Kirby and the Rainbow Curse Still Answers Only to the Stylus

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse turns the Wii U GamePad into a paintbrush. The 2015 platform game, developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo, asks players to draw rainbow-colored clay ropes on the touchscreen to guide a ball-shaped Kirby through a hand-sculpted world. It is a sequel to the 2005 Nintendo DS title Kirby: Canvas Curse, and it knows exactly what it wants to be.

Trailer, via Nintendo of America.

Kirby Stuck in Ball Form

Kirby cannot walk here. He rolls, and the player draws the path. Making him pass through loops speeds him up; tapping him triggers a spinning attack. Every 100 stars collected unlocks a Star Dash, which grows Kirby large enough to charge through blocks that are normally indestructible.

The touchscreen is the whole game. That is the gamble, and it mostly pays off.

Up to three extra players can join with Wii Remotes as Bandana Waddle Dees. They carry Kirby and attack enemies. During levels, an evil hand may try to capture him, and only the Waddle Dees can damage it. The design gives a solo game a genuine couch co-op mode, which the Wii U needed.

Submarine, Rocket and Tank

Kirby’s transformations return, much as they worked in Kirby’s Epic Yarn. He becomes a submarine, a rocket and a tank, each one altering how a level plays. In underwater sections he wears a swim mask. When his power runs low, a clay bandage appears on his head.

The details are small and they land. A bandage as a health meter is the kind of idea that could only exist in a game made of clay.

Elline and the Seven Worlds

The story opens in Dream Land, where Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee are playing. A hole opens in the sky and drains the color from everything, stopping the world cold. Elline, a paintbrush fairy from Seventopia, escapes through the portal, fleeing several grab hands, and restores color to Kirby and Waddle Dee.

She explains that her best friend Claycia turned evil and used the colors of Planet Popstar to build seven worlds, each made from a color of the rainbow. Kirby, Waddle Dee and Elline set off for Seventopia to stop her.

The final boss stage reveals Claycia was possessed by the Dark Crafter, a force that wants to drain all color from a place. Kirby defeats it, it dissipates and explodes, and the group returns color to Popstar. The ending shows Claycia and Elline making a bushel of apples for Kirby, then the words “THE END.”

28 Levels, 48 Challenges

The main story runs 28 levels. Challenge Mode adds 48 more. Hidden treasure chests sit in each level, some locked behind a puzzle or a timed room, and they unlock clay figures and music tracks. Elline’s diary pages arrive at the end of every level.

Amiibo support covers the Kirby, King Dedede and Meta Knight figures from the Super Smash Bros. line. Kirby’s figure lets him Star Dash at any time, King Dedede’s grants extra HP, and Meta Knight’s boosts his spinning attack.

Here is the running order of what the game asks of you:

What the Clay Does and Does Not Fix

The art style is the reason to play. It resembles claymation, and the developers used real claymation for reference and for promotional material. It is not a filter over a normal platformer. The world looks modeled, and the soundtrack and general charm carry the same care.

The gameplay is where the argument starts. Drawing lines instead of pressing right is a real idea, but it puts a screen between the player and Kirby at all times. Loops that speed him up can also feel fussy. The evil hand that only the Waddle Dees can hurt is a co-op hook that does nothing for anyone playing alone, which is most people.

Ranking what holds up:

1. The clay art direction, which has no real competition on the Wii U.
2. The soundtrack, which is doing more work than the levels ask of it.
3. Elline and the seven-world structure, which gives the color premise a shape.
4. The touch controls, which are the point and also the problem.
5. The amiibo bonuses, which are small conveniences gated behind figures.

The game underperformed commercially. That is not surprising. It arrived on a console with a small audience and asked that audience to accept a control scheme no other platformer used.

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse is worth playing for how it looks and sounds, and worth tolerating for how it controls. The mixed reception is fair, but the mix leans kinder than the sales suggest. A game this specific does not need to be a hit to matter.

claymation · HAL Laboratory · Kirby and the Rainbow Curse · Nintendo · Platformer · Wii U