Collection essentials #206: Kirby Super Star (SNES)

Kirby finally gets a proper mainline entry on the Super Nintendo, right in the same month that Nintendo’s NEXT major console was coming out. Kirby’s Adventure on the NES actually came out midway through the prime of the SNES, and that started a recurring pattern of major Kirby games coming late in a system’s lifespan that persisted for quite a while.

The box can be a little deceiving. It says “8 games in one”, but none of the games on here would really be enough to pass as an independent SNES game on its own. In fact, some of them are basically mini-game modes rather than actual games. Which is fine, it’s just kinda false advertising if you ask me.

Being a main series entry, Kirby Super Star is a platformer with the signature gameplay elements seen in Kirby’s Adventure, and more. So Kirby can fly, inhale and swallow objects, blow out a burst of air, and take the abilities of some enemies upon eating them, also known as the “copy ability”. Kirby Super Star makes important advancements with Kirby’s copy ability. Previously, you got one simple move with each ability, such as breathing fire. But Kirby Super Star ups the ante by giving you an entire set of moves included with each ability that can be executed with different combinations of directions and the attack button, and depending on whether Kirby is on the ground or in the air. Also, from an aesthetic standpoint, this is the first game where Kirby’s appearance changes depending on what power he has. Now, Kirby usually gets a hat or some kind of thing on his head to show what power he has, and he may even change color. There are also a lot more abilities in this game than in previous entries on top of that.

This game also introduces a new gameplay element that lets Kirby get rid of his currently-copied ability and instead transform it into a copy of the enemy he ate, and that new creature will now fight alongside Kirby, complete with its own health bar. Kirby is free to grab another copy ability so that he’s not left without any special powers. And if you want, a second player can control this created character for co-op action. 

The meatiest mode in this game is called “Milky Way Wishes”, which does not follow a typical linear progression like in a normal platformer, but instead could be compared to Metroid, as Kirby can freely explore a series of levels. The copy ability works differently now; eating enemies doesn’t give Kirby an ability anymore (with some exceptions). Instead, Kirby must unlock the ability to add abilities to his arsenal by finding items scattered across the world that unlock each one. Once unlocked, Kirby can activate that power at any time.

Kirby Super Star is very popular among fans of the series. However, to be honest, I find it a bit overrated. And my main complaint is with the low difficulty. I get that they want to keep the game kid-friendly, but I felt they could have done a better job of challenging the player. The ability to create an ally seems a little bit too powerful to me. This is especially true in Milky Way Wishes, because since Kirby is able to activate power-ups from a menu as much as he wants, this means Kirby’s helpers can never truly die, and the player can win just by playing keep-away. This is especially true if a second human player is controlling them. Also, while the variety provided from all the different modes is nice, I feel like it would have been better had they focused on fewer but more refined modes.

But that’s not to say Kirby Super Star isn’t really good, with a lot of style and some memorable moments. It’s still plenty good enough to be an essential.