For more on Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush, check out our full Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush review. Or, for more of the best Nintendo Wii U games for a 6 year old, why not try our Family Game Finder
What is Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush?
An incredibly stylish platform game set in a clay-themed world, Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush is an incredibly original and family friendly title. When the cute and colourful world of Dream Land has its colours stolen and its life-force sucked out, it turns into a frozen, grey wasteland! It's up to Kirby and his new-found friend, a magical paintbrush called Elline, to track down the one behind the atrocity and restore the colours to the world, travelling through seven distinct clay-sculpted worlds, from grassy fields to sandy deserts to underwater caves and more, beating up bosses, hunting down collectibles, and bonking into enemies as they go.
How do you play Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush?
Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush is a platformer with a bit of a difference. Instead of controlling the rotund pink protagonist directly, you actually have draw lines on the Wii U Gamepad's Touch Screen for Kirby to roll along, helping him avoid all manner of spikes, projectiles and environmental hazards. When it comes to facing off against an enemy, tapping Kirby will make him dash at an opponent, and do damage.
Vehicular levels mix things up a little, transforming Kirby into a cutesy tank, rocket or submarine, each of which controls slightly differently - although all are still controlled entirely on the Touch Screen. Brilliantly, the game also has full support for four player co-operative multiplayer, with up to three friends and family picking up a Wii Remote and becoming Waddle Dee characters, to bash enemies, and help Kirby through the levels.
How easy is Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush to pick up and play?
With a rather unique gimmick, Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush is pretty easy to pick up and play - it's a concept that'll make instant sense, even if drawing the platforms for Kirby to follow can be a bit tricky at times! Some levels can require some pretty speedy reactions, too, as you have to be able to draw fairly precise lines fairly quickly. Underwater levels especially will require a certain level of dexterity, as Kirby keeps going to bob up to the surface rather than sink to the bottom, meaning that you need to draw ropes to keep him down.
On the plus side, if you find a level you get really stuck on, after you've lost a certain number of lives, the game will ask if you want to skip the level and move on to the next, meaning everyone should be able to see the end.
For the youngest of players, Kirby does score bonus points for not requiring any reading whatsoever - cutscenes are acted out without a single word being spoken, negating the need for any voice acting or subtitles!
Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush is as pink, cute and inoffensive as its main character - there's no bad language, sex or anything untoward here whatsoever. Violence amounts to simply dashing into enemies in Kirby's ball form (or poking them with a Waddle Dee spear in multiplayer), with the bad guys simply disappearing in a puff of smoke when defeated.
Age Ratings
Format Reviewed: Nintendo Wii U
