With the advent of Nintendo Nintendo Switch and with the enormous success that the new console is enjoying, a retirement of the 3DS is now in the air, however it remained on the market for the beauty of seven years, churning out games on high quality games . With the swan songs of the portable console such as Pokemon Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon and the remake of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, there are necessarily spin-off titles that only serve to deceive the wait towards the release of more gluttonous main titles. A striking example is Kirby Battle Royale, a nice container of minigames that opens the way (and the hype) on the next main chapter of Kirby, arriving in 2018 on the Nintendo Switch. Let's go and examine what this title is about which, we anticipate, risks being a simple palliative.
I want the cake
The title of this paragraph is essentially the summary of the whole plot of the game: King Dedede has organized a great tournament called Dedede's Cake Royale, with a huge and delicious cake up for grabs. Of course, our greedy green ball has no intention of letting go of the opportunity to binge, which is why he joins forces with a Waddle Dee to enter the tournament. If from a certain point of view we find the usual "non-existent" plot at Nintendo, formed by kidnappings of princesses and the like, which have no evolution during the course of the game, at the same time we know very well that to have fun there is no need for other and that, after all, such a silly plot can only make you smile in its simplicity.
The clone war
As soon as we start playing we will be catapulted into a tutorial where we will test Kirby's skills: the pink ball can move three-dimensionally in any direction (with a view from above), attack using quick shots or a powerful charged shot, and of course jump floating in the 'air. Many will wonder what happened to our hero's ability to suck up enemies to assimilate their powers, but for some reason it was eliminated from the game, perhaps for "directorial" reasons, since we will be able to acquire various upgrades as we continue in ' adventure.
Once the tournament starts we will realize that Kirby Battle Royale it's not like a classic episode of the series, that is, full of minigames, but it's more like a collection of ten different minigames itself. Although this number may seem high, during the story these mini-activities will repeat themselves cyclically, leading even the most patient player to boredom after a short time, since the aesthetics of the arenas and the difficulty will change, but never the games themselves. These can range from a real free-for-all fight where the last survivor wins, to other types of playful entertainment that we would prefer not to spoil in their entirety: just the examples of an apple picking contest and a battle against a mech that will generate points depending on how many times each contender is hit.
The story mode of Kirby Battle Royale consists of 5 different mini-tournaments in which we will have to challenge Kirby clones created by King Dedede, all with the same appearance and the same skills as our pink ball. How come the penguin uses all these Kirby clones to prevent our hero from winning a cake rather than taking over the world? Let's not ask ourselves questions. The fact is that during our climb to success we will run into, in rotation, all the minigames available until we reach the coveted cake, without plot changes or surprises in the gameplay. A title done and finished with everything that is proposed to us from the beginning.
Of course it is also possible to play the ten minigames in a multiplayer, both local and online. The local multiplayer is great, and can be used both with multiple copies of the game, and using the much loved Download Play with a single cartridge (in this case we will have to choose between two different packages including five minigames each, and the upgrades and skills of the characters will be preset), while online everything fails, not due to particular lag or problems caused by the developers, but rather due to the predictable absence of people to play with, which determines biblical waiting times to find a single game.
Technical side
Graphically we find the same models and animations already used for the previous two games in the series, in a copy-paste not exactly in good taste, and the same happens with the soundtrack. Definitely very convenient solution for developers but which denotes a certain laziness, which we hope (giving them great confidence) to be due to the development of the new title on Switch and which should present a new process.
Kirby Battle Royale does not claim to be a real title in the Kirby series, but rather a spin-off not to be taken too seriously. The title itself ends up being a simple collection of 10 nice minigames, but which soon get bored and above all are offered at a prohibitive price, equal to what is usually dedicated to the main titles of each Nintendo series. Considering that everything, although initially fun, is easily forgotten, and that it is almost impossible to find a game to play on the net, we do not feel like promoting this game or recommending it highly, unless you are looking for a quick recreation and in the company of friends.
