If you prefer having human friends on your team, Kirby Star Allies makes it easy with an extremely simple and effective drop in/drop out local co-op system available at any point during a level. It was only in the last few levels that these secret areas really made think or go out of my way to find the abilities I needed. My only gripe is that the puzzles inside optional secret rooms aren’t exactly challenging because the necessary characters are often standing patiently nearby. Having the right ability or ally in the right place often led to discovering hidden areas and treasure. They would also react to any puzzle elements they could tackle on their own: a water ally would busy himself dowsing flames, while the the hammer-swinging Bonkers would smack down on any pegs. Simply holding my weapon aloft would trigger any elemental allies in my group to shuffle over and supercharge me and any other non-elemental teammates. Initially, I was worried I’d have to direct my team by myself (and you can, by having Kirby piggyback on an AI ally to manually control them), but instead I found them quite reactive to their environment. The constant variety of intriguing yet intuitive puzzles, and the allure of seeing what each new enemy could do, kept me swapping out allies or changing Kirby’s current abilities.Ĭombining moves to solve puzzles is also where the AI partners of Star Allies surprisingly shine. Giant bomb on a rope blocking your path? Only cutting moves will sever that rope - but you’ll also need to make sure your cutter’s been supercharged by a fiery ally to light the fuse while cutting the rope. There are plenty of roadblocks along your side-scrolling adventure, and it’s only by using the right abilities in tandem that you’ll be able to forge ahead, or find secret areas. Just using your team to demolish enemies is fun in its own right, but Star Allies takes a clever approach to making sure you’re constantly rearranging your group. His ability to infuse weapons with wind attacks with his broom, apply a water buff with a splash of his bucket, or even use a vacuum cleaner to send my friends ricocheting around the screen to destroy everything in sight. Other allies can fulfill specific roles like healing or grappling, but my favorite is the Broom Hatter.

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