The DS is released and the crowd goes wild, buying up all things Nintendogs and Brain Age and anything else sanitized and generic enough to earn a TV spot. Somewhere else, a more discerning buyer walks confidently into a store, not looking for the next big thing–no, what this person seeks would more likely bring ridicule or questions into one’s sexual preference; this gamer knows exactly what he’s looking for. From a shelf of Pokemon and The Sims and Mario and Sonic wannabes, this person picks an unlikely, pink hero: Kirby!At the 16 year mark, Kirby has outlasted the fads and garnered the respect of core 2-D loyalists for the difficulty and quality of some 10 games. Kirby is classic simplicity. Stubby-limbed, powder-pink cream puffs with real, lasting appeal don’t come along that often in our era of impossibly-fashionable, overly-accessorized, precision computer-generated characters. Or in games that opt not to invest in the creativity to put a fictional face to the name. On the contrary, Canvas Curse is creative something fierce, and the addition of the existing Kirby tropes only makes it better.The player creates guides to take a permanently-ballified Kirby through the levels with rainbow-coloured strokes of the stylus. He moves in the direction you draw the line, which can mean in circles, off of ramps, or down slopes as required. He gets some new powers amenable to traveling big, wide-open levels, like a missile that you guide. The game remains the most stylus-driven I’ve played, and just about the best application of this technology of the DS.It’s colourful, it’s bubbly, and it will hurt your pride all the more when you can’t stop making a red candied Kirby in the lava. But it’s well worth it.

Posted on August 30th, 2008 by katie