The Metroid-style exploration is an interesting idea for a Kirby game but it doesn't quite click here.
Those who are familiar w/ the beloved pink action marshmallow, Kirby, are in for a surprise w/ Kirby & The Amazing Mirror. It is not a linear action platformer but an Metroid-style open world game. The idea is intriguing and Kirby is just as cute and fun as ever but, ultimately, this hybrid style doesn't quite work.
You play here as Kirby who can suck up and spit out enemies, jump, swallow air to float and swallow enemies to gain special powers. Fans of the series will likely begin as they all do, sending Kirby rightward and upward to what they think will eventually be the final boss. After a while though, it becomes clear that using that strategy winds up w/ Kirby going around in circles. This is more than a standard walk-right platformer, it is an exploration based action game and you have to do some thinking to remember where you're going.
The level design here is fairly clever here. As in Metroid, sometimes Kirby is required to gain a particular power in order to access a new area. Unlike Metroid though, powers gained are only temporary so if Kirby loses the needed power, he must regain it by moving on. This leads to some frustrating back tracking but that is mitigated mostly by the fact that this game is relatively easy. The most major issue in level design is that many paths through the world just seem to lead to nothing. While that works in a game in Metroid where the atmosphere is desolate and forboding, in Kirby it is just kind of a bummer.
The other major issue w/ the Metroid w/o permanent improvements formula is that it does not allow difficulty to scale as the game goes on. Depending on how you happen to wander, you might go through the most difficult stages first or last. The way the designers chose to deal w/ the issue is basically just to make everything pretty easy. Even in tough sections, Kirby can use a cell phone to call in a few Kirby copies of himself which, if you get lucky, can dispatch even some of the tougher bosses in short order while the Kirby you control just bumbles around while you try to figure out what's going.
The real compelling this about The Amazing Mirror is not the gameplay but the presentation. The music an scenery is nice enough but where it really shines is enemy design and the special powers Kirby can pick up. The enemies attacks are quite varied and sometimes even a bit surprising and Kirby must use a variety of techniques to be successful. It is also a lot of fun to experiment w/ what various new moves Kirby can pull of when he steals a power from a swallowed enemy. Boss design is a high point as well. Each one has it's own unique style and a few even have multiple forms which lead to some pretty epic--albeit not terribly difficult--battles at some point. Overall, the main thing that will keep most gamers interested in playing through this will be just to see what else you can find.
While Kirby & The Amazing Mirror does set the stage nicely, it has an ambition it does not quite deliver on. It is Kirby in a more open setting and nothing more than that. The different game-type doesn't really add anything to the Kirby experience and even detracts by adding some frustrating elements w/o any satisfying challenge. It was a good idea but it ended up ultimately as a failed experiment. They should try again to make a game like this sometime.