Kirby’s Epic Yarn for the Nintendo Wii is not a game only for kids, but for any living creature on earth. He may be pink and sound like a baby, but don’t let the exterior foul you, Kirby is one mean puff ball. To say that the story is unusual would be an understatement, the game begins with Kirby eating a magical tomato and getting sucked into a sock and finds himself in Patch land, a world where everything is made of yarn. There, he meets prince Fluff, a little blue guy with some angry eyebrows and together go on a quest to save the Patch land. Like other recent first party Nintendo titles, this game uses the Wiimote only, no Nunchuk. You hold it sideways, like any old school controller. The controls are simple, one button jumps and the other turns Kirby’s body into a whip, so you can hit enemies or grab on to things.
If you have played other platformers before, then gameplay wise you’ll know what to do, just move to the right side of the screen until you reach the finish line. Your goal is simply to reach the end of the stage, while collecting as many jems and items as you can along the way. One important thing to note for this game is that you cannot die, you can leave the place for days and when you come back, you’ll find out you’re still alive. If you ever get hit bay an enemy or fall into a pit, you’ll get airlifted and carried a few steps back, your only penalty is that your jems will spill allover the place, but even then you can grab most of them back.
Despite the easy difficulty, if you want to collect everything in the game, then you’re in for a challenge. Even after finishing the story, the average of completion would be around 60%, being impossible to grab everything the first time through. You will need a serious will power if you’re the collector type, because this game has a lot to collect.
There’s also 2 player co-op mode. One player controls Kirby and the other controls prince Puff. Both players share the same screen and the same pool of gems. Graphically, Epic yarn adopts a vibrant art style, everything has a textured look and the patchwork style resembles a bit Little Big Planet. However, it’s still amazing how good games can look on Wii, if given the right art style. The soundtrack is filled with funky jam and beautiful piano arrangements. You can even collect the songs in the game, by finding hidden CDs on each level.
Overall, Kirby’s main ingredient is Fun, playing this game is like eating a big bag of sugar, not to mention that some levels are even made of cakes and donuts. It aims the young audience, but it’s also for the kid inside you, if you remember the old school NDS platformers, than you’ll love this one, being a must play no matter the age.
