Superfluous boasting from such a superficial game, truthfully; Kirby Super Star Ultra is Subtilely Super at best.
Negatives: Extreme lack of complexity and variation in all of the activities available – Complexity, depth, and variation in content (3).
Complexity, depth, and variation in content: 3/10 (F)
Kirby Super Star was an old game released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (also known as the SNES) on September 23rd, 1996. It was considered a marvel for its time, since it featured multiple game modes in one video game cartridge. One of the mottos that this game heavily boasted was this fact that it contained multiple game modes; Nintendo wasn't shy about advertising this aspect. Nearly twelve years later, Nintendo released "Kirby Super Star Ultra" – an identical remake of the original version. And this statement is not exaggerated at all. Kirby Super Star Ultra features the same modes that were available in Kirby Super Star, with a few additional "mini games" (brief, minimally engaging activities) added. While the game's modes have stayed the same, the expectations of video games in general have changed drastically. People who enjoy video games do so because of complex storylines, challenging puzzles, and basically varying actions and activities that are available to do. Kirby Super Star Ultra, unfortunately suffers from extreme lack of complexity, depth, and variation in content. There are four modes in the game that are available from the start. Since there are many modes, it isn't practical for me to explain each mode extensively at all. Rather, it is important for you to know that all of these modes are very similar to one another, and therefore terribly crush this game's potential. All four of these modes involve moving across a two dimensional environment and defeating foes. There are occasional puzzles to solve, such as "choosing the right door to enter", as well as "hitting the right target to progress". However, as these descriptions imply, these puzzles are based on chance, and not the player's ingenuity and experience. Even the additional mini games, that are separate from the four modes, involve defeating foes and advancing. Therefore, considering that this game boasts of having multiple modes in one cartridge, these modes are so similar that it feels as if you are playing multiple section of the same, simple game. I actually condemn this game for assuming a dishonest position, since its message is that it has multiple games, when in actuality it lacks variation.
Character Choice and Diversity: 7/10 (C+)
Perhaps it was best to explain the negatives first. After all, you should know that the remaining aspects of these games look a lot brighter. Kirby Super Star Ultra features a variety of characters to play as. These characters include the classic hero of the series: Kirby. Briefly, Kirby is a pink basket-ball shaped character that looks cute but hits hard. He is considered to be one of the most memorable protagonists of all video game series created. He fights evil-doers often, but does not carry any weapons. Instead, he has the ability to inhale enemies and swallow them. The end result is Kirby morphing into the enemy he has swallowed, and gaining all of the abilities of his deceased adversary. In many other Kirby games, Kirby was the only character you could play as throughout the entire game. However, in Super Star Ultra, another character you can play as is "Meta-Knight"; he is basically a sword wielding incognito entity that Kirby has fought in the past. He is very memorable, notably because of his mysterious nature; he wears a fully body suit of armor, and has his face concealed under a mask. This mysterious nature has provoked the imaginations of many people. Therefore, being able to play as Meta-Knight, through this game, is certainly a treat, since it allows gamers to explore his life. Plus, since Meta-Knight uses a sword and possesses a multiple abilities, he greatly contrasts with simple Kirby.
In addition, there is a new feature, added to Kirby's arsenal, which is associated with the "character" category. When Kirby inhales an enemy, he was originally only able to assume that enemy's ability. In Kirby Super Star Ultra, Kirby can now leave his enemy intact, but use the enemy to fight other enemies. This feature is called the "helper" feature, since Kirby is able to turn enemies into helpers for his cause. Although the gamer isn't able to play as a helper, the helper will stay by Kirby, and assist the gamer in completing a level. In conclusion, the ability to play as Meta-Knight, and the ability to create helpers is a great strength of this game.
With that being said, however, the "character choice and diversity" category doesn't receive anywhere near a perfect score. This is because all the characters, that the gamer is able to play as, are strikingly similar, and lack in diversity. Although Kirby and Meta-Knight have different ways of defeating enemies, they are still simply defeating enemies. There are no unique skills that a character has over the other, so after about a week of playing the game, the characters start to become uncreative and therefore less engaging. In general, this game is cursed with the lack of variation in content.
Color and Aesthetics: 10/10 (A):
This is the only aspect of the game that is exemplary, scintillating, and in my opinion perfect. The background colors only have bright, cheerful, and light hues. The trees are a refreshing green color, for example, and even the dirt and boulders, in the environment, are a bright or light hue of brown or gray. I feel that this is not only a pleasing aspect of the game, but also an appropriate one. After all, we must not forget that Kirby is meant to be a fun, silly, and care-free title; we are talking about a cute pink blob after all!
In conclusion, Kirby Super Star Ultra is a decent game to pick up and play right away on a calm, relaxing "Saturday morning" type of scenario. However, don't expect a "James Bond" type of "save the world" scenario – you won't get any of that from this extremely light game that boasts more than it actually is worth.
Overall grade: 7/10 (C+)