Back in June at Nintendo’s E3 2010 press conference, I was skeptical of a game titled Kirby’s Epic Yarn. The childish, yarn filled graphics didn’t appeal to me at first, and I laughed at the somewhat lame use of “Epic” in the title, especially considering the other “Epic” Wii release Disney’s Epic Mickey. After getting just a small taste of this new Kirby adventure, my skepticism of the title was completely thrown away. I was knitted into this epic yarn, and couldn’t get enough. I would even go as far as saying that Super Mario Galaxy 2 may not be a shoe-in for Wii game of the year.
This review is going to start with a statement that will be repeated mutliple times: this game is aimed at young children. The cute story, gameplay, graphics, sound, and atmosphere will all be appealing to a younger crowd. Thankfully, all of the sections that make up Epic Yarn will appeal to gamers of all ages. The game starts with Kirby eating a Metatomato while walking through Dream Land. Kirby quickly finds out that the Metatommato was owned by an evil wizard named Yin-Yarn, and he is not too pleased with Kirby eating it. In a fit of rage, Yin-Yarn sucks Kirby into a sock tied around his wist, turning sending Kirby to Patch Land where he becomes yarn. Being in Patch Land removes Kirby’s powers, so there is no sucking up baddies in this game. Shortly after ending up in Patch Land, Kirby meets Prince Fluff. Kirby and Prince Fluff quickly become friends, and Prince Fluff explains to Kirby that Yin-Yarn has separated the different patches that make up Patch Land. In order to sew them back together and defeat Yin-Yarn, Kirby and Prince Fluff must collect pieces the pieces of Golden Thread to sew Patch Land back together.
The quest to collect each piece of Golden Thread will have Kirby going from level to level, with traditional 2D platforming. The platforming is controlled with the Wii Remote in a horizontal position. Just like all other 25 side-scrollers on the Wii, this helps the game give off a retro vibe. The controls in Epic Yarn are very simple. The directional pad has you controlling Kirby, while pressing 1 will allow Kirby to attack enemies, and holding 1 allows Kirby to roll up enemies. Pressing 2 has Kirby jump. Apart from these basic platforming elements, Kirby has also gained some special powers in his transition to Patch Land. Holding down on the D-Pad turns Kirby into a weight, while pressing down twice turns Kirby into a fast moving car (sled in snow levels). Pressing the 2 button twice also turns Kirby into a parachute, which is perfectly to floating to other ledges. Jumping into specially marked portals will turn Kirby into a level-specific creation. This will turn Kirby into such things as: a yarn tank, yarn dolphin, yarn monster truck, and many others. Very few of these are ever repeated, which makes every level feel fresh. If I was ever bored by the basic platforming in Kirby’s Epic Yarn (which happened rarely) I was still excited to see what new creation Kirby will become.
In order to make the gameplay in Kirby’s Epic Yarn accessible to very young characters, Kirby is unable to “die”. During the level there are tons of beads that can be collected for points, and doing actions that would “kill” Kirby, result in loosing beads. This type of gameplay reminded me of Wario Land II on the Gameboy and Gameboy Colour. In Wario Land II, there were coins to collect. Instead of “killing” Wario, you simply lost coins. While this gameplay will be very fun for the audience that Kirby’s Epic Yarn is aimed at, more mature gamers may be turned away from it being “too easy”. Personally, I was okay with not having death as a consequence. It did make the game incredibly easy, but it also allowed me to just relax with the game, and not have to worry about difficulty. I would have liked a bit of a difficulty increase towards the end of the game, but it isn’t a neccesity. Hal Labratory and Nintendo knew their audience with Epic Yarn, and played to that audience perfectly.
While playing through Kirby’s Epic Yarn, I was constantly reminded by the graphics that this game is cute. The environments ooze with cuteness and will have you and anyone else watching, going “Aaaaah, that’s so cute!” Other than being cute, the graphics are also beautiful. The patchwork world is perfect for the Nintendo Wii, and show while the Wii may not be powerful, it can still have some gaphcially heavy-hitting games. It’s hard to explain with words just how visually astonishing Epic Yarn is.
Sound wise, Kirby’s Epic Yarn once again hits it out of the park. The game takes the classic Kirby theme, spruces it up a bit, and throws in some other great tracks to create an overall outstanding visual experience. Just like everything else in Kirby’s Epic Yarn, the sound is cute and appeals to a younger audience. I don’t say this often, but the soundtrack of Epic Yarn is something that I would buy on its own. The music of Kirby’s Epic yarn is outstanding, and sets a bar that other Wii games should aim for. Story segments in Epic Yarn are presented like a story book, and are fully narrated. The narrator of the story sounds fantastic and is a pleasure to listen to. The clear, crisp voice of the narrator is easy to listen to gets the story across quite well.
Overall, Kirby’s Epic Yarn is an outstanding video game. It is the perfect example of a game aiming to a young audience while also being appealing to gamers of all ages. The story, gameplay, graphics, and audio are all shining examples of video game development on the Nintendo Wii. Kirby may have not had a console appearance since 2002′s Kirby Air Ride, but his return is more than welcome.
PROS
- Fantastic Story
- Great Gameplay
- Visually Stunning Graphics
- Outstanding Audio
CONS
- A Litte Too Easy
