Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Wii) Review

It was a bit strange to go this long without seeing a Kirby game on a home console, particularly when we knew there was something in the works and yet saw nothing. What looked like a rather generic pseudo-3D platformer wasn’t really getting anyone excited and it was pretty understandable that Nintendo saw fit to completely revamp the title or at least create an experience that was much more different. Imagine how surprised we were when Kirby’s Epic Yarn was revealed to be slightly similar, however boasting an impressive and interesting artistic direction.

Being a Kirby game, the game understandably isn’t a deeply narrative driven experience, but the story told provides a decent backdrop for Kirby to explore a new and unique world. When walking around in Dreamland on a sunny day, Kirby discovers a tomato that looks particularly delicious to him. Upon eating it, an evil sorcerer named Yin Yarn reveals himself to have possessed the tomato and sends Kirby to Patch Land, a world completely made out of fabric. The biggest downer about this whole misdirected consumption of seeded fruit is that Kirby can no longer inhale his enemies, being made completely of yarn now! Fast forward a few moments and Kirby has saved a young man named Prince Fluff, who pleads with Kirby to restore Patch Land to its former glory after Yin Yarn torn it apart. And there we have it – a motivation for Kirby to be, well, all Kirby like.

Kirby’s Epic Yarn gains massive recognition for its unique artistic direction not only because, well, it looks amazing but also because it is perfectly integrated into its gameplay. Almost everything in the game is made out of some kind of fabric or at least crafting material. Backdrops are lovingly stitched to large pieces of blue fabric to form the sky, with cotton scattered across to create very cute looking clouds. The whole thing looks very well made and a lot of effort and thought has gone into crafting the perfect home made looking game. The animations are very well done too, with Kirby’s movements being very cutesy, paper and fabrics dropping and floating in the wind and behaving as you would expect in the real world. The way the game comes together (literally with stitches) will definitely make players say ’Wow’ multiple times throughout the adventure, and thankfully it’s all pretty varied too, and the fabrics are used where you wouldn’t expect them to be either. When we turned a hose on, water didn’t come out, but instead streams of blue yarn did instead. It’s all very cute, if we may say so.

Despite being slightly different to what you’d usually expect from a Kirby game, Epic Yarn still plays somewhat similarly. Gameplay consists mainly of moving from world to world, level to level, navigating multiple obstacles in an effort to get to the end of the level in one piece. In keeping with the series’ tradition, Kirby can alter his form to traverse certain obstacles and his yarn structure is very well suited to this ability too, changing into a car to run, a parachute to float to safety (he can no longer fly either) and even a submarine when underwater. Being in yarn world, Kirby can no longer inhale enemies and instead has a piece of loose yarn hanging from his body that he can use in a whip like motion. Not only can this defeat enemies, but it can pull them towards Kirby, and be used to interact with the environment as well. Pulling a button out of patchwork may alter the environment by ripping a patch out of it, or unzipping a zip may cause an obstacle to fall off the screen. These moments are very cleverly thought out and are a great example of how the art style doesn’t only look pretty but actually affects gameplay too.

Besides the levels you’ll be platforming through, there are a few other things to do in Epic Yarn. In each level, there are treasure chests to find which contain furnishings for Kirby’s house, as well as gems. These gems can be used as currency to purchase more furnishing for Kirby’s house, allowing players to eventually unlock some pretty cool mini-games to play.

Probably one of the more controversial elements of Kirby’s Epic Yarn is definitely the game’s difficulty curve. Kirby’s Epic Yarn is ridiculously easy. It’s incredibly hard to die, with the game employing a Sonic-like effect where players will lose their gems once hit, then die properly. But dying properly just loses any bonuses awarded at the end of the game. With these bonuses being quite easy to obtain, there’s almost zero punishment for dying. We understand this is a game designed to cater to a younger audience, but still, sometimes we think things can be much too easy and Epic Yarn is a perfect example.

In addition to the bonuses awarded for completing levels under certain conditions, Epic Yarn also features a two player co-operative mode, although none of the game really properly takes full advantage of it. So if you finish the game once and wish to play through it again with a friend, it will be almost exactly the same – so beware. To be fair, however, there are some parts where two players helped me to reach an area previously unreachable, though not nearly enough of these moments really elicit a second co-op dedicated playthrough. The lack of proper balancing in this mode is a little disappointing but the functionality is still great for families who might want to share the experience, and it’s very casual friendly as you’d expect too.

Generally speaking, you’ll be looking at around six to seven hours to finish the game completely, with a little bit more for those who want to complete and find everything the game has to offer. Each level also has a kind of “second path” which can sometimes be interesting to explore however don’t expect anything super amazing through one of these retreads but it is still a nice touch.

The game’s soundtrack is probably one of the only let downs in this game’s presentation, and the fun and cute tunes really fit in with this game’s atmosphere and what you’d expect from a Kirby game usually. The only real problem here though is that some of the more simpler, less thought out tunes can get really grating at times and become quite an annoyance. The small sound effects like those for Kirby’s voice are still just right, though.

Kirby’s Epic Yarn is a bit of a mixed bag (a calico one, if you will) depending on how you look at it. There is definitely room for improvement in the game’s difficulty curve, although I can’t help but feel that the game’s unique gameplay elements, coupled with the artistic direction’s direct influence on the gameplay, makes it quite an enjoyable experience. Just don’t expect a huge challenge.

Graphics 9.9

A unique and very well thought out artistic direction that not only looks great but has an actual bearing on some gameplay elements.

Gameplay 7.5

Theres nothing really brand new about the Kirby games and Epic Yarn does nothing to remedy this, however some rather clever use of the games graphical style makes it fun to play and pull random loose threads. You might miss Kirbys signature inhale and float moves, but this is an entirely different beast.

Sound 7.5

A good selection of cute tunes, but some that may be a bit grating for older users.

Tilt 7.5

Theres quite a bit to do here, but it really depends on how much you want to complete the game to its full extent, as the rewards are definitely not must have. Co-operative mode is a good addition.

Value 9.0

Coming off some other comparatively realistic platformers like Donkey Kong Country Returns, I had a lot of fun with Kirbys Epic Yarns rather easy going pacing.