Kirby's Block Ball (1995)

Preliminary: As always, Kirby somehow turns a simple mini/side game into a full-fleshed-feeling game. Kirby Pinball was a childhood favorite which stands out to me still with its bosses and whatnot. Skeptical how they can manage that with Breakout but. I love the music so far, the bonus game Star Catcher was fun, and though I find Breakout a bit slow and mildly boring (at least at this point in the chronology project. when it was first released it was great!), in usual Kirby fashion, it's finding ways to make it more exciting and interesting and faster-paced.

Yeahh as much as I'm enjoying this and it's got neat extra aspects to the simple Breakout game, Imma need more powerups or more Pinball-esque chaos to keep me going through with it. I do like the tune but only so much. I'm at my first boss though so hopefully it gets more interesting now.

Yeah the boss was fun. I suppose I see why the ball goes slowly, so that you can handle also doing the vertically moving platforms.

Nice 2 bosses down in the first night. i guess I always love Kirby minigame GB games :-p Nice and there are 11 bosses in total. Even if I don't get there, with the good music and fun take on Breakout, this will earn at least a 4. My only complaint really so far is that I tend to avoid the bonus games at this point.

Day 2

Some of these later levels take a little too long to clear . Thank goodness for these powerups like the lightning one. Still, getting to be a bit tedious

This, Kirby Pinball, and the GB Picross all be belvoed for me. Who would've thunk I'd get into puzzle games by way of Gameboy versions?

Booo I miss my Lightning powerup tho the Rock Crunch Down is nice too. Neat how they incorporated powerups in the usual Kirby way of Copying enemies tho well the enemies don't use the abilities, but you know what I mean.

Day 3

The music continues to be solid enogh taht I haven't even wanted to put on a movie or something, quite impresswive for a GB game let alone a puzzle. But that seems to be the case with these Nintendo GB puzzle games of mid 90s.

Day 4

Uff teh difficulty has increased a lot at 10-2. And I like the music but it's not as spectacular now. But luckily it knew when to call it quits if it's done after 11. Just got some terrible news that a very close friend will be in a Burn Unit for months. I will sadly not be able to be as active with the visits we will be doing (it's about an hour and a half away)

I still do really like this but Breakout isd efinitely a more tedious process than the action of Pinball. I am getting a bit better at figuring out how to aim the ball and whatnot but it just has never been my favorite gravity/mechanics/ricochet effects.

Ugh wait I guess I didn't get a high enough score? So I didn't unlock the last area? And 3 of the levels I didn't get the "Border-Line" score apparently? Meh not a fan of that. just give me the final boss!

Ehh I started to replay some past levels to see if I'd want to do that, but nah. As much as I wanna see the true ending, that's enogh for me for now. I will likely return to it a la my gradual playing of Picross. Or maybe not. I dunno. It still was a good game!

Look: 7.5/10

Sound: 8.5/10 Impressive that I never felt like turning it down till the very end and even then, I didn't ha.

Play: 8/10 Best Breakout game since, well, Breakout imo. (And I just checked and I didn't really love Breakout, so I guess this is the best Breakout game so far indeed! Kirby sure has a knack with these side games)

Feel: 8/10 I would have loved having this for Gameboy as a kid.

Attachment: 8/10

Overall: 8/10

Completion: "The End?" (didn't unlock final area)

Playtime: ~2 hours

Just finished this game with the bad ending and found it was quite fun but some of the levels can be really tedious. Getting the true ending seems like a lot of work so I just dropped it. Very cute though and I like the innovations to the breakout formula it brought like the Kirby powerups and having the slider on different sides of the screen at once.

5/10

File this one under "better than I expected." It's a Breakout or Arkanoid style of game, but with Kirby as the ball. Sounds basic... which it is, making it a great fit for the basic handheld that was the Game Boy. Perfect for quick pick-up-and-play sessions. What makes this one interesting though is the sheer variety packed in to the gameplay. As you progress through the game's surprisingly large number of levels, you'll have times where you control multiple paddles (top and bottom, and the left and right sides) -- and Kirby the ball will get a nice variety of abilities that you can utilize to break down the bricks more efficiently. The devs got pretty clever with this one, using Kirby's copy skills in ways that made sense for this game subgenre. There are even some mini-game levels that give some more variation to how you play.

Only real complaint for this one is my complaint for any game of the sort -- it's really boring when there's only a few bricks (or even just one brick) left and there isn't much you can do to hit it due to the stage layout or whatever, and it just takes forever to finish the level. Kirby's abilities can sometimes mitigate this issue, but not always unfortunately.

Seventh Kirby game ever released and fourth spin-off overall. Nintendo already turned Kirby into a Pinball ball and a golf ball, so the next natural step was, of course, turn him into the ball of a Breakout clone.

For the people that don't know, Breakout (1976) is a puzzle videogame where you control a paddle that bounces a ball into bricks above that you need to destroy in order to complete the level. Maybe you haven't played the original game, but you've probably played one of its countless clones, and this game is one of them, with the extra that you control Kirby and the levels and mechanics are obviously inspired in the franchise.

Of course, being Nintendo, they didn't just put Kirby in the same levels that you could play in any other Breakout clone, and in the first stage you notice many original elements: For example, in some levels you can defeat an enemy and copy its ability just like in most Kirby games, and sometimes you have to control four paddles: Two on the floor and roof, and two on the walls. That greatly helps to make the game a lot more dynamic and creative than you would expect, which is really appreciated as there are eleven stages to complete with a total of 55 levels, and if you want to unlock the final stage and true final boss, you need to achieve a Hi-Score in all the other stages, so unless you're really good at the game you'll probably have to retry many of them.

There are also bonus minigames where you can get lives, and lives give you more points at the end of the stage, so not only they're a good change of pace, but are also useful if you want the full experience. However, despite all of the original mechanics, the gameplay isn't really that interesting, and sometimes you will be stuck on a level for many minutes because the last brick that you have to destroy is in a hard spot, which makes for a frustrating and tedious time in some levels. This, combined with the problem of having to restart a whole stage when you realize that you won't get enough points to achieve a Hi-Score, are easily the main problem of the game.

Despite of that, this is still a nice little experience and one of the best alternatives if you want to play a Breakout clone, as most of them don't have the same amount of effort and innovation than this one, just don't expect anything groundbreaking and be ready for a couple of not so fun moments, that at the end of the day will be insignificant when compared to the great time you could get.

History:

Never played this game, but I've played plenty of Breakout.

Expectations:

I'm hoping there's more to this game than just a Breakout clone here, and being a Kirby game I'm inclined to believe there... might be?

Day 1:

So... The game's pretty fun!

Yes, it's basically just Breakout, but the levels get creative enough to keep things interesting and I particularly enjoy the boss fights at the end of each stage.

My one complaint about the game is that some of the levels are designed in such a way that it can take FOREVER to get that final block and move to the next stage.

Luckily there is a save system, so I don't have to beat it all in one sitting (I might) but as it stands I'm currently at the halfway point, and still enjoying it!

Day 2:

I was wondering with Wispy Woods would show up. Actually playing through Kirby's Adventure has given me a bit more appreciation for a lot of this game. This boss was particularly fun, with Kirby bouncing off every projectile coming from the boss. It got pretty hectic, but definitely fun.

The game never really changes from stage to stage, with each level just getting more and more ridiculous. Sometimes it's fun, but other times it feels like you're just waiting and waiting for the ball to finally find its way through that tiny gap to hit that last random block you need to clear the stage.

To get the "real" final boss of the game you have to meet a highscore barrier on every level. I did not do this, and am content to call this my final boss. Another fun one, and a good way to end my time with Kirby's Block Ball.

Conclusion:

I enjoyed my time with Kirby's Block Ball, though I think it felt like it may have overstayed its welcome just a tad. A lot of that has to do with my playing it from start to finish in just a couple sittings though. As far as Breakout clones go, I really can't think of a better one at the moment. A lot of the levels were a bit annoying in their layout, making them feel like they went on just a bit too long, but on the whole I found this game very enjoyable.

I think this is mostly due to the game's mascot. Having Kirby flying around the screen, bashing into familiar enemies all to the tune of classic Kirby music felt great. The bonus stages were all interesting, and the boss fights were easily the highlight of the game, even if they were a bit on the easy side. All in all, this was a very fun little game.

Liked:

- The Kirby theme and styling was fantastic.
- Breakout is fun in general, and this was a great version of it, especially on the go.
- Boss fights were fun and interesting, even if they often ended too soon.
- Save slots meant you could work through the game's ten stages at your own pace.

Disliked:

- Some levels were a bit annoying, and required you just wait and wait and wait while they ball found its way through that one tiny gap to hit that last remaining block.
- Sometimes losing your power-up could mean future stages in that level would take ages to finish.

Personal Score: