Kirby Star Allies

The name Kirby Star Allies isn't just for show. Whether you're adventuring through Dream Land with up to three friends or playing with competent AI teammates, Kirby's ever-rotating group of uniquely powered pals are the real stars of the show here. The creative ways you can combine abilities never gets old, which means there's great potential for replayability especially with friends. I just wish the final boss battle hadn't come just as the puzzles were starting to give me a challenge.

With heaps of personality and invaluable extra content, Kirby Star Allies rises to greatness.

HAL Laboratory delivers a brilliant chemistry set of a 2D platformer.

Even if it's on the brief and simple side, Star Allies demonstrates the polish and personality you've come to expect from the series. It's a kid-friendly romp through the franchise's most memorable moments, and the asymmetric gameplay and lively spirit of Kirby's latest journey make it a great way to introduce a new generation of fans to the series.

Star Allies represents the height of complacency for the Kirby franchise. It looks fine, plays fine, and barely flirts with anything new until the final boss fight

Most of the stages aren't the only linear aspect of Star Allies, as the world map for each realm is fairly flat. It's always great to find a secret switch and unlock more extra stages to romp around in (something that feels distinctly Super Mario World), but more hidden secrets and an actual use for hub screen jumping would elevate the age old level-to-level feel a tad.I don't think HAL is very interested in drastically altering the Kirby formula at this point, and that's perfectly fine. Not every creation is going to be a masterpiece, but for the most part, all of the console iterations have a special degree of love and care that shine through. Kirby Star Allies is cute, gorgeous in its own special way, and fun to play. It's par for the course.

Even when completion of the game unlocks more challenging modes, Star Allies mostly serves as a reminder that Kirby games seem to function as reflex for Nintendo as natural as breathing is for you or me. This one just checks the box.

All in all, Kirby Star Allies is a fun, relaxing game that does a good job of showing off what makes the main Kirby series so great. The slow pace, diverse powers, beautiful environments, adorable enemy designs, and light difficulty ensure that this is an enjoyable ride from start to finish. But with that being said, there's a lingering sense that the developer was a little too keen to play this one safe, and the lack of new ideas may come as a disappointment to series veterans. This is not the Super Mario Odyssey or The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild of the Kirby series, but that doesn't mean that it's a bad game. If you've never played a Kirby game before, this is a fantastic place to jump in, but if you're a longtime fan, you may not be blown away.

Kirby Star Allies is a brilliant Nintendo Switch debut for the pink puffball, bringing his accessible and lovable brand of side-scrolling platformer to a new console. The friend mechanic adds to the formula tremendously, especially when human friends are involved.

Teamwork doesn't quite make the dream work in 'Kirby Star Allies.