Review: Burning

"Great balls of fire!" That is what Kirby becomes when he takes the ability Burning. It is a great and pretty simple ability that is good against almost any boss.

Fans of the Kirby games may wonder "What is Burning?" or "What is the point of it?" The reasons of these questions have different reasons for their existence.

As for "What is Burning?", Kirby becomes a fireball and shoots forward at a velocity that changed from game to game, but this question would arise from either early or middle Kirby fans. The reason is because, in Kirby's Adventure, the ability was known as Fireball and not Burning. When I first saw the name Burning as the name of the move in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, I flipped. "What ever happened to consistency in games? And plus, he looked like a fireball! Darn you, game creators!!!" And eventually I accepted it, mainly due to the fireballs that now existed on his hands when he got the ability.

For the middle Kirby fans, it sort of links with the "What is the point of it?" question. This is because in Kirby Super Star, this ability was in the arsenal of the Fire ability. This was also the case in Kirby & the Amazing Mirror and Kirby Squeak Squad. So many would wonder why it would even need to be an ability all on its own? The answer: Times changed and they became more efficient, or lazy, probably.

The Burning ability does have its fun points that are always enjoyable to me. Sometimes, I would want to go through a level or navigate the level select map without flying, or sometimes without jumping. Sure, I could have used Tornado or Hi-Jump, but that is a little too easy. With Burning, if you used it against a wall, Kirby would crash into it, make the screen shake, and bounce up a little, allowing you to go up to those higher areas, so you would see/hear crashing and shaking as you work your way slowly up the wall, or if you press fast enough, don't go up at all! It's also fun to do this to Whispy. But you can't do this in Kirby's Dream Land 3 or Kirby 64 because, in Dream Land 3, the more you use it, the weaker and less distance you can travel, so wait a while between uses. And in Kirby 64, you just go straight into the wall and stay there until it runs out. These are probably the two most annoying things about this ability in all its history, and the fact that you are unable to move for a bit after you get out of the fireball.

But overall, the number one most useful thing about this move isn't the fact that you get to go really fast for a while straight in front of you but that you are invincible as you do it! The only thing that you can't go through with it is walls and certain blocks that are broken with certain abilities, such as in Kirby's Dream Land 2 and 3.

As a result, you can pretty much burn through the entire Kirby series with this technique. While you are at it, why don't you do it in Super Smash Bros. Melee, too? As for some last bit advice for this move, don't fly out of the level in Kirby's Dream Course due to its massive speed boost.

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