#game-review #finishedgame2024 # Kirby: Canvas Curse  [Console:: Nintendo DS] [Status:: Beaten] [Approximate Start Date:: 2024-12-14] [Finish Date:: 2024-12-22] [Clear Time:: 3h] [Total Play Time:: 3h 10m] [nReplays:: 0] ## [Rating:: 71] very neat. not super substantial, meant to be played a LOT as a DS launch title. # Playthrough Notes - Playing on my 3DS with Twilight++ - Jailbreaking my3DS has been the best decision I ever made, and I've been doing that shit for almost a decade now, woah. - did a quick demo test on 2024-11-24, wouldn't consider that a start at this point. # My Thoughts - Almost a launch title, came out within the first 6 months of the DS's launch. - How do I get rid of my copy ability without taking damage? - I tap the power up button in the bottom-left. Sure. Did I miss this explanation somewhere? - Where are these switches? Tiny Town in Reddy Land has a wall that has a button on it which implies I'm supposed to press a button somewhere in the level but like, where is it? - They're in later stages. Okay, neato. - [[Canvas Curse's Rainbow Paint Brush as a Player Stand-In]] - [[I Really Dig the World Names in Canvas Curse]] ## The Aesthetics of Canvas Curse are so Funky and Distinct Maybe it's because Kirby has gone to the Paint Dimensino, or maybe it's because this game was a DS launch title,, but this game looks and sounds incredibly different compared to the rest of the franchise. ### Visuals The backgrounds in this game are so funky and cool. While there is minimal cohesion from level to leve, they're all really unconventional, yet really cool. I think about how [[Kirby's Dream Land 3]] has the crayon and watercolor look, Canvas Curse has this non-consistent artstyle. Sometimes it's cubist, sometimes its more minimialist, sometimes its a maximalist eye-popping city scape, and sometimes it's a more muted forest background. It's just really fun and it lends well to the idea of it being "Kirby in art land" ### Music The music in particular is this blippy, chirpy boopy set of remixes from older Kirby games. I have to assume it was due to the devs learning how to use the DS sound system? What better way to learn how to use a new music system than to recreate old, established songs? Maybe the music team behind [[Sonic Chronicles The Dark Brotherhood]] could have learned a thing or two from them... - Maybe I should look into this more, so we can answer the question: "Why does Canvas Curse sound like *that*?" ## Levels - I love the way that levels make use of large, segmented spaces and have you circling back on them a lot - Lots of manically tapping the screen to move and stun enemies, and there's a fun controlled sense of chaos here as I'm tapping but then also trying to keep kirby still (hint, he doesn't stay still) - long rooms are very cool, except when I have to replay a level - they definitely have a lot of bait and switch level design. I got baited on 5-2 and just let myself get eaten by the eel. - its my least favorite kirbyism they seem to do all the time. [[Kirby Squeak Squad]] really has that problem. - Canvas Canyon (5-3): shits just blowing around (and it stinks!) - oh it's so that you can replay this with other character calls and get medals and whatnot. Waddle dee ball ### Short Levels at the Start - I actually really like that the levels have started off being really short. The rooms are big which allow me to play around, there's always a coin to find and then they wrap up real nicely. They're considerably shorter than levels in [[Kirby and the Rainbow Curse]], with fewer collectables. I think that's fine for me now, I expect the levels to get longer as we get deeper into the game. ### Designed to be played more than once - So it's clear to me now, having arrived at Bloo Hills, that they expect the players to play throuh each level at minbimum once. this is the case because it's quite literally impossible to get every medal on a first run of a "world". The levels are short enough to return to with some challenge as a result. - Medal Run (or whatever it's called) takes segments of each level and applies an extra challenge in some capacity. You can practice on the stages, for example. ## Thoughts on Bosses - the Bosses all feel like natural ideas that the dev team came up with over the concept of "what if this section of Kirby could be controlled with a touch screen?". Remixes of previous modes of play - Only get two goes at each of them, two levels of edifficulty. They definitely feel like minigames ### Paint Roller - I did the Paint Roller boss as my first one and it was pretty fun :] - I imagine this would be really hard with an emulator. I imagine this entire game would be actually. - I remember playing a demo for this on the promotional website in Flash. I wonder if I can find it in Flashpoint. - The Paint Roller boss fight has some [[Kirby's Dream Land 3]] sound effects, and sensibilities. Kind of cool! ### Kracko Jr. - I don't like how this one controls all the time. I need to get better at wrapping my head around how to move Kirby in the desired direction - This is the first part of the Kracko Boss fight from [[Kirby's Adventure, 3D Classics|Kirby's Adventure]], but controls like [[Kirby Block Ball]] ### DeDeDe - Probably my least favorite of them all since it's a touchscreen Gourmet Race of [[Kirby Superstar]]. # Favorite Moments / Memories - # What were you doing when not playing this? - # Relevant Links -