Review: Backdrop

This this first of reviews, I would like to pick up on one of the few holes left in SiR6's impeccable reserve: Backdrop. Now, its absence (I know it is technically Suplex, but still) from the prior reviews comes as a shock to me. This was, without a doubt, my favorite ability of all time. In fact, it alone is what puts Adventure up on my favorite games, not just Kirby ones, of all time list.

Backdrop is first seen, bar a Mix, in Butter Building, Stage 3-2. It appears all the way at the end, right before the star topped door. To get it, of course, you must defeat Bugzzy. He is the one and only source of this awesome ability.

Now, the thing that makes this power such a force to be reckoned with is its variety and reach, but it is loved due to its attention to tradition. Throughout the title, the player tends to shy away from the classic game play of returning fire. Rather than launching enemies and other fodder as weaponry, their means of attack are copied. Fun, yes, but nothing like the original Dream Land.

The first thing noticed with Backdrop is that you inhale with it. You just defeated the mini-boss, you are at the level's end, and you want to see what it does, but you can't! Try as you might, all that you can do is get that vacuum whir. It is noticed that the familiar dots are now stars. Quite interesting.

Flash forward to the next level, and you finally get to see what happens. And that is, you grab the enemy? It seems like a step back. They are suppose to go in your mouth, but here Kirby is holding them in his stubby little nubs. Not only is he just holding them, but he's not even doing anything with the enemy. The power seems like a bust. What follows changes all previously thought notions.

Either too long passes or you hit a button, and Kirby springs into action, slamming the foe to pieces. Its so awesome, you have to see it again. Suck, grab, and bash. Even better, there's five different ways to lay the smack down on the enemy. No other ability, not even UFO, can match that variety. With four directions on the cross pad and the jump button, a whole arsenal can be tested on the captured prey.

Forward: Body Slam. Kirby hops forward and bashes the enemy against the floor, head first. The most commonly used tactic, I'd say, as it tends to wipe out whatever is before you.

Down: Piledriver. Kirby leaps straight up into the air and positions the foe between himself and the floor. Kirby's the rock, the ground is the hard place, and the enemy is unlucky to be between them.

Back: Suplex. To be truthful, it is a belly-to-belly suplex. Kirby hops back and drops the foe out flat. Good for when enemies think they are sneaking up on you.

Up: Backbreaker. Of the torture rack variety, to be rasslin' accurate. Kirby jumps up into the air and snaps the victim over his, um, shoulders?

Jump: Jumping Body Slam. This is the fun one, although a little bit dangerous. Kirby flies forward in a giant bound. Should nothing else get in his way, he and the foe go careening into the floor.

If an enemy was captured midair, this maneuver would be immediately pulled off, starting with the falling action. This was quite handy for some instant action in a normally two step process.

Just as cool as the moves is, all the stuff that surrounds their execution. While soaring through the air in spectacular display, anything caught in his path also gets creamed. On some of the longer moves, if a wall is hit, Kirby stops immediately; however, if a corner or ledge is right near where you hit and the grabbed star is over free space, it goes sailing off in the direction it was being slammed. This could all come together to create some pretty nice kills.

Now, my experiences with Backdrop are purely in its original, unaltered state. I don't know anything about how it was in Nightmare in Dream Land save for the fact that Kirby used the dash a la Super Star to grab onto foes. I already owned the game, I already like my version, I don't want to know what else they did to it. But this is how I'm tackling abilities, one a game by game basis for more individual focus.