Kirby: Power Paintbrush review

As far as silly videogame premises go, Kirby: Power Paintbrush is fairly ordinary. The evil sorceress Drawcia has turned Dreamland into a painting and Kirby into a freakish limbless ball. Unable to function under his own power, you are entrusted to guide Kirby's continual momentum using a magic paintbrush (err, the stylus) by drawing platforms and ramps for him to roll along and prodding enemies to stun them.Hang on, this seems awfully familiar. Much the same system was utilised in the early DS game Yoshi: Touch and Go; but where that was underwhelmingly limited, Kirby is far more fleshed out. Granted, there are only eight main levels (containing three stages each) to roll through, but the hidden medals and unlockable passages make replayability quite high. Medals earn prizes which can be 'bought' from the main menu, such as new levels, different colour paint and fairly pointless background music. Any level, once cleared in the story mode, can be replayed in Rainbow Run as either a time trial (self-explanatory) or a line trial (reaching the exit using as little paint as possible). This forces you to think about how you play in two different ways (speed versus restraint) rather than just one.Of the two screens, the top is used primarily as a map, and the bottom as your touch interface with the game. The map is great for finding the exits and hidden medals, although little else will be displayed there. The touch screen handles the control of Kirby with surprising accuracy, though it sometimes feels clumsy. Since you don't actually have direct control over the character, it feels very little like a platform game at all. Just to make Kirby do something as simple as change direction requires you to draw a 'wall' to bounce him off of - and in busy areas, trying to flick and direct Kirby away from spikes and enemies whilst simultaneously poking them can be gruelling.But Kirby's pace is generally slow, as though in low gravity, which makes the game quite easy for the most part. You almost always have enough paint to save Kirby from falling, as it recharges quickly, and smaller ramps can be used to 'bounce' back into the air, giving you extra time to think. In fact, it's basically a complete walkover until you get to level seven, where the scrolling screen of doom moves slower than the paint paths push you, leading to you running blind into traps. Even the end of level bosses are just souped-up minigames that you can tackle in any order - which provides a pleasant level of freedom, but it's hardly difficult enough to be needed.There are lots of well-thought out elements in Power Paintbrush: level structure is intelligent and manages to maintain momentum; enemy and power-up placement is sensible and allows for exploration of new routes; underwater sections use inverted gravity as a buoyancy effect, so you have to push Kirby down with the paintbrush, rather than keep him up; and the pause menus offer tips on what the various power-up transformations do. A lot of care has gone into the graphics, too; the smooth, bouncy animation of Kirby is spot on, and background environmental details often hide secrets. The music fits well with the cheerful tone of the game and sound effects are suitably sprightly.Kirby: Power Paintbrush is an easy game whose only longevity comes from obsessive completion - but even then, it won't last beyond a few hours, and is probably best suited to a younger audience. Whilst the refreshing change to touchscreen control is appealing to both young and old, continued use only reinforces that the hands-on nature of button-based platformers is more satisfying in the long run.