Kirby Star Allies is the biggest release of this month on the Switch, and with just two weeks left until the game launches, excitement has never been higher. To capitalize on this, and perhaps to sway those who are on the fence, Nintendo has put out a short demo to give fans a taste of what’s to come.
The demo still isn’t live on the North American eShop, but you can download it from the EU eShop if you have an account set up for it. There’s two levels included—called “Grassland” and “Caves and Castles”—and the game’s much touted co-op gameplay is here, as well. Obviously, it won't take very long to see everything here, but it should give you a decent idea of what's to come.
What do you think? Will you be getting Kirby: Star Allies? What’s your favorite copy ability? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 64
I find Kirby games too easy.
"The demo still isn’t live on the North American eShop..."
Why are there still inconsistent eShop updates when the Switch is region free? What makes Nintendo of America think that it's a good idea to hold this back? I have many questions to ask Nintendo, but above all else, I just want to know their thinking beyond the PR crap.
@Al_Godoy Thank you. That is some great information to have.
@SanderEvers But that doesn't address the underlying issue here. Sure, I can go ahead and do that, and while it is a mild inconvenience, at least it's available to me. But, if I can easily access a product using a different region this close to release, why can't NoA just release it in North America?
Remember, I asked why this was the case. Not how to get the demo.
EDIT: You probably got several notifications that have this same exact response from me. I swear I only clicked Reply once, and then when I went to delete all the duplicates and it deleted all of them when I wanted to keep one. I apologize, but it seems like a certain website really wanted to glitch out on me. (Also doesn't help that the site went down for 10 minutes in the middle of all this)
It sometimes felt like my allies AI were playing the level for me solving the puzzles. I didn't have the expected power up at one point as I was playing around with copy abilities and my allies fused and solved the puzzle instead of letting me go back for a different ability. I don't like this feature, it makes me feel redundant as the player. Anyone else find this?
When is the North American version coming up?
@DuskformLycanroc I totally felt the same way. Not only that but they also killed a lot of enemies without me doing much work, if any. Kinda made the whole experience pointless.
We already knew this from the NOE eShop Press Release yesterday.
"Kirby Star Allies is the biggest release of this month on the Switch, and with just two weeks left until the game launches, excitement has never been higher."
Is it the biggest release of the month though? Does it automatically get that title because it's a Nintendo game?(Edit: I since searched and Kirby wins by default really, March is a very quite month) And I definitely wouldn't say the excitement has never been higher. I see mixed responses to the game, particularly the focus on the Allies and a lot of indifference from the general public to its forthcoming release. I was saying yesterday that this game needs a demo and Nintendo know it, it needs all the help it can get. This game isn't going to light up the charts and doesn't have anywhere near the hype or appeal of a Mario, Zelda or Mario Kart. I also don't get why this game runs at just 30fps. Far more taxing games on the Switch run at 60fps.
Just so you know, Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush on the Wii U ran at 60fps. Though I remember Nintendo saying that because of Kirby’s claymation visuals, they were contemplating deliberately lowering the frame rate to give the overall animation a slightly choppier, Aardman Animation-style style. There's no excuse here.
I'm certainly one of those on the Fence so thanks for the heads up.
It's a game I wouldn't have given a 2nd thought otherwise so who knows maybe it'll be better than I'm expecting and may lead to a purchase
Played it yesterday as Demo went live around 3pm. Although I like the graphic style and music it is just not fun for me as a 1 player experience with the CPU characters getting in the way.
The controls feel a bit off too. They feel 'floaty'. Like a millisecond out of sync when you press the buttons. And the Boss battles were basically just button bashing.
Yoshi where are you?
I myself am a big Kirby fan, but I honestly aren't that excited for this one. I really don't like the focus on local co-op. Like mentioned before it felt that the 3 AIs were basically playing the game for you. While the game is the most high definition Kirby yet the two demo levels felt really basic in style and paths. They did a lot more in previous games like Robobot and the Amazing Mirrors if we talk about level desing and ones like Epic Yarn for artstyle. In short I am dissapointed after the demo while I really wanted to like it.
Not to exited for this one but i will give it a go.probally buy and sell when its finished
@SLIGEACH_EIRE I was a bit skeptical about the game when I heard that it was 30 fps and that allies were mandatory, but after playing the demo most of that skepticism is gone. I really enjoyed the demo, combining abilities and seeing what happens is nearly as exciting as it was in kirby 64.
@dazzleshell I think its 'floaty, because it only runs at 30fps which is a shame.
Controls feel a bit stiff (though this may be an issue with all Kirby games, I don't remember, ot it could be the 30FPS) and having all 3 thralls at once feels crowded. Also having to hold down a button to get rid of your power slows the game down too much IMO.
It's cute and I really like the power combinations (rock + water/ice resulting in a curling stone is my favourite), but without a crowd of little ones in my house I see little point in buying it.
Although I do appreciate the powers being a lot like in Fun Pak, with combos and variations, which is probably my favourite Kirby game. Yo-Yo is just great every time it appears.
I'm an American, so even though I am aware of the Switch being region-free, I'm just going to wait for the demo to land on the mainland's eShop (though if that doesn't happen...well, I'm still buying it).
@SmaggTheSmug pressing minus gets rid of your power immediately.
I'm not gonna buy this game for the simple fact it isn't online. Honestly i'm going to say what I've wanted to say and that is... Nintendo is f****** [BRILLIANT]... In the age of online they continually create games that are ONLY offline...
@DEZn00ts
Thank you for editing your post!
For a game that is aimed at a younger audience what is the massive need for online?
Already preloaded the game. The kids will be downloading the demo as they are super excited about this one.
Kirby sucks.
What?
He does.
I will get it.
I think this game will be good but nothing else. As far as the traditional Shinya Kumazaki platformers (KRtDL, KTD, KPR, KSA) are concerned, I predict it will be better than Triple Deluxe but worse than Robobot and Return to Dream Land. I'll be staring at this for no less than three months, so I hope I'm not underwhelmed.
Not impressed in single player. Will wait for reviews but it's a bit dull.
Looks a great game. Not for me but my kids love it
@SLIGEACH_EIRE yes...switch can be easy handle that game in 60fps....its nothing special on screen to reduce to 30fps..im pass and wait for Donkey Kong
@Al_Godoy Yes, the main Kirby adventures are pretty easy overall, but they do offer some absolutely hardcore challenges for more experienced players. Have you tried the True Arena in any game (especially Robobot), for example? They are absolutely brutal, and can be only beaten if you have a good understanding of the game mechanics, all moves of your chosen abiliti(es), and the boss attack patterns, and also have good reflexes.
Other than that, the "extra" (hard) modes can be challenging, and some puzzle rooms require more thinking than others.
Other than that, these games are usually more about the accessibility and the way you can experiment with different movesets and combinations. I think they are wonderful.
No demo in Japan either.
Made a UK account yesterday just for this. The demo did not disappoint! It's your typical Kirby experience, but that's not a bad thing. The game looks and feels fantastic.
It's cute and fun, but i feel like the current 60 € pricetag is a little high for me. It's just a little TOO similar to Triple Deluxe for my taste. I'll wait until it drops to a sweet spot of 40 - 45 €.
I agree with a lot of these comments.The game is fun and looks great but it's too easy and like @DuskformLycanroc says,the AI buddies seem to play the game for you,I just felt like I was along for the ride.
I was excited for this game and it was going to be a day one buy from me but after playing the demo..I may wait for a sale.
Is this even considered as news at this point? Demo has been up for 24 hours. Ah well.
Really liked the demo myself, I think you have to realize you don't have to play with 3 CPUs constantly which was kinda mandatory in the demo since it was a tutorial. For the puzzles you can temporarily befriend an enemy or 2 if need be. The second part of the second level looked amazing imo, like Woolly World with some extra effects.
Maybe I'll check out the demo at some point, but I gotta say, based on the footage, this must be the most boring AAA first-party game on the Switch yet.
Does it occur to any of you that the demo is "too easy" because you're playing two introductory levels to the game? Does no one remember scaling difficulty where higher levels are harder than those that preceded them?
I like Kirby games but I’m kinda on the fence with this one. I’ll give the demo a try once it hits NA.
I'll try the demo soon, but if the game plays itself in single-player that's very bad!
@Alikan One of the levels is labeled "Hard". Like all Kirby games, it's anything but.
Tried it. Not as fun or creative as Robobot. Framerate not ideal, it looks ok but lacking something? No Vsync? For a single player game, this is bad... confusing and messy, unlike the Kirby games for 3DS this is a button masher.
All the whining about the difficulty: Kirby games always have different layers. Getting to the end is rather easy, but there are always hard to get items and other stuff. Maybe its all simplified because of the multiplayer, but that has yet to be seen!
I loved the 2 main Kirby 3DS games, not feeling this is as much after playing the demo, seems a bit ‘meh’. But if it gets good reviews I’ll be buying it day 1.
The demo was meh and way too easy! No interest in buying unless it's £10 on release lol
I'll wait for an NA demo but so far a lot of folks seem to feel it's a weak entry. At $60 I'm expecting a lot of content, so two quick levels doesn't place good value on the product.
The price is very expensive too for this. Kirby games are usually very short and easy. And speaking of easy.
Pertaining to the above comments that you can win by doing nothing, here's proof.
Kirby Star Allies: Kirby WINS By Doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! (All Boss Fights - Demo Version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jbb2SonDKQ
You can buy at least 3 great Indie games for the same price.
@DEZn00ts Couldn't agree more. Me personally, I would love to take advantage of Nintendo's multiplayer experiences. But no one around me plays video games. That's why online play is so valuable.
I tried giving Kirby a chance on Wii U with many of the virtual console releases downloaded, but I just can't get into the franchise, & frankly, other than the cuteness of it all, don't really understand the appeal. Nevertheless, I have Star Allies on my wishlist, because I liked the look & sound of it from the trailers. But I'm glad I tried out the demo first, because the game, while cute & nice to look at, was a little on the boring side. And I, too, felt like the friend characters kind of do everything. Also, after "easy" mode being way too easy, I tried the "hard" mode. And I finished the "hard" mode demo wondering exactly how it was any harder than "easy" mode, because they seemed identical to me, in terms of difficulty.
While I still may one day eventually download Kirby: Star Allies, I will definitely wait a couple of years or so, when it goes to the Nintendo Selects range.
I liked the demo, it looks really great. I couldn't tell the difference from 30 fps or whatever...
I do hope it gives us more of a challenge, especially since the allies like to solve every puzzle..... But maybe they can have a setting to only do what you do (mirror your moves, if you attack, they attack), higher difficulty, more creative puzzles, and a little harder setting..... But I'll wait for reviewers to get more detail in the game.
And I wonder if there will be any mini games like Kirby 64, or just fighting dojo like in the 3 DS version.
Played the demo through, huge disappointment for me. I guess it's good first game for a 5 year old kid. Getting Planet Robobot instead.
Tried the demo. You can definitely tell it's not 60fps, which is a real disappointment. I know it's Kirby, but platformers need high FPS. This has made me rethink purchasing it. How the hell can they manage 12-player online MK8 and Mario Odyssey at 60fps, but can't do a Kirby game?
I also noticed there's a loading screen every time you enter a door. Seems a bit much. Maybe the game is just not optimized?
Played it, and deleted. I could hardly see who I was controlling most of the time, but it didn’t matter as the AI took care of everything anyway. The game did look very pretty, although a couple of slowdowns were rather jarring. For some reason I found Kirby both too simple and too complicated at the same time.
I couldn’t say it was me controlling the game with cpu “friends” around. Allies were also mandatory for certain “puzzles” so the games forced me to make “friends”, meh. 30fps lock is just the icing on the cake (irony). I will rather buy an different/older game in a long Kirby’s history franchise
To all the people having played the demo, does it feel more like a Wii U, 3DS, or Switch game?
I've thought since the reveal it was a repurposed 3DS game. The multiplayer, the look, now reading how easy it is. The 30fps seems like the clincher as it's probably all the 3DS could handle with 4 player, 3 of them smart AI using up the CPU, and they just kept it.
Sure it could have been made from the ground up for Switch, but if it was, why so many limitations and issues? It's not Skyrim or Doom by any means.
And all the people complaining about the price, I get it, several Wii U games such as Splatoon and Captain Toad were cheaper in the EU, but look at the Switch competition right now. Kirby, Labo in late Aptil, Bayonetta isn't the same audience. It's full MSRP b/c it can be, nothing else like it on Switch until Yoshi, which they haven't given us the date for yet, probably b/c they don't want people skipping Kirby for Yoshi. Who knows, maybe late March we'll get an ND chock full of Switch game dates.
Played the demo, enjoyed more than I expected.
I wish they could do another labyrinthian game akin to Amazing Mirror or The Great Cave Offensive because too many recent Kirby games just have the Return to Dream Land formula.
I've been watching this one carefully and I really wanted to like it but from the demo something just seems 'off'. I also don't like how quick the Ai allies are at solving/ collecting/ defeating stuff on screen. I know it should be kind of easy but it goes a little too far. Still love kirby though. Probably a good thing I'm on the fence still, I still need to start XC2 ha!
Switchforce on YouTube beat the grasslands level without attacking a single enemy. Said they could do the same on the "hard" level. Your friends can beat the levels for you. If the entire game is like that then I'll pass. Not paying $60 for that. Might be a good game for extremely young players though.
I’m surprised this isn’t on the North American eShop yet. I want the demo, but not enough to start a European account.
@Al_Godoy Eh. Well, hey, there's always true arena.
Ya know, it sucks to say this, but gameplay so far... not much. Sorta bottom of the barrel. It's a fine looking game. And hey, at least the theme for Friendly Field and the fanservice are plain beautiful.
@DuskformLycanroc I get what you’re saying and I can see how that would be annoying, but they obviously made this game with multiplayer in mind, and the AI companions are just there to make the game functional when you don’t have other people to play with (which will be me for pretty much the entire game).
That said, I felt like the AI was actually better than I was expecting, and the computer generally waited for me to take the initiative on puzzles and stuff, most of the time. But I’ll reserve final judgment until I’ve played more than two levels.
Played the demo: I am not impressed! Sure it looks nice but it was super easy (these are of course the first levels, I know) and there was nothing really special about them. The Dedede fight was fun though...
Kirby demo dropped for North American eshop! FYI for any holdouts.
Bargain bin game for me - I like collecting nintendo 1st party titles but this one is a no-no at full price
I'm not too impressed by the actual gameplay. The graphics and effects and animations are all superb — top-notch... But the actual gameplay is easy; feels like you're going through the motions-esque. It's screaming quality from a Nintendo standpoint but I refuse to pay $60 for this... $30? That's the sweet spot for this. $40 MAX. Give it a shot of course and see what you think but I am glad I didn't keep my preorder for $60...
I played through the demo again today and it's actually grown on me quite a bit. I think it might be a fun sort of chilled game in the same way Captain Toad was. I think I only paid £25 for Captain Toad on pre-order though...
@Alikan Thanks for the update. Too bad NL couldn't update the article yesterday. I still haven't made another account and glad now I didn't bother. My kids will be happy when they get home from school.
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