Good God, we’ve already done so many previews ofKirby’s Epic Yarn. There’s the one thatJim wrote, and the video withme and Jimplaying the game, and the write-up thatHamza did last month,andthe impressions thatChad did from E3. It looks like just about everyone on staff who’s played the game has come away happy. I’m sure it will make it to at least one Dtoid staff member’s GOTY list.
Even with all of those previews, there are some questions that remain unanswered. In particular, the game’s difficulty remains in doubt. You can’t die inKirby’s Epic Yarn, so does that mean it’s automatically easy, and if it’s easy, does that mean it has no depth, or worse, that it’s not worth replaying?
I have good news related to these inquiries. Check out my full preview for the answers.
Kirby’s Epic YarnDeveloper(s): Good-Feel, HAL LaboratoryPublisher: NintendoTo be released: July 18, 2025 (NA), Jun 01, 2025 (JP), Q1 2011 (EU)
Ben PerLee and I played through a few new levels ofKirby’s EpicYarn. This was stuff that took place near the end of the game, so the difficulty was definitely ramped up. There were also several Nintendo employees in the room, who made it a point to mock us whenever we messed up. Already, I was seeing howKirby’s Epic Yarnmight not be as easy as it previously felt.
Still, no matter how tough things get, you still can’t die in the game. Take a hit, and you lose all of the money that you’ve acquired up until that point, and that’s it. It’s a like a 2DSonicgame in that way, except for the fact that Kirby (and his new pal Prince Fluff) can live without money. Sonic may not be able to tolerate poverty, but Kirby and Co. are more than happy too keep rolling along with empty wallets.
That said, the game does know how to apply pressure when it wants to. There were a few levels that we played where the ceiling or floor started closing in on us. You had to move quickly and intelligently in order to keep from getting squashed and losing all of your dough. There was another level where you had to jump from fast-moving roller coaster to fast-moving roller coaster. It was pretty high-intensity stuff, and felt like it would take quite a few replays to master.
It was in that level that I learned the importance of keeping your friends alive. When you take a hit, you lose your money, but that doesn’t mean it’s gone. If you’ve got a co-op partner, they can pick up most of your dough after it flies from your body. For that reason, it’s often worth it to save a friend even if your own death is otherwise inevitable. At one point in the game, PerLee and I were both falling to our doom.
We’d both fallen off from that roller coaster, which was whizzing over our heads at top speed as we sank to our deaths. I was slightly closer to the roller coaster than PerLee was, so I grabbed him with my yarn whip, and flung him up to the roller coaster, where he landed to safety in the nick of time. It’s a good thing I grabbed him before he went into “angel lift”; theKirby’s Epic Yarn‘s equivalent toNew Super Mario Bros. Wii‘s “safety bubble.” Had he gone into safety mode, we both would have been dead (and poor).
As a result of my heroics, I was rewarded with cheers from the Nintendo employees in the audience. Financially, I still suffered a huge loss, but Ben was able to pick up a lot of what was left. More importantly, Ben didn’t losehismoney, which meant something to me too, because in two-player mode, you share a wallet. Thanks to my save, we managed to cross the finish line with enough money between us to see a new level. However, Ben did end up with more money than me at the end, so his character (Kirby) got to do a victory dance, while my guy (Prince Fluff) sat there in silence.
I’ll get you next time, PerLee. Next time.
Shortly after that, we got to take on King Dedede. He was a fun fight, but it was a little anti-climactic, as I’m used to Dedede being a badass last boss. InEpic Yarn, he’s merely the puppet of the game’s grand master, a thing called Yin-Yarn. Though it took a while to figure out how to beat Dedede, we ended up with a lot more money after he was down than we had after previous levels.
For instance, we got our butt kicked in the water level where you get the new dolphin power-up. When you’re a dolphin, you’ve got speed, the power to barrel through enemies, and do mid-air somersaults, but with all of those added powers come a lot of new challenges. Although the game may seem slow-paced on video, there’s actually a lot going on here, particularly with two players. As Ben put it, the game’s ocean level was like “Ecco the DolphinifEcco the Dolphinwas actually fun.”
Sadly, we didn’t get to move further into the game, where I assume we would have eventually met Meta Knight, then moved onto the final levels and bosses. I guess Nintendo had to save something for us to review whenKirby’s Epic Yarnis released in a few weeks. Though I can’t say for sure until I play it from start to finish, it’s looking like the game’s difficulty is just fine. It may lacks the harsh edge that makes games likeMega Man 10andSuper Meat Boyso popular with 2D platforming fans, but it’s definitely got a brand of challenge all its own, one that you can attempt to take on, or completely ignore.
Having that choice not only opens up who the game will appeal to, but also who you can play it with. I could see people playing this on dates, with their parents, or even with their kids. Personally, I’ll probably be taking the game on solo. I don’t want anybody dancing in my face because they’re richer than me. I had enough of that in High School.
(AllEcco the Dolphinrelated hate-mail can be sent to Ben PerLee at[email protected].)
