Kirby's Rainbow Resort > Fan > Ability Review > Review: Ball | |
Review: BallAbility : Ball Title : Kirby's Adventure, Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land Reviewer : Bimblesnaff Ball. Boy, could you get any more simple than that? This ability has the unique distinction of being semi-portrayed in about every non-platform title in the Kirby series, as the puffball tucking in his arms and legs (or getting them magically removed) is about the quickest way to a weird gimmick. But we're not here to talk about those games. Also, no one is actually here or talking. In a typical title where Kirby walks around and attempts to avoid enemies, this ability has the -- what's the word? -- gumption to roll about and face the foe head-on. Ball is a very dynamic power. In fact, activating the ability performs no real action outside of converting the player into or out of sphere shape. Unlike other mimicked attacks that launch out blasts or self-propel, this one leaves the player in complete control. When in Ball form, the player still moves about Kirby in most of the normal fashions. They can move him left and right and even jump. This is how the form manages its offense (and, really, most any function). When in motion -- particularly fast motion -- Kirby switches from a vulnerable state where everything hurts him into a rubbery wrecking ball that bashes and bounces. Unfortunately, this time frame is very narrow and attacks must be placed exactly. While it is a little less reckless than the cool-down or rebound of devastating abilities such as Fireball which murders baddies in a burning streak, it is also far less, well, devastating (at least to the enemy). Much like Wheel, this power is typically offered in a specific environment to fully utilize its unique usage (although, strangely, I believe the two appear in museums). Wheelie lurks in long, flat expanses, and tight spaces with appropriately spaced ledges to bounce between are populated with... um, you know... what's his name... Round-Head? Oh, right, Bubbles, who gives the Ball ability. And not Bubble. I know it wouldn't even exist for some dozen years or so, but it's still weird. Ball is one of those aesthetic abilities that were more common when the series was young. Rather than being a one-size-fits-all hat ('cuz Kirby wears hats in later games, get it?), it was tailor made for a handful of scenes in select levels. There's nothing wrong with this, but in an era of Boss Endurance and Helper to Hero, the audience expects to be able to take any of the available abilities and stand some chance at crushing through the entire roster of bosses, guns blazing. These less explosive, environment dependent, and highly level-design based powers have been on their way out since the days of Super Star. There's nothing wrong with that, of course. Adventure exists and nothing -- no amount of changes or shift in game focus -- will make it not exist. This sort of cutesy mentality of asking, "What if we just had him curl into a ball?" helped shape the series as a whole. One can't help but look at a more recent title like Canvas Curse (recent to me, at least) and not feel like there was some inspiration from this oft overlooked oddity in the copy ability roster. Still, amidst writing all this, I thought it'd be fun to try and see just how the bouncing ball would far against a real threat. Would it even be able to be hurt someone like a mini-boss? Since Bubbles is offered easily in Grape Gardens, I took the newly copied ability to the local Arena and tackled Bugzzy. I gathered a head of steam, smashed down into him, and bounced off to safety. Wow! I even got away unscathed? Went in for the second strike and- he's dead? Oh... already? Okay. Let's try this against Bonkers- two-hit combo again? Gotta admit, that came a bit as a shock. Honestly didn't remember it being any good against boss-types (probably since I never bothered to hang on to the skill). Granted, that fell apart at Arena #5 and Fire Lion who -- prone to the pounce and maul tactic -- proceeded to constantly pounce and maul through the bouncing strike. I proceeded to take it straight to the top and try it against the King of Kings, Triple-D. For an ability, it did a hefty dose of damage against a guy who normally shrugs off the blows (likely because it was several strikes performed in succession). However, upon hitting the floor, any cloak of invulnerability quickly faded, and scoring any damage without it being from a double-edged sword was clearly a lost possibility. Sadly, my NES is a little buggy (given that it's from the dang eighties) so I wasn't able to "refresh" myself on more interactions. From the (albeit limited) pool of examples, it appears that Ball truly can hold its own in the skull-bashing arena/Arena of big bads with some carefully landed blows. This limited window of opportunity and chance of getting yourself harmed makes it more of a "challenge" choice rather than a "good" option. So overall, after double-checking, still a bad idea. Fun to bounce around with (especially in the over-world map), but it normally just gets Kirby knocked about and -- therefor -- the ability knocked out of him. Great in some situations, utterly worthless in most, but generally, I'd say... it's a ball! Went there, no regrets. |
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Last Updated - June 18th, 2016 | |
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