Just plain fun
The game still holds up pretty well. The most obvious difference between this game and similar games nowadays is that it's retro short; you could easily beat the main game in about 3 hours. The cover of the game boasts 8 games in one. Today and back then the claim sounds a bit ridiculous as the eight "games" are so short and without much meat they couldn't stand to be a retail game on their own. The eight "games" are Spring Breeze, Dyna Blade, Revenge of Meta Knight, Milky Way Wishes, The Great Cave Offensive, Gourmet Race, The Arena, and Samurai Kirby/Megaton Punch.
The first five mentioned are the standard simplistic action-platforming that the series is known for. Kirby obtains abilities by either eating specific enemies or touching an ability dispenser. Most of these abilities are primarily just "different ways to kill the bad guys", but some have uses for puzzle solving and other capabilities. For instance, you may come across a switch behind a wall that opens a door and there's no way to get to it. You can use the beam power which travels past objects to hit the switch and open the door. These instances show up occasionally, but it would've been nice if it was a bit more thought provoking. Kirby can also create a helper character that can either be AI or human controlled. The AI doesn't add much to the game. Playing this with a friend is definitely the better choice.
The platforming is pretty simple. You'll basically be jumping from one platform to the next or flying up to one. Kirby's jumping is a little floaty which I don't mind for a character that looks like a pink balloon.
Milky Way Wishes and The Great Cave Offensive lets you approach the game in a non-linear fashion. In Milky Way Wishes you can travel to several levels in any order that you wish. In The Great Cave Offensive you make your way through a single dungeon in any fashion. Both of these games are a bit harder than the others and the difficulty behind them mainly comes from tracking down ability dispensers and treasures.
Now on to the remaining 3 games. Gourmet Race is as the name implies a racing game. The objective isn't simply to beat your opponent to the finish line you must also out eat him as well. There are food items scattered around the track and obtaining a good deal of them and beating your opponent to the finish line nets you a better score. I found this game to be addictive as well. The only thing I have an issue with is that it's not multiplayer compatible which is strange given that this would seem perfect for it. The Arena focuses on only combat. This is the most difficult of the game modes. It haves you pitted against various bosses and sub bosses from the main games. You are given limited health options, but between each fight you can choose which power you want (note Suplex is useless against bosses).
The last game can be split into 2 sections. Samurai Kirby and Megaton Punch are mini games. Samurai Kirby has you and an opponent staring down at each other with your hands tightly gripped on your weapons. When an "!" indicator flashes on the screen the player can press any button to attack. The player with the swiftest thumb wins and is rewarded with an animation of your character gloating and your opponent embarrassingly defeated. If a player presses a button before the indicator comes up the round is reset. If both players press a button at the same time it results in a draw. The other mini game Megaton Punch has you and an opponent breaking cinder blocks karate style before an audience. The strength of your punch is determined by 3 timing mechanics. The two mini games aren't anything that special, but they give nice diversity from the rest of the game.
Out of all the games the replay value mainly comes from The Great Cave Offensive as I've found trying to net 100% of the treasures to be most addicting. The mini games are fun for short bursts of time.
The music in this game is also very fitting. The music ranges from pumped up to whimsical, to mysterious, and serene. Overall Kirby Superstar does manage to maintain its fun after all these years and I would recommend it to any gaming fan, new or old.