a test of patience;
trigonometric study-
blast my fucking luck!
Additional Comments:
Yep. Backlogs and such...
True, Kirby's Block Ball has been on the same backlog that's occupied much of 2014's victories, but I've also been playing the game off and on for quite some time. Why so long? Between the sheer test of luck, hopefully bestowed by the gaming gods, and the unforgiving Border Lines in the latter stages, this game is one agonizing take on everybody's favorite block buster, Breakout. Get it? Blockbuster? Oy vey, twas such a bad pun...
It appears Kirby has befallen the same curious quandary that has stricken the Pokémon franchise. That is to say, both series have been introduced into the world of Beat All Games with one of their odd spin-offs. Although, I will attest that I had the fortune of being formally introduced to each representative party in video game format via Super Smash Bros. Melee. Still, it's odd to complete a spin-off before one of the franchise's primary titles, though it must be said my first encounter with Kirby outside of SSBM was playing through a few levels in Kirby's Dream Land 3 some years back on an emulator. Sadly, my experience was negatively impacted by ZSNES's shitty coding and it's inability to properly render the translucent effects on layer 3. Yet my first Pokémon experience outside of SSBM? Pokémon Snap. o_O
I can't really explain why I've overlooked the Kirby franchise for so long - and still have. It's a brilliant platformer series. But there you have it. So what's so special about Kirby's Block Ball that it managed to break my mold of neglect? To be honest, it's an odd story stemming from my SMW hacking days. When the ability to add custom music was first introduced, one of SMW's hacking elite, FPI, ported some of the first custom tracks available and one of the tracks was a delightful port of Kirby's Block Ball's Stage 1 Theme. It's so jaunty - the song immediately grabbed me and from that point forward I always wanted to play the game from which it was sourced. Very rarely has a song led me to the desire of tracking down the original game. Then again, most video game tracks I wholeheartedly enjoy come from games I'm familiar with. Kirby's Block Ball, other than being yet another entrant in the Kirby universe, was pure conjecture on my part regarding game style. For the longest time, I kept confusing it with Kirby's Dream Course and was rather surprised when I found out it was a Breakout clone - and not pleasantly at that as I'm not a huge fan of the ball and paddle block buster.
Finally tracked down a copy of the game in a local store only to have my hopes dashed when I found out the battery was dead. Ugh! Why does it seem that battery replacement has become a common theme as of late? A short soldering session later, and away I go. Like I said, I'm not the biggest fan of Breakout - it's ok, but it's a little too steeped in luck for my liking. Fortunately, Kirby's Block Ball adds a number of interesting gimmicks and strategic nuances. Utilizing certain abilities, such as stone or needle, the gameplay is greatly enhanced and strategy easily overcomes luck as a mechanical priority, especially when trying to achieve some of those deviously high Border Lines in the latter stages. Still, luck plays a major role when attempting to clear a swathe of through blocks in hopes of acquiring maximum bonus potential, hopefully pushing the point's total withing 50k before squaring off with a stage's given boss.
On my initial run, I gave little to no heed to the Border Lines; thinking them to be nothing more than bragging rights. Little did I realize they were required achievements in order to meet Dedede in a final showdown. This information came after a few weeks of on and off play. A shame really, though in the past couple of years I've been pretty adamant about making sure I get manuals with any purchased games of yesteryear. Therefore, since I lacked the appropriate information on my original playthough, I enjoyed the game for what it is: a delightful re-imagining of Breakout. The overall experience felt so casual - in a way mirroring my interpretation of Kirby games in general. I took my time with the game, allowing myself to soak in the abundant gaiety throughout. Even the boss fights rang of cheerful exuberance as Kirby bounced from one side of the arena to the other. And I was given free reign to experiment with Kirby's various abilities at my leisure, impacting by appreciation for this new mechanical twist melding the world of Kirby and...er, brightly colored blocks, or as the Game Boy would present it: four shades of green. Sigh.
But wait, I must clear those contemptible Border Lines if I'm to open up Stage 11 and finish the game properly. It was time to shelve my casual play. Maybe I'm putting too much emphasis on devilish tricks when it comes to outshining the required scores as the first five or six stages played fairly equivalent to my original run. While the early stages necessitated bonus rounds à la through block accumulation just as much as the latter stages, there was minimal reliance on pure luck. I felt relatively in control of Kirby's trajectories through the early stages, especially if I had the stone ability. The latter stages, even with needle's ability to more or less reset Kirby's point of origin, caused rampant hair pulling as luck became more invasive in my game play tactics. Stage 9 proved to be a nightmare as its lone bonus chance fell on deaf ears, er, hands. Whereas the early stages offered appropriate amounts of wiggle room, Stage 9 pulled the net from under you. Then again, we're talking about one of the final stages so it should only be expected, but it felt like there was a dramatic shift from Stage 8 whereas prior there was a gradual increase in difficulty requiring Kirby's various abilities to garner as many points as possible before facing the boss. Still, it wouldn't be a point of focus if Stage 11 wasn't so easy to attain Border Line status in comparison. On my first run through Stage 11, I managed to come up just shy of the Border Line by a measly thousand points. Stage 9, however, took a fair share of attempts to masterfully complete thanks to its dreadfully annoying bonus run, of which there was only one and was damn near impossible to muster a halfway decent score on - rather similar to the shitstorm disguised as a cleverly designed bonus round in Stage 3-2. At least they had the courtesy to offer multiple options for obtaining some of those much needed points elsewhere throughout Stage 3.
Overall, I found the game enjoyable, but not exactly entertaining enough to ever return. Perhaps in my younger days while playing Game Boy on long car trips, as I did, I'd probably have the will to return, but in today's world of gaming, Kirby's Block Ball has its own certain unique charm, but that's about it. Sure, the game further develops the basic Pong-like block busting relay into a vast assortment of interesting, and at times, frustrating arenas, but now that I'm done; looking at the game as a whole...? Well, it's Breakout, but so much more, yet...somehow muddled as though the core fundamentals of the original game got swept up in the ether. In fact, even the paddle physics seem to have gotten lost in translation as the ability to judge a desired angle is purely speculative. Every time I thought I understood that frustrating bar of trigonometric evil, it suddenly defied all logic. Essentially, what it all comes down to is that I had very little confidence in the game's physics. I'd blame my lack of confidence on the controls, as they were a bit dodgy themselves, but I really think the misunderstanding of basic angular theorem is at fault. And the only reason I bring it up is on the few versions of Breakout that I have played over the years, I've always felt confident with the ball's rebound direction - at least far more confident than I felt here. Perhaps if the game better instilled a sense of confidence in its workings, I'd have no reason to fault anything - even when the game was at its worst regarding its luck-based endeavors.
Still, Kirby's Block Ball is a decent time waster and offers enough enjoyment as a casual play. Anything more, however, just isn't worth the trouble. Great music though!
Nano-Rant:
I've already mentioned Stage 3-2 and its ridiculous bonus setup, though the whole stage is of horrid design. Already having to rely on capricious angle physics, trying to get Kirby inside either of the two shelving units is a test of patience - and a lot of it. But worse still is Stage 11-5. Who designed this bullshit stage!? I may have spent upwards of twenty or thirty minutes both times I played the area because of those stupid crevices off to either side that are damn near impossible to enter thanks to the long overhangs of solid blocks. If there was ever an act of futility, this is it. 11-5 exemplifies Kirby's Block Ball's wish to be nothing more than a game of chance. Strategy? What strategy? It's not a frustrating stage like 3-2 or 9-3 - two stages whose difficulty is culled mostly from their respective bonus games - but instead is a trial by utter boredom.
Rating: 2.5 apples out of 5*
*How do ya like them apples?
No comments:
Post a Comment