where floating hands that only Waddle Dee can damage attempt to carry Kirby out of the stage and towards certain doom. It breathes new life into the story mode, making it feel like a unique experience in its own right.

Still, as addicting as it may be, Rainbow Curse does come up short in a few key areas, especially when compared to its predecessor. First off, Kirby’s abilities are fairly restrictive, even with the extra vehicle levels. His trademark copy ability is missing in action, so what you have at your disposal in terms of attacks at the start of each stage are all you get. It’s true that you can use the Meta Knight and King Dedede amiibo to unlock their abilities, (assuming you can find them,) but only being allowed to use them once a day on one stage almost defeats the purpose. Kirby is also the only playable main character, so if you were hoping for a playable Meta Knight, Dedede, or about a half a dozen cast members to keep your time occupied like the original, you’re going to end up disappointed. Not helping the situation is out of the game’s eight bosses, the second set of three are just reskins of the first three. At least the same-ness of the bosses and protagonist are shared qualities. Equality is big in Dreamland!

Without trying too hard, my first playthough ended with me having about half of the stages completed at the highest rank, (based on how many stars you can collect,) most of the hidden treasure chests unlocked, (which contain some really cool clay modeled statues,) and the majority of the end of stage diary pages collected. Clocking in at a brief six hours with 90% completion, seeing everything the game has to offer shouldn’t take more than a day or two, even if every minute is full of excellent level design and game play concepts. However, most of the issues with length and repetitiveness disappear if you’re big on the co-op mode, or the unlockable challenge stages. These maintain the format of the bonus stages from the main game where you have to uncover a treasure chest within 15 seconds in groups of four, rather than the standard single challenge in the main game. Add to the fact that Rainbow Curse is budget priced, and it’s suddenly not hard to see this truly innovative title as worthy of the purchase price.

When it’s all said and done, does Kirby and the Rainbow Curse have its share of issues? Definitely. Is it overshadowed by its much bigger, much more balanced and more varied predecessor? Without a doubt. But that doesn’t mean that this Wii U rebirth isn’t every bit as worthy of your time as the original. Despite its issues with a lack of variety in primary combat abilities, unbalanced difficulty scale and a stripped down amount of content, what we’re left with is a special kind of platformer that throws typical conventions out the window. With an enjoyable story mode, a co-op mode that completely changes the dynamic of how stages are approached, and a series of challenges that will keep even veteran Canvas Curse players on their toes, Rainbow Curse ends up as another solid game in the Wii U’s growing library of excellence.

tl;dr

+ Some of the best level design you’ll find in modern platformers.

+ Vehicle levels and added obstacles keep the main game from feeling too monotonous.

+ The challenging story mode is complimented by unlockable bonus stages in the challenge mode.

+ Co-Op adds a layer to the dynamic of how the game is approached.

+ Its beautiful clay inspired graphics.

– Kriby as the only playable character without his copy ability makes the main stages eventually feel repetitive, which is further emphasized by repeated bosses.

– Unbalanced difficulty.

– Short playthrough for a one and done game if you’re not interested in challenge modes or co-op.

– Story mode challenge stages set you up for failure.

 Final Score: 3.5/5