tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274272595406297504.post6000340013967958126..comments2023-03-26T02:22:51.069-07:00Comments on Leave Luck To Heaven: Ten Years of Kirby ~Reverie 13~ Kirby Super Star UltraAnthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12823666211533878050noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274272595406297504.post-44364005184630338882016-02-01T13:09:59.447-08:002016-02-01T13:09:59.447-08:00Don't worry, Mike: your full comments showed u...Don't worry, Mike: your full comments showed up in my email.<br /><br />Regarding the length: it's actually interesting you point that out since this review is exactly half the size of the one for Super Star! This just barely made 4000, while Super Star was well over 8000. I had noticed that in recent drafts, but chose to go the smaller route since it'd been in the oven for way too long. That's not to say I rushed it, but as I'm aiming for 4-6 reviews per month, it's simply not a feasible goal anymore. I can think of maybe three or four titles that'd reach the same length, one of which may come soon. Regardless, while I've regretted that this column took so long, it serves as a really fascinating insight as to how my writing and standards have evolved over the years.<br /><br />Ahaha, sorry if the intro took too long for you. I'm glad that year served you well, but it really was a rough time for Nintendo (and for me, personally), so I wanted to emphasize how KSSU was the one title free from the shitstorm of negativity that spiralled throughout the year. I'll keep that in mind for future entries (2011 should be...interesting to handle).<br /><br />If all goes well, I'm aiming for everything up to Rainbow Curse to be wrapped up by April's end. The anime may arrive a little later since I want to free up the schedule for other franchises, but I'll be giving my all for that one, too.<br /><br />Rest assured, things will be back to normal this week!<br />Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12823666211533878050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274272595406297504.post-70951299362786683822016-02-01T13:05:13.795-08:002016-02-01T13:05:13.795-08:00All right, it's finally here! It just squeezed...All right, it's finally here! It just squeezed in a January publish date too!<br /><br />Honestly, upon first reading this through, I was a little surprised at the short length, at least in comparison to the original Super Star retrospective (mostly because your articles on Adventure and Nightmare in Dream Land). But a second reading made me forget about all that. Besides, the original article was not only rooted in a personal point of your life, but went into detail about each sub-game. Besides, as you rightfully pointed out, since the graphical and aural difference between the original and remake are a lot smaller here then with Adventure/NiDL, there isn't as much new to say. But that doesn't matter, because your passion was still as bright as ever.<br /><br />What can I add at this point that you haven't said? The minor slip-ups being minor as they are (sans the aforementioned removal of the star background in Great Cave Offensive, never to be mentioned henceforth), and the positive graphical and aural changes being as they are, the game flows smoothly. The extra content even makes it a better game, technically speaking. Like you, I side ever so slightly with the original in the end, but I would have no hesitations in recommending this first to anyone who asked.<br /><br />Probably the fact I liked most was how your skillfully and subtly pointed out that HAL finally got their groove together with Kirby sans Sakurai. The fact that two games were farmed out, and that Kirby Wii was in development hell of either it's third or fourth iteration, certainly points to a HAL Laboratory that didn't know quite what to do with him, Canvas Curse notwithstanding. In many ways, that makes Super Star Ultra to Kirby what The Little Mermaid was to Disney - the media product that got the brand back on track and begun a period of great and masterpiece-level media products. Seriously, every Kirby game made since Super Star Ultra has been great, or even a masterpiece in one case, with another right on the heels of being one. Even factoring out the filler spin-offs, no other period in Kirby's history was so consistent. Closest would be the trio of Kirby 64, Nightmare in Dream Land and Air Ride (I would personally toss in Tilt N' Tumble there too, both for quality and how I believe it is more then a filler spin-off, but that discussion is for another day).<br /><br />Perhaps the only thing to be even slightly annoyed about is in Super Star Ultra's effect on Kirby since. As brilliant as Return to Dream Land was, it hews a bit too closely to this game's template and tropes, just enough that is a near-masterpiece rather then the better equivalent. This reluctance to take more chances is more apparent in Triple Deluxe, where one can just about detect a bit of staleness at the corners. Now, they are both still great and wonderful games that I enjoyed immensely, but it does leave me worried marginally about the next regular Kirby platformer. Am I overreacting? Probably. But given the winning streak of six great games that Super Star Ultra kicked off (seven if one includes Dream Collection as a game proper), it would be a shame to see Super Star Ultra having an eventual domino effect to break that streak.<br /><br />[Not only did I have to break this comment in two, as I was not cutting stuff like I had done in the past, but Blogger has seen fit to mysteriously remove this one. Odd... Hope it doesn't happen again! So, Anthony, when reading this split comment, this part goes first, sans this footnote, of course]Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274272595406297504.post-50747994245503740482016-02-01T09:18:09.541-08:002016-02-01T09:18:09.541-08:00The one flaw I picked up on in the article is that...The one flaw I picked up on in the article is that the opening segment about Nintendo's state of affairs in 2008 goes on for too long. Seriously, my gut reaction "I'm used to these intro segments, but bloody get to it, Anthony!" This is perhaps odd, but 2008 was the year where I really became a Nintendo gamer proper. It was when I got my first Nintendo console, and prior to then my handhelds had been the domain of Pokémon games exclusively, my sister's copy of New Super Mario Bros. excepting. So while everyone else was starting to turn away, I was shooting around stars in Super Mario Galaxy, leaving people in my dust in Mario Kart Wii, and more. And I've never looked back. Since then, a pink puffball has... well, I'm not so sure personally about teaching me how to dream, given the age at which I first encountered him, but it's pretty close. And he's certainly become, in your own words "my personal slice of zen within the Nintendo family".<br /><br />Forgetting all that, thank you very much, Anthony. The retrospective's end is well within sight by now (though I do hope the Kirby games following Dream Collection will be done very soon after, given you've indicated they won't be part of it). I'm very interested to see what you'll do with Epic Yarn, given you reviewed it five years prior. That review, though clearly the mark of a far greener writer, has enough passion and good points to still make for a pleasant read. So what direction will this article on it go in? Guess we'll see! Then we have Mass Attack (all I know about your opinion on that is that you view it as a lesser great game, a la Kirby 64), and Return to Dream Land, a near masterpiece in your eyes. Dream Collection as well, of course, followed by the anime piece. Oh boy, that'll certainly be interesting!<br /><br />Mike.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com