So I Tried… Kirby’s Epic Yarn

Each edition of So I Tried… I will try a game that I have never tried before. Will I find something new to love? Will I find something new to despise? I'll take a full half hour, no matter how bad it gets or how badly I do, to see if this is the game for me. This time I went for the Wii game Kirby’s Epic Yarn.

What I thought it was

A 2.5D platform game where the titular pink ball Kirby is made out of wool. I’ve been a fan of Kirby since I played the Kirby’s Dream Land on the Game Boy back in 1996. I played it over and over, but never actually got to own another Kirby title until the DS. There were a few on the SNES that I played via emulator well over a decade ago, but none of them captured my love the way that Dream Land did. Still, it’s been long enough, time to check this sucker out once more.

Crack that whip!

What it actually is

A 2D platformer seemingly made for kids, and one of the most relaxing games I’ve played in a long time. You don’t have to point your Wiimote, you don’t need the Nunchuck, you just hold the Wiimote sideways like a NES controller. The story is pretty simple, with Kirby being sucked into a magic sock and transported to Patch Land and meeting Prince Fluff, as well as being turned into wool. He can’t suck or blow, but instead he can change shape. Whether it’s turning into a car (in place of running), an umbrella (in place of floating) or a UFO (in place of… wait, nevermind), he has a shape to suit a purpose. Most of what you wind up doing is standard Kirby fare -- taking weapons/enemies and firing them back at other enemies. This time, however, he wraps them up into balls and lobs them.

I've no idea where balloons come from, in a world of fabric...

Will I keep playing

Hell yeah! I really enjoyed this, from how adorable Kirby is, to the little touches like the fabric of the level bulging slightly when he goes inside a building. I want to know how Kirby gets out of this -- probably by chucking his enemies’ weapons back at them, but that’s beside the point.