E3 2011: Kirby Mass Attack hands-on preview

Kirby Mass Attack hands-on preview Reduced to nothing more than a logo at Nintendo's press conference, Mass Attack is one of the hidden gems of this year's E3. It follows in the wake of Power Paintbrush, offering another innovative twist on DS platforming.

It stars Kirby. And Kirby. And Kirby. And Kirby, Kirby, Kirby, Kirby, Kirby, Kirby and Kirby. That's ten Kirbys. And one stylus.

Sounds like a migraine waiting to happen, right? Thankfully it plays like a simple mix of Power Paintbrush (Kirby's outstanding 2005 DS outing) and Pikmin. Entirely touch controlled, the focus is on leading a squad of Kirbys into battle.

Touch and they follow. Double tap and they speed up. Want more nuanced control? Hold the stylus on the group and you can draw a path for them to float - not quite the rainbow rope seen in Power Paintbrush, but close.

Tap an enemy and the Kirbys gather on them in a comedy dust cloud. Albeit, a very pink comedy dust cloud. Their collective weight can also manipulate the levels - grabbing the roots of a plant to pull it underground, for example.

You start with a single Kirby and work your way up to ten by gobbling food - one Kirby for every hundred points. In action this gives levels a great sense of escalation, as one lonely Kirby gradually builds into a swirl of chaos.

It's not entirely perfect just yet (and entirely in Japanese, suggesting the game is little way off), as keeping the gang together can be a pain. If one fails to make it up a cliff face, for example, the others have to go back to save him.

Even so, I'll take slightly wonky innovation over rock solid boredom any day. After the disappointing Wii showing for Kirby, it's reassuring to see the pink puffer back on his E3 A-game. Lovely.

Kirby Mass Attack was revealed at this year's E3 2011. Click the link to keep up to date with all the E3 2011 news from the show.

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