Kirby's Epic Yarn

Developers: HAL, Good-Feel

Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: Oct. 14, 2010
System: Wii
ESRB Rating: E
Official Web site

In a nutshell: They somehow made Kirby even cuter? Madness!

0:00 I’ve been a Kirby fan since the original Game Boy Dream Land up through the excellent Kirby Super Star on the SNES. I’m intrigued by the super-cute, stringy art style I’ve seen in this one, but I’m not convinced it will spice up what is essentially pretty simple, kid-focused gameplay.

0:01 After a good 15 seconds creating a save file, the title screen appears with Yarn Kirby plopping down as a trapezoidal weight, then reforming into his normal pink puffy self. Very light piano music in the background. One Player.

0:02 “Welcome to Dream Land, a kingdom famous for peace and quiet. It’s the perfect little land, if you like that sort of thing.” An evil sorcerer is turning people in to yarn. Kirby runs in to him and sucks up the red tomato he’s holding before he can introduce himself. A white sock on the sorcerer's belt sucks Kirby up and transforms him into a hollow, yarn version of himself. Quote of the moment: “This grass feels funny... it feels like pants.”

0:03 Kirby saves a yarn boy being chased by a yarn monster by transforming into a yarn car and driving away. Man, I am really going to be tired of the word “yarn” by the end of this hour.

0:05 The yarn boy has run off, leaving me all alone to traipse around outside of Patch Castle. My feet turn in to springs when I jump, and tapping the jump button again in midair turns me in to a gently floating parachute. Tapping the 1 button sends out a starry yarn whip with a snap. The animation is absolutely wonderful. So full of life.

***-->CONTINUE READING<--***

***-->AT GAMERONI<-***

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LocoRoco 2

Developer: SCEJ
Publisher: SCEA
Release Date: Feb. 10, 2009
System: PSP
ESRB Rating: E
Official Web site

In a nutshell: The cutest game you'll ever watch.

0:00 I played the demo of the first LocoRoco a couple of years ago, and I believe the catchy music is still in my head. I hope LocoRoco 2 is just as catchy but also a bit more involved -- I don't want another screensaver that I can kind-of-sort-of control.

0:01 A floating mass of black dreadlocks with a mouth flies around. A big, yellow LocoRoco falls in and splits into a bunch of smaller version of himself on a green field. The title "LocoRoco" lowers down from above, and a "2" shimmies in from the right. As the menu comes up, the Locos go into autoplay mode, getting shot around, pulled through gears, caught on the wind, landing and tilting a balance, etc. I could watch this all day ... but that would be boring for you guys, wouldn't it?

0:02 A black silhouette of a planet against a starry night. The music gets louder as smoke rises from the planet. A conductor leads a bunch of dreadlocks in a dark melody. A rock launches from the planet and goes zooming into space. Pan to a happy green and blue world. Zoom in to find a blue guy hammering away at a rock, then a lone LocoRoco bouncing around. "I am MuiMui, LocoRoco's friend," says another blue guy in the corner. Thanks for clearing that up!

0:04 Good thing I know the controls from last time, because no one seems very eager to explain how to tilt the world to make me roll, or how to pop it to make me jump. Controls feel a little more responsive than last time, actually. Or maybe it's my imagination.

0:06 As in the last game, collecting orange flowers makes me bigger. A tap of O splits me up into little versions, and holding O brings me back together with cries of "NOI!" SO CUTE! That said, the music isn't nearly as catchy so far.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer