The pink blob goes back to basics for this platformer
Kirby's DS debut in Canvas Curse was brilliant, as it made you forget that you were controlling a pink blob, as you concentrated on drawing rainbow paths for him to roll along. For Mouse Attack you could argue that Kirby's settled for the easy life as he goes back to the well-trodden platforms of GBA's Nightmare In Dreamland. This time someone has stolen his shortcake and Kirby discovers it's the work of some thieving mice called the squeak squad.
Kirby's trademark skill snatching is as sharp as ever with 25 abilities to copy and the option to mix them to form new combinations. So you can steal Meta Knight's sword, obtain a fearsome fire attack and transform into a wheel and zoom through the levels. Thing is, you really will zoom through the levels. While using these abilities is fun, it does make things all rather too easy.
Gameplay is similair to New Super Mario Bros in that you could blast through all 50 levels in a few hours but if you did you'd be missing out on some treasures. Whereas in Mario you have to grabs coins, here it's treasure chests and finding them unlocks all sorts of bonus materials, from sound files and artwork, to secret door keys which open up extra levels and copy ability skills.
Fools Gold?
Finding all these chests is a bit more of
a challenge as they're often stored in locations which can only be reached with a certain power-up. Also, it's quite exciting when a member of the Squeak Squad shows up, setting up a mad dash to get to the treasure first.
Having said that you could still complete Kirby in a couple of days and while there are three multiplayer games none of them are good enough to keep you going. Kirby has always been a bit of a B-list Nintendo character and to float to the top he needs something extra. It's a shame he decided to put his paintbrush down.