Preview: Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush

Nintendo is nothing if not artful. From Yoshi’s Story to Paper Mario to Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Nintendo has often implemented a unique artistic style to great effect. With Yoshi’s Woolly World and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse (the latter retitled Rainbow Paintbrush for Australia), Nintendo is having an artistic renaissance and eschewing the hyper-realistic graphics and drab colours that generally dominate current-gen games. It’s what Nintendo has always done in reality, but with the power of the Wii U, Nintendo’s seemingly boundless imagination is really being brought to life.

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse looks incredible. Like Yoshi’s Woolly World, one can’t help but crack a wide smile when playing. Kirby, the game world and everything in it appear to be made of modelling clay or plasticine and it’s all totally adorable. Colourful and bright, animated in the style of claymation and too cute for its own good, Rainbow Curse is yet another example of Nintendo giving a big pink middle finger to the traditional notion of improved graphics and serious “adult” gameplay. In the gameworld you can see thumb and fingerprints in the clay and cuts and gouges from a modelling knife. Everything has a hand crafted look that makes you feel connected to the gameplay on a personal level. Rainbow Curse looks as if you could reach out and touch it and through the Wii U and its GamePad, you can.

As a sequel to the DS’ Kirby and the Canvas Curse, gameplay in Rainbow Curse is identical to its predecessor.  The only method of control is the stylus which is used to draw a magical rainbow coloured line of clay that Kirby will roll along and a spin attack he’ll perform if the stylus is pressed upon him. Kirby is stuck in ball form and his only method of transportation is riding the coloured lines drawn by the player. It’s a novel concept and one that at first seems quite difficult. Initially I had Kirby moving along at a snail’s pace, crashing into the ceiling and floor and generally performing quite poorly. Even worse than to be expected from a pink blob of clay. After only a few minutes though, it all begins to click and subtle strokes of the stylus become a fast paced rollercoaster for Kirby.

Drawing rails for Kirby to ride is a delicate balance between long, slow and deliberate lines and quick flicks. Nailing a run will see Kirby zoom across the screen, take out dozens of enemies and collect precious stars all without ever slowing down or stumbling. It’s immensely satisfying to get a good run going and when you do it’s like entering a hypnotic trance. It’s an almost Zen-like experience and one that could only come from Nintendo. Rainbow Curse’s gameplay is very simple to learn, but has an insane level of depth. Players will constantly improve as they play, learning new methods of control and discovering faster ways to get Kirby going. Replaying old levels to improve your run will make for huge longevity. Here’s hoping the game ships with a Time Trail mode.

As a sequel to Canvas Curse, Rainbow Curse’s handheld legacy is clearly evident. Played on the Wii U GamePad, I found it quite difficult to look at the TV screen while using the stylus on the GamePad. Perhaps with practice it would be achievable and a viable way of playing, but during my short hands on it simply wasn’t an option. At this stage, I’d go so far to say the TV screen is superfluous at best and a waste at worst. However, not using the TV isn’t really an issue. The game stands on its own as brilliantly fun and adorably gorgeous even just on the GamePad’s screen. Rainbow Curse doesn’t make a case for Wii U’s dual-screen gameplay, but it does for Off-TV play. Rainbow Curse is a perfect example of the Wii U’s power to allow multiple activities occurring simultaneously in one room.

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse is Nintendo at its most Nintendoiest. It’s colourful, bright, adorable, cute and wickedly addictive. Don’t write it off as “kiddy” due to the claymation artwork or the pink guy on the case. It’s a fiendish puzzle platformer that will challenge the non-core and the hardcore alike. In a year of remakes, rehashes, sequels and generic games coming out the wazoo Nintendo has shown that by going against the grain they can and will find ways to innovate, challenge and delight gamers of all ages. I for one, can’t wait to take Kirby for a spin next year.

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse is coming exclusively to Wii U in 2015.