HAL Laboratories and the Kirby team have always been one of the most creative videogame devlopment teams. From the countless Kirby spin-offs to the highest quality mini-games and extra adventures packaged into their blockbuster titles, every Kirby experience will put a smile on your face (let’s also not forget that Hal has a strong hand in a few of the Smash Bros. titles as well).
If you haven’t had the opportunity to check out Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Nintendo packaged the game with two high quality, though short, mini-game experiences. Kirby Fighters and DeDeDe’s Drum Dash are two examples of the creative experimentation that exists in HAL Laboratories’ repertoire. In fact, these two games hold up so well on their own (as does many of the miniature games in the Kirby universe) that Nintendo has separated them, added additional content, and put them on the 3DS eShop at a reduced price of $6.99.
Kirby Fighters Deluxe
Kirby Fighters had a good amount of polish from the start, mimicking the original Smash Bros. and giving gamers a temporary treat to tide them over prior to the release of the new Smash Bros. game. Choosing from a number of different copy abilities, you can play through a series of 7 battles in the same vein as the original Smash Bros. (1 on 1, vs. teams of 2 & 3 Kirby opponents, etc.).
The level designs are very Smash Bros.-esque, featuring chaotic levels from the Kirby Universe for fighters to duke it out on. A number of items also exist for players to use for their benefit. To sweeten the pot, the original Kirby Fighters even includes a training mode (against CPUs) and a multiplayer mode to give it some extra replay value. In short, the only major difference between this game and the original Smash Bros. or Melee’s Classic mode is that Kirby is your only selection (with only one set copy ability) and that there is no Master Hand as the final boss.
The interesting part, however, is that Kirby Fighters Deluxe doesn’t add much at all to the original version of the mini-game. The only major additions are a few extra copy abilities (if you own Kirby: Triple Deluxe), five extra levels, and the ability to have team battles. In a nutshell, there isn’t much of a reason to replay this version of the game over its mini-game predecessor. The game was already so well made that the original mini-game version is just fine.
DeDeDe’s Drum Dash Deluxe
For the sake of sanity and to shamelessly include math, I’ll refer to the above title as D6 for Dn such that n represents the number of times the letter D occurs in the title. The original DeDeDe’s Drum Dash (or D5) was a much smaller mini-game in the original Kirby: Triple Deluxe than even Kirby Fighters. This rhythm based mini-game featured three levels where players must guide DeDeDe (or D3) through an obstacle course by bouncing him along drums with a well timed press of the A button. Along the way, players must dodge enemies and obstacles as they attempt to finish the courses as quickly as possible while collecting as many coins as possible. Once a round is over, players are given a score based on all of the previously mentioned factors and awarded with a different colored trophy based upon their merits.
The game is very difficult and is sure to test your patience but with any rhythm based game, once you’ve played it a few times, you begin to get the hang of the gameplay and patterns throughout the levels. Unlike Kirby Fighters Deluxe, D6 actually features an extensive amount of extras compared to the original mini-game. Where Kirby Fighters Deluxe only added some additional content to an already robust fighting experience, D6 takes the original mini-game from 3 levels to 14, drastically increasing the amount of content (the last seven levels are challenge levels that are even more difficult for the hardcore gamer). Thus, while D5 was a fun snippet of gameplay, D6 has enough content to stand on its own.
