Those of you who've been keeping an eye on our Twitter feed (and if you haven't already, why on Earth not - come and say hi!) will know that we recently headed all the way down to London for Nintendo's Post E3 showcase, braving overcrowded trains (stupid Wimbledon) and scorching sun (stupid reddish hair) to get our mitts on all the Wii U and 3DS titles we'll be playing in the coming months. While Pokemon Art Academy sat waiting for us to butcher a drawing of Pikachu, and Smash Bros sat at the back giving us the eye, it was Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush, a new Wii U platformer that caught our eye first. And if you take a look at the screenshots below, it's not hard to see why.
Gorgeous, right?
Done in a claymation style, Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush is nothing if not eye catching - and that's the understatement of the year. While Yoshi's Woolly World gives it a run for its money in the handcrafted artsy stakes, Kirby looks nothing short of spectacular, with vibrant colours that pop out of the screen, flowers that bop along to the background music, and scenery that has finger marks and tool impressions moulded into it, giving the whole game an oddly photo realistic look, for a game about a pink blob and his magical rainbows. It's easily one of the nicest looking games on the Wii U to date, which is why it's a bit of a shame that you'll end ups pending most of your time staring at the GamePad rather than watching it on your giant TV screen. A little bit of a departure from Kirby's usual brand of simple platformers (most recently, the awesome Kirby Triple Deluxe), Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush will be immediately familiar to anyone who managed to find a copy of his earliest DS game, Power Paintbrush. In it, you had to guide a ball-y version of the Kirbster through levels by drawing a rainbow path beneath him, helping him roll across chasms, avoid spikes and protect him from falling bombs as you went. An addictive little game, which showed off the DS' new features, it's the sort of title that fits with the Wii U's GamePad just as well.
Much like the original, it's the stylus that does all the hard work here, as you slide it across the GamePad's ample screen to give Kirby a rainbow path to follow, whether you're sweeping him up into the air, doubling back on yourself, or trying to collect all the collectible stars. Tapping Kirby makes him do a short dash, perfect for mowing down enemies or bashing through breakable blocks, but this time, the pink puffball has another trick up his pudgy proverbial sleeve - once you collect 100 stars in a level, you can supercharge his dash by holding your stylus over him for a few seconds. Now with extra power at his disposal, he can bash his way through tougher metal blocks, plough through rows of enemies and just generally be a bit more badass than usual.
Quick! Dash! Shock the already shocked blocks with your speed!
Our demo included three distinctly different levels - and of course, being the Kirby fans we are, we played them all. The first level, down on the menu as the beginner course, was a much more familiar roll through green fields, with the only perils being a few oblivious-till-you-bump-into-them enemies. As with most Kirby games, getting from start to finish is fairly straightforward, and can mostly be done by drawing a series of practically straight lines - but for those that like to nab every collectable going, you'll need to construct some dizzying rainbow roller coasters to reach all of the hidden treasure chests in each level. It's also worth noting that you can't doodle indefinitely, as the 'clay meter' requires time to recharge between uses - something you need to keep an eye on in the later levels in particular.
Having cut our teeth on the baby course, we decided to leap head first into the expert one (seeing as since the announcement of Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush at E3, we decided to go back to Power Paintbrush). Showcasing one of Kirby's new transformations, this level sees the Kirbster transformed into a cutesy pink tank, which constantly trundles forward through the sandy desert landscape. By tapping enemies as they appear, you fire little balls of clay at them, and prevent some of the more vicious baddies from dropping explosive mines in front of your tank tracks. The challenge with this level though is how the stage scrolls by, without necessarily waiting for Kirby to catch up - so you need to keep your eyes peeled for pick ups, sudden drops or steps that need a little ramp up, lest the Kirbster get stuck. Kirby's charge-up move is also a little bit different, this time bulking up the pink puffball's tank and firing off a load of missiles - the perfect thing for blasting through large groups of blocks or baddies.
Kirby has transformed into... your worst nightmare.
The final level we got to play was an underwater one - and much like we found in the original DS game, they tend to be the more challenging stages of the game. You see, as a little ball, Kirby naturally floats, so instead of drawing lines for him to roll along, you'll be tracing paths to keep him from bobbing up too far, into spikes, enemies and other such perils. With some strong currents trying to sweep you off course, you need to keep your eyes peeled, with the level requiring more concentration and faster reactions than the supposedly harder tank level. Luckily, though, collecting enough of the gold stars in the level does grant you temporary immunity to the currents, meaning our OCD skills came in handy for once - especially as there was no other way to reach this one particular treasure chest, slightly off the beaten path...
It may be near identical to Power Paintbrush, but in the case of Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush, it's hardly a bad thing, especially if it's as stuffed with extras, unlockables and hidden secrets as the original. With over a hundred medals to locate, several characters with distinctly different abilities and a whole host of addictive challenges, Power Paintbrush had tons to keep you playing, even if it was a touch too hard towards the end (a whole level with spikes for floor anyone?). We have high hopes for Rainbow Paintbrush when it launches on the Wii U sometime next year, almost exactly ten years after the original game hit the DS. We can't wait.
