Give it to me now!
You may recall that we only recently learned about Kirby: Planet Robobot in the last Nintendo Direct, and we also heard about the Kirby series of Amiibos which sadly were NOT present on the PAX East show floor. But I was surprised to see Robobobot in the expo hall this year, only because it feels like we just heard about it yesterday.
The game is built in the mold of Kirby Triple Deluxe, which is unquestionably the best Kirby game ever made, so the foundation is solid. Kirby hops, floats, inhales, and copies powers the same way he’s been doing for twenty years, and at least in the demo, there weren’t any new powers to try out.
Robobobobot’s aesthetic is decidedly creepier than previous outings—Dream Land residents have been outfitted with crude, cybernetic enhancements. A couple of Bronto Burts flew past with Borg-like ocular implants and other pieces of metal attached to their bodies. It was borderline creepy for a Kirby game, which has always relied on a cute & colorful tone.
The first stage—Kirby-only—relied on the usual Triple Deluxe tricks to give the world depth and reintroduced players to most of the game’s copy abilities. Sword and Cutter remain my favorites. At the end, I was treated to a surprisingly tense battle with a roboboticized Whispy Woods, and in fact my only option to was to dodge his attacks and run away! A canon minigame topped off the stage, and this time you’re collecting Stickers instead of Keychains.
The second stage was all about the Robobobobobot. Kirby quickly defeats a mean-looking enemy in what’s basically a Ride Armor and then hops in the driver’s seat. Immediately, I was treated to an adorable cutscene of the mech reforming itself to Kirby’s pink aesthetic. From there, it was all Robobobobobobot, all the time. Kirby’s mech scans enemies rather than inhales them to copy abilities, and those abilities are wildly different than usual. The Cutter, for example, turns the mech’s arms into buzzsaws. Similarly, the Sword power gives the mech giant beam swords for arms. The Bomb power lets the mech spit out little enemy-seeking drones from its chest.
The mech can break giant steel blocks that Kirby can’t, but it may also cause collateral damage to the rest of the stage. In one instance, I found that destroying a block that was directly in my path made a treasure chest in the background fall out of reach. So even if you’re having fun blasting things with the mech, you’ll want to keep an eye out for potential consequences—which I appreciated. The mech isn’t some very specific power-up, like the Mega Mushroom or Miracle Fruit. It can catch rides on warp stars and enter doors. The mech changes how you play Kirby, and that’s refreshing.
Kirby: Planet Robobobobobobobot launches on June 10th and I can’t wait to pick it up.
