Kirby: Planet Robobot Review

Kirby games tend to come in two varieties. There’s the more traditional Kirby games that stick to its formula of levels filled with collectables and maybe one kind of gimmick, but there’s also games such as Kirby’s Epic Yarn or Kirby and the Rainbow Curse that flip the gameplay and visual style on its head in imaginative ways. Kirby: Planet Robobot leans towards the former and, for what it’s worth, it’s probably one of the better ones.

It certainly makes a better first impression than the previous 3DS Kirby game. As Pop Star is invaded by robots that begin terraforming the planet to their own design, the familiar aesthetic is replaced by a more cybernetic look; certainly not the norm for a platforming Kirby game. This also makes great use of 3D perspectives for platforming that worked well in Kirby Triple Deluxe, though only for some of the imaginative puzzles and obstacles.

Kirby’s list of abilities doesn’t really grow a great deal in this game, but has been reshuffled. Some abilities from the previous 3DS game are absent, while others from prior Kirby games return. The sole new abilities are Poison, Doctor, and ESP, all of which lend themselves to being useful at times, though ESP is definitely the better ability. Kirby staples are still present though, with the Hammer as powerful as ever before.

However, as far as gimmicks go for platformer Kirby games, Planet Robobot has perhaps one of the more empowering and imaginative: Kirby gets a Gundam mech! In its base form, it can punch and hover, as well as interact with screws and cranks to progress through obstacles. The Robobot also has Kirby’s copy ability, though not all Kirby’s abilities are available to the mech.

So not only can Kirby’s mech wield two knife blades with the Sword Copy, or propel giant gears with the Cutter Copy, it can wield the aforementioned ESP to great effect, transform into a car that leaps between planes with the Wheel Copy and even turn into a fighter plane with the Jet Copy for a bit of old-school side-scroller shooter fun. Unlike the very situational Hypernova ability in the last game, the Robobot does feel more integrated into the gameplay much better.

Aside from this though, it’s your average run of the mill Kirby game. Six worlds and several bosses are features, and aach level is full of collectables to uncover, with stickers obtained like the keychains in Kirby Triple Deluxe, though you can now stick them onto Kirby’s Robobot. Code Cubes can also be uncovered and, just as with the Sun Stones from before, they unlock boss stages and hidden EX stages. It shouldn’t take too long to uncover all the Code Cubes needed to 100% the main game.

Since Kirby’s Fun Pak (or Super Star everywhere else), there have been multiple minigames available from the get-go that have been largely forgettable experiences. In this Kirby game, the two games available from the start have interesting ideas but are generally over far too soon.

Here we have Kirby 3D Rumble, which feels like a proof of concept to me. Spanning three levels, the challenge is to get the high score in a fully 3D world. The 3D effect on the 3DS works particularly well here, but the game is over before you know it and it’s remarkably simple to get gold ratings on all three levels.

The other mode available to players is Team Kirby Clash, which is essentially a boss rush where you can choose one of four classes that have the Sword, Hammer, Beam and Doctor powers, and use them to beat a gallery of bosses. It has light RPG elements that allows Kirby to level up, but this arbitrarily improves stats for all the classes, meaning you’re not grinding so much. Again, this is purely for getting a high score, but you can team up with other players via Download Play.

There are also unlockable variants of the main campaign’s gameplay to extend the length of the game, such as the Meta Knight playthrough, but this adds only a small amount for veteran Kirby players.

Amiibo support is available, and boils down to being able to access one copy ability per stage for each Amiibo that you have. Abilities can range from an assigned one such as the Sword assigned to the Marth Amiibo, or a random one of it falls outside of the usual Amiibo range, such as with the Wolf Link Amiibo. Streetpass functionality is back and works exactly the same as before, upgrading your health pickups from Bandana Waddle Dee. They’re both cute additions, but utterly meaningless.

Kirby: Planet Robobot is a great addition to the franchise, adding a mechanic that doesn’t feel forced and is overall not a terribly shallow package. But looking under the hood the game uses a lot of the same tricks that Kirby Triple Deluxe did and will probably captivate your time about as well. It’s certainly one that younger audiences will get a kick out of, but it’s no Kirby’s Fun Pak.

Score: 7/10