You’ll need to gather a certain amount before you can fight each world’s boss. You progress through the game as you would in a traditional 2D platformer, but boss fights are blocked off by collectible code cubes. These were a lot of fun, but were over far too quickly. The mech also offers side-scrolling shooter levels, in the style of Gradius or Zero Wing. Each stage manages to never feel boring or repetitive, and that’s something that hasn’t changed from Kirby‘s classic formula. Each level, no matter if Kirby’s naked or not, still feels like you belong in it. While the mech does demand that you trade agility for strength, the way that each level is laid out never makes this feel like an upgrade or a downgrade. Planet Robobot gets most of its fun from these new abilities the room for experimentation allows for a greater variety of gameplay experiences and level design tricks. Giant swords, boombox soundwaves, a helicopter blade that both elevates Kirby and damages enemies, Tesla coils that zap foes into oblivion and loads more. There are over 20 different abilities available to Kirby and his mech, but the mech’s abilities are what take center stage. The abilities that the mech can acquire are exactly what you’d expect from a Kirby game, and all fit in perfectly with the game’s level design.

Kirby’s ability to swallow enemies and gain their powers carries over to his big ol’ pink mech, swapping his trademark black hole of a mouth for a scanner that presumably breaks enemies down to a molecular level as painfully as possible. Whatever it is (it’s a fucking mech), it provides some of the most fun I’ve had with a Kirby game. It’s become a running trend for Kirby to look mad as Hell on western box arts, but this time Kirby looks like he’s having a great time in a mech. The games are usually not too difficult, but are charming enough for you to not care. He can also float and make adorable noises. Kirby can jump from being a ninja, to an archer, to an ice queen, and back again. Your primarily ability is swallowing enemies and gaining their powers. If you’ve never played a Kirby game, here’s how they usually go: You play as Kirby, a pink blob thing who is also the galaxy’s greatest warrior. Does it fit into this family of bold reimaginings, or is it doomed to rinse and repeat the 2D platformer formula? Kirby’s Air Ride is one of the more underappreciated racing games (and one that I still need for my Gamecube library) and Kirby’s Epic Yarn was one of the most creative and adorable games to come out of the Wii U. That’s not to say that Kirby hasn’t tried a fair few new things. Each and every Kirby game has had these, and has resulted in a formula that’s stood the test of time since Kirby’s Adventure on the Game Boy. When one plays a Kirby game, one expects to find certain things.

Kirby planet robobot code cube