An Overdramatic Retrospective Of One Of My LEAST Favorite Nintendo Switch Games- Kirby Star Allies

[@SoshiTheYoshi]

2018 really was the “How long do we have to wait until Smash?” year

[@Pikachu_Snivy_57]

That sums it up

[@Demeech]

I still have flashbacks to that AWFUL E3....

[@Pikachu_Snivy_57]

@@Demeech thank God I never saw it

[@SoshiTheYoshi]

@@Demeech Let’s spend the direct talking about DK's eyes

[@KaptainKharisma]

mario sports games really did die after the gamecube era

[@jtothepmoreno1010]

I don’t think the feedback from Star allies resulted in Forgotten land directly. The series has slowly been dipping their toes into 3D overtime- and the directors said they wanted Star allies to be one last celebration before moving on to the next phase. They were definitely planning 3D Kirby for a long time.

[@justdex721]

Agreed. Star Allies being a celebration title works wonders with how every main Kirby character from the past games goy brought back

[@supercamborg4218]

Yeah, they were already experimenting with what to do next and that this was meant to be a send off to this era of Kirby before the next phase

[@catsorafgc]

No that’s completely correct. 3D Kirby has been planned for a few years, even during Star Allies development according to some recent interviews. The criticisms of Star Allies had nothing to do with how Forgotten Land turned out. Especially because HAL seems rather proud of SA anyways

[@Demeech]

In Kirby & The Forgotten Land, the first thing you do is choose the difficulty. They were listening to the fans.

[@supercamborg4218]

@@Demeech a difficulty select doesn’t mean that the feedback to Star Allies resulted in everything about Forgotten Land like how you presented it in the video, especially when it’s clear they were already planning on diving into 3D like this after Star Allies anyways.

[@robertthechannel1799]

As a Kirby fanboy, I had a love-hate relationship with this game. On the one hand, the friends mechanic is really innovative & the 3 other modes are really fun to play. But on the other, the games is way too short, not to mention easy. Plus, I found some of the atmosphere during the first half was really draining and basic.

[@Thevoiceimpressionist]

Yeah i have to agree im a kirby fan boy myself

[@Demeech]

It's interesting seeing how many Kirby fans aren't too fond of Star Allies.

[@Thevoiceimpressionist]

I mean i liked the gamebut it was to easy no challenge iv'e already 100 percented kirby and the forgotten land and there was more challenge in that game then the entirety of star alies

[@fillerbunnyninjashark271]

I wish the friend mechanic wasn't forced into ever stage so I could choose to go at it solo

[@smashbrosguyt915]

Yeah I love Kirby but it was super easy. The thing that patches it for me was the hero’s in another dimension mode. It’s not hard until you fight the mage sisters… It’s just hell mixed with my switch crashing 4 times.

[@lluis640]

I haven't seen the video but let me tell you something. For people who aren't fans of the franchise this game is really bad, but for the fans... It's really special. This game gave A LOT of lore, it's basically the most important game of the franchise lore wise. It also make the return of lots of fan favourite character and had lot of easter eggs and cameos from all over the series, just look at all the puzzle pictures and the super secret 100% reward, and most of all the final secret level... It's a celebration, a love letter to the fans and the franchise itself, but... Why? Because star allies was the end of something. Star allies is the end of an era for Kirby, Kirby and the forgotten land proves it. Star allies is a goodbye to all this era, you know, we might never get another new 2D Kirby game... That's why we got all this fan service, because it was a love letter to us, and Kirby. Although that doesn't take the fact that the game is quite mediocre, we can all say that star allies was special.

[@soproprioio622]

I think we're still going to get new 2d games in future

[@troykv96]

Oh yeah, Star Allies more that anything was a celebration game, despite it's faults I was excited with seeing how the game ended up evolving, in fact, when the game released I wasn't really focus in the game being the worse Kirby Game in the last 10 years or something, but the fact that Hyness and Void Termina ended up giving us a lot of answers (and questions) about Kirby lore, it made the wait for the Dream Friends easier to endure IMO.

[@PoyoDreamer]

I don’t think this game is bad for none fans, it just Varies from what people value in a video game. Me personally, this is the game that made me a Kirby fan due to the shear charm and the amazing sound track, and I never play a Kirby expecting difficulty, and while some people only played just the story mode and called the game short, I found a lot of content play everything the game had to offer whether I was 100 presenting it or not.

[@KhaoticJester]

I'm a fan and didn't like this game

[@Kanny64]

@@KhaoticJester well, that's your opinion then.

[@NocturneFexy]

After playing a bit of Forgotten Land, the difference between that game and Star Allies is like night and day. Forgotten Land is jam-packed with details along with it having great level and challenge design while Star Allies is okay with some pretty neat bosses and excellent fan-service but it's very generic.

[@eletgres519]

even if it’s probably the worse kirby game it’s amazing how at its worse, kirby will deliver something amazin!

[@NocturneFexy]

@@eletgres519 You're right! Kirby is one of the few franchises that actually doesn't have a bad game. Even if Star Allies is generic and easy, there's still enjoyment to be had with it especially in the post-game stuff. But Forgotten Land is better in every way.

[@sonicthehedge]

Yeah, i feel like they had nothing new and original for star allies and all they did was just add "dream friends" to nostalgia bait fans

[@loona2n]

In my opinion, I don’t think there are any bad Kirby games, so the worst of the series is still a good time. But my main complaint with Star Allies was that it was extremely handholdy for base game at least. The Another Dimension mode was wanted I wanted the whole game to be like.

[@Demeech]

Star Allies was bad for me at least. When a game pretty much plays itself, that's a MAJOR problem.

[@danielj8085]

@@Demeech Wouldn't that mean that it would be better in multiplayer?

[@TaggedTerror]

Kirby slide exists

[@lvumba2137]

DeDeDe's Drum Dash Deluxe:

[@AFOOp-u8f]

@@lvumba2137that game isn’t bad tbh, it’s just extremely short and disappointing as an expansion to a minigame

[@Hatibrella]

This game is amazing, BRILLIANT if you’re a big Kirby fan and get all the references, so much love to the fans a true anniversary game

[@Ketchup1810]

fan service = brilliant

[@magic_asap]

adding the simplest callbacks that don’t add anything to the story = BRILLIANT

[@Hatibrella]

@@magic_asap The story is actually more expansive than I thought originally, but the story imo isn’t the main part of the game and that’s what will get you flaming this game

[@Hatibrella]

@@Ketchup1810 It’s an anniversary game, Just hearing old tunes composed again brings me joy

[@Magic_Ice]

@@magic_asap A lot of them do add to the story

[@Joswano]

To be fair, it was made with multiplayer in mind. I once played with two other people and it was the best multiplayer experience I’ve ever had with Kirby. Return to Dreamland is fun in single player, but it always feels like the other people lag behind or I have to try to catch up with them, or it never feels like a second player is even necessary. In Star Allies, despite the obvious stuff like level gimmicks that require 2 players and stuff, it really was designed for multiplayer. The stages are less cramped, the camera shows a bigger area, and there’s all of these different characters to control. I never got into arguments and bosses were actually challenging when computer players didn’t make the process automatic. And in multiplayer, it actually feels like each person playing is important. Kirby puzzles usually rely on having the right ability at the right time, so having multiple people with different abilities makes it feel like an actual adventure with your friends where everyone has a purpose. The thing with Kirby games is, it’s super versatile. Even from the beginning of the series, if you were a beginner, you could fly over the stage and not stress about challenge. If you’re advanced, you can use copy abilities and get the optional stuff. And here in Star Allies, it’s the same thing. Using a bunch of computer players at all times is recommended, but it makes it easy. I played through the game in single player as often as possible (making friends when I needed to and ditching them when they weren’t required to progress) and I had such a different experience. It actually felt like a real Kirby game. So before you voice complaints, just consider this. It isn’t inherently bad, but it made the mistake of being way too easy under obvious circumstances, because nobody considers playing with minimalism or with actual people. It really did change my perspective, which was what yours is in this video

[@TheRealSuperKirby]

Yet more people shitting on star allies and calling it the worst kirby game when there is literally a slide puzzle game with 1 level.

[@ColdComrade]

Star allies is my favorite Kirby game because I played it start to finish with my wife and daughter. We discovered many secrets together and it was a great time.

[@gamebrains5384]

Now I’m going to just say this was my first ever Kirby game I ever played and I honestly love it so much I hope you guys can respect that

[@PoyoDreamer]

I love Star allies

[@glimmerstantroop46321]

I love it too, but the gameplay is easy to an annoying extent

[@lazykirby57]

If that's the case, I can assure you there's a good chance love the others! I'd suggest starting with super star or amazing mirror

[@aydenmaxwell8759]

It is my favorite Kirby game

[@gamerguy4478]

The reason why I hate it when people make a big deal out of a game being only 30 fps is because I have never once noticed what framerate a game is at unless it affects gameplay or noticeably slows down. I know that I’m less sensitive to it than most people, but Star Allies is an example of a game that I did not even know was 30 fps until someone told me after the fact. It’s not that complaining about it makes you a graphics snob or anything, but so many people make a huge deal out of framerate when it’s at most a minor issue in most games it gets brought up. Also, “there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be 60 fps” is, while a fair sentiment, probably untrue. If the game was rushed, it is very probable that there would’ve been issues with running the game at 60 fps that were fixed by instead running at 30. Should Star Allies have been 60 fps? Probably. Was there development reasons for not being 60 fps? Also probably. Does it really matter? I don’t really think so.

[@plush-voltage8178]

Thank you bro.

[@oscarzxn4067]

I personally consider 2016 to be the real "dark age of Nintendo", other than Robobot, kinda Pokken and a couple of smaller games few played like Rythm Heaven and Picross 3D, most of the games were either poorly revieved or controversial, I mean in that same year Star Fox Zero, Fates, Color Splash, Star Rush and Federation Force came out, plus NIntendo were censoring games like crazy and they began to take down fan games more often than before. My biggest issue is that the negative stuff was too present with barely anything positive to balance it out like in other weak Nintendo years 2015, 2012, 2018 or 2020, it's probably the only year in forever where no Nintendo game was nominated for any major "Game of the Year" award for example.

[@RayoMcQueen95990]

I honestly forgot about that, the only good games were the Kirby one and Pokémon SM. The entire year was just waiting for the NX to announce Btw Federation Force came out in 2015

[@oscarzxn4067]

@@RayoMcQueen95990 Fed Force was announced and hated in 2015 but came out in around September or August of 2016, just no one bough it or noticed

[@susankornas2613]

Sun and Moon from Pokemon was an exception too. This game was so amazing, yet so underrated...

[@oscarzxn4067]

@@susankornas2613 Sun and Moon has been a very polarizing game since it's release

[@stoopidmansidiot]

that ending has to be one of the greatest redemption arcs that I have ever witnessed

[@Dante_Sparda_DMC]

Really? A lot of people seem to love it and most fans I see say that Squeak Squad may be the worst.

[@galvsparks6295]

Heh star allies isn’t that popular among the fandom and its quite understandable on why but yeah squeak squad is easily the worst

[@LunadeMusic]

Have you tried out Kirby & The Amazing Mirror yet? If not, I’d highly recommend you do a trash or treasure on it. It’s a genuinely fun, yet tricky and difficult game in my opinion!

[@vicctretamaj]

There’s a lot to say here…as Star Allies is a game I have so many mixed feelings towards. This bouta be a long ass comment… The 60fps debacle: Never has this been an issue in the Kirby series since Star Allies. This game looks great graphically, but everyone has issues wit the framerate. I myself wish it was 60 and it probably could, but you gotta realize on a deeper dive, the couple reasons it runs at 30. For one, multiplayer, with how good the game looks, and all the multiple effects that can be happening, it would most likely chug at one point or another. The MAIN reason it’s 30 tho is due to all the shaders HAL put in this game. I can’t think of many Multiplayer platformers with nearly as much effects that looks nearly as nice. As this was Kirby’s first jump into HD, HAL probably just wished to make the game look as pretty as possible. They did a great job graphically, the detail and lighting is great, so make sure to give more credit where it’s due. But it’s also important to look into why it might be running at 30fps. Kirby Fighters 2 runs at 60fps, and just comparing the two games basically running on the same engine, you can see they had to reduce some of the details with shaders and effects, not excusing it for being 30fps because I would’ve loved 60 too, but it’s something to look out for. Just because the menus can run at 60 doesn’t mean the actual game can, like what? It’s not just a lack of optimization, it’s the over ambition of trying to make the game visually impressive. Difficulty in Kirby: This has always been a discussion, and Ofcourse as a fan I think it’s kinda dumb. Idk why Epic Yarn is the only game in the series that gets away with being easy, but every other game gets criticized for being “too easy”. Ugh. Anyways, for Star Allies lacking the tight level design is what holds it back. It has flat level design, and the levels being easy isn’t the problem, the fact they aren’t engaging is the issue. 3DS titles stages weren’t hard or anything, but they kept your attention with new ideas, gimmicks, and obstacles, while this game has less room for those creative ideas due to most likely being compensated for multiplayer. RTDL was different, it was designed for a SINGLE PLAYER experience, multiplayer was way less integrated. I think this comparison wasn’t well thought out, because RTDL was a single player game with co-op being added in as a second thought, meanwhile Star allies tried to give you a game based on multiplayer, and seeing as it was their first time, it didn’t pan out well. Level design was VASTLY improved in Heros in Another a dimension, being the best mode of the game and showing the more tight level design we were used to. The “Finish it later” approach: This has been brought up multiple times, and I hate that Kirby is getting brought into this all the time as well. First off, HAL is making the games, not Nintendo, so it’s not exactly the same, but that’s really semantics. This game was most definitely short, and lacked a couple things, after the DLC it has a lot of great stuff to offer post game wise, and while there is truth to games that were following the “finish it later” approach, the DLC wasn’t even planned for this game initially. We were just supposed to get Dream Friend updates, but HAL and Shinya Kumazaki cared so much that they made full ass new modes that have challenge and tighter level design to make up for the criticism they received on the game. It’s a shame all of that effort is meshed in with the “Nintendo finish it later” Mario Sports crowd. The game was light on content no doubt, but it technically wasn’t missing anything other Kirby games had. It prob would’ve been ok if what was there was just outright better… Now, I mean no disrespect by any of this, I’m just a fan talking to another fan, we all love the Pink guy. I think this games biggest crime was convincing people HAL doesn’t know how to make great Kirby games and that the series was “stale”. 3 games were absolute bangers and refined themselves so much, and Star allies is just ok, but the entire series is stale and bad because of this one game? Give me a break. This game clearly has passion behind the project, but let’s just say it was misguided. I do agree that a boring game can be worse than a bad game, because I can laugh my ass off playing a glitchy mess, but as most Nintendo franchises are, at their worst, they are just basic. They never release glitchy af and so bad it’s funny, they always just end up being basic, which then get put in the “bad” category. I think of this game as a celebration of the series up to that point. It has so much fan service that people love the game for all the call backs. However, this only pleases new fans, thus giving potential new buyers the wrong idea. I think of this as a wrong place wrong time sort of thing, after Planet Robobot gave us an amazing game with refined gameplay, this game took steps back, but is it a bad game? No. Is it a good game? Not really. It’s just meh. Expectations we’re just too damn high after PR, and I understand cuz I was right there too, I was expecting and EVEN BETTER game, but as we know, that’s not what we got. Even people who love this game usually admit it’s flaws. I do think people can be too harsh on it, and you weren’t exactly wrong, just kinda unfair? Not sure how else to put it. AGAIN no disrespect. Thanks for reading of you bothered wit it all lmao

[@dannieyebagsz]

While i know the "criticism is whining" part is a joke, you shouldnt be an asshole about anything. Some people enjoy Star Allies and the fact that someone doesnt like the game doesnt mean the ones who enjoy it are taken away from experience. Everyone has their opinions and it doesnt take away from the enjoymemt of anyone, at least it shouldnt.

[@hioman]

So the thing is, the game wasn't unfinished when it came out. Not only was the DLC not planned until late in development, but the DLC added extra levels, not kept unfinished levels from us. This game actually follows the Kumazaki formula better than RtDL did. The Kumazaki formula goes something like this: Main story. Beating it unlocks the arena and the helper to hero mode In helper to hero mode, there's usually a pun with the character's name, like metaknightmare, or dededetour. Since this game had too many, they just gave descriptions. Anyways, instead of finishing with the final boss fight, it finished with a galacta knight like fight. Beating both this and the arena gives you the true arena In the true arena, you fight the harder version of everyone from the helper to hero mode (or in star allies's case, with the diminished health from the hth mode). Beating this means you beat the game The DLC dream friends, HiAD, and hardest version of the arena were simply added as extra DLC rewards, not part of the "fix it later" approach

[@maegnificant]

30fps itself is not an issue. it's only an issue if the frame pacing is bad. 60fps in menus doesn't mean the game itself can run at 60.

[@therealjaystone2344]

30 is unplayable at all in the modern gaming world

[@jackmcnally8706]

@@therealjaystone2344 that’s not entirely true. Do you really need 60fps for Animal Crossing? I think honestly the fact that the menus themselves are 60fps makes the 30fps gameplay much more jarring. For example, I played through Super Mario 3D land, and never realized it was 30 until someone told me. But Kirby’s 60 fps menus makes the drop to 30 visible immediately, and it feels super clunky. Weird, but that’s how it seems to work

[@therealjaystone2344]

@@jackmcnally8706 Mario Ofyssey is at 60, Smash Ultimate is at 60, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze is at 60. A platformer can easily be playable with the right optimization. Why not Kirby?

[@catsorafgc]

@@therealjaystone2344 Because of what Kirby’s engine is doing. Native 1080p with a ton of background detail is going to eat up performance, so it’s better to lock it at 30 instead of having it uncapped. You’re also using games that used Wii U games as a basis for running well. I have a feeling if those games were made from the ground up, there would be some issues with performance

[@bruxtle]

Yeah I never understood why people bring up that menus can run at a higher FPS

[@PenguinsRecords]

I was right on my prediction. At least from the title and thumbnail, but “worst” is overdramatic, unless it’s just mainline games, which in terms of level design I can understand. I wont argue about this because if you can convince them that Star Allies shouldn’t have existed, they may give Forgotten Land a lot of DLC

[@cameronweaver2013]

The title litterally says "overdramatic"

[@Ah0yKatie]

On the track of "listening to the fans" I think I have to correct one point from this video, and that's the "fix it later" comment. Heroes in Another Dimension, the main mode that addressed a good chunk of criticism from the main campaign, was stated in an interview to have been completely unplanned; initially, they were going to add a single extra level planet to World 4. Yes, there was still a roadmap to release playable characters, but this means they didn't intentionally release the game "incomplete" (unless you think adding a bunch of playable characters without meaningful extra content made the game more 'complete' i guess), but rather that they looked at criticism with the base game and switched their gears to make an additional mode that addressed criticism about difficulty and a lack of content. We even see this in the roadmap for the DLC - it's obvious the second wave was delayed to space out the three waves when they showed two of the three characters from Wave 2 and then went silent for months, probably around when they shifted gears in development. This isn't your usual "fix it later" type of game, I'd argue the fact that they changed their plans to, for free, address criticism with the game and give fans more retroactive bang for their buck says a lot about HAL and their passion and commitment compared to Nintendo's core offices.

[@superkid2815]

This is kinda your worst video... I understand your points and agree with quite a few, but that vlog skit at the end was just outright rude and condescending, pretty uncalled for. Sure people defending it blindly shouldn't, but instead of just teasing defenders, it comes off ss if your outright shaming anyone who likes it even a little bit On top of that, certain dream friends in star allies do change up a decent chunk of the levels, having several stages rebuilt around them and even secret rooms made for them There is a greyscaled world (actually, more just a level...) made to thank all the dedicated players to explore the first half of green greens, though really they should of done all of green greens, gotta fault them for not doing it all... also that stage is one of the only games to take advantage of controller rumble feature, using it to amazingly vibrate the theme of green greens. Heroes in another dimension was clearly designed around fam feedback, as was most free DLC that wasn't the dream friends, which while allowing them to make great improvements, does mean they lacked confidence in their own game, which is just... kinda sad...? Regardless, it gave a spectacular final gift with a great challenge from a game that is second to only epic yarn in being *WAY* too easy in difficulty, almost insultingly so in some places. Also you scolded it for having minigames labeled as modes instead being under a minigame menu, but like... both Triple Deluxe and Planet robobot do the exact same thing. The former of which having the minigames as part of it's namesake, the latter being the game you hold on an untouchable pedestal (though it is perfection to be fair) "Oh but some of those were so good they were turned into their own full fledged games!" No. All 4 minigames were turned into full games regardless of quality. No one was begging for any of them to be expanded into such, and honestly the fact they were and costed money was heavily criticized. Especially the free to play format of kirby clash deluxe. Plus star slam heroes is like, something worth playing more than once, as a little fun extra when playing with friends out of how fun and funny it is. And again, it probably wasn't the intention, but the skit at the end just seemed more like you being condescending more towards people who like star allies or any flawed game in general, rather than the small but loud group of people who blindly defend anything Nintendo does ever.

[@ChaosNew]

I loved the gameplay and fan service of star allies, so much to do and a lot of nice secrets topped history

[@kimberlyfrye8116]

My first Kirby game, it was the perfect start for me

[@M3rtyville]

McDonald's lawsuit is one of the most hilarious shit ever. I also remember someone suing a microwave company for not informing the consumer that you can't dry your pet inside without killing it.

[@Demeech]

The McDonald's lawsuit oddly enough WASN'T frivolous. The idea of "suing over coffee'" sounds like it though. Stella didn't profit from it and she actually did get burns.

[@M3rtyville]

@@Demeech usually I would expect newly filled coffee to be hot without anyone telling me first. But I guess considering everything needs to be immediate and McDonalds being a FastFood I can somewhat tolerate it compared to the latter example.

[@royplatt455]

@@M3rtyville it's not actually just that the coffee was hot; it was that McDonald's was serving their coffee at dangerous temperatures (Close to the Boiling Point of water) and had received numerous complaints about burns prior to that point, and also lying about their reasons for doing so (They said that surveyed customers didn't drink their coffee until they had finished their trips, when in fact their own research results showed that most customers drank their coffee immediately). It was these combined factors that led to the Coffee Lawsuit being as big as it is.

[@thepenguinboi8679]

I don’t think the game is all that great and I was definitely really disappointed when I first played it,but I wouldn’t really call it the worst Kirby game as there is nothing really wrong with it as a Kirby game either at least at its state now. When it first came out it was more fair to say that,but even tho I hate the fix it later approach,it did make the game better

[@Demeech]

My thoughts on it being a "fix it later" game now may surprise you. For me it's the worst Kirby game.

[@johnnytaninthehouse]

Kirby is such a good series that a 5/10 is the weakest one

[@thepenguinboi8679]

@@johnnytaninthehouse while I somewhat agree,I do think that the best games however are 8/10’s at max(not including Forgotten Land)

[@Sapphire_7]

@@Demeech cough cough Kirby's Dream Land 3 cough cough

[@johnnytaninthehouse]

@@Sapphire_7 nah that’s a 7/10. Not great but good

[@tangerinepaint3643]

7:41 that reference to the boiling McDonalds coffee lawsuit caught me off guard not gonna lie

[@lluis640]

Just so you know, I went to spend all day in a friend's house and that same day one of my brother's friend was spending the day in my house, even sleeping there. when I return I found a save file in star allies with the story mode completed... My brother's friend finished the story mode in less than one day!

[@theenderkirby]

Technically the first hd kirby game is rainbow curse but yes star allies is the first hd mainline kirby game

[@Driggsdamonstah]

Until the DLC came, I was actually ready to write this off as My least favorite Mainline Kirby, that’s how underwhelmed I was with this game.

[@galvsparks6295]

Like dude star allies is underwhelming but squeak squad is a thing so that alone makes star allies at least second

[@QuayeEPICGAMER]

@@galvsparks6295 I liked squeak squad

[@AFOOp-u8f]

⁠@@QuayeEPICGAMERboth are good but let’s be honest, Squeak Squad was underwhelming as hell lmfao. Definitely should get a more polished version in the future

[@brantchristy3490]

You've hit the nail on the head for this one. This is the only Kirby game where I've never felt compelled to revisit the main campaign. The lack of difficulty can't be understated here. I died once during the campaign, not because of a challenge,, but because I was legitimately starting to fall asleep and didn't pay attention to an obstacle that was gonna crush me. I will say though, I enjoyed it more when playing with friends and believe it's the definitive way to play. Also, it's just funny to me how a Kirby game can simultaneously have the easiest main campaign I've played in a platformer and also have a mode (soul melter EX) that's so difficult that I'll never be able to complete it solo without using an overpowered dream friend.

[@nickk3077]

I remember how disappointing this game was when I first got it. I played Planet Robobot and Triple Deluxe before this and loved them (especially Planet Robobot) and thought “although the trailers make the game look bland, this is coming out on Nintendo’s next generation HD home console, this HAS to be even better than Planet Robobot!” Sure, you could say it’s my fault for having such high expectations, but could you blame me? Mario and Zelda got major releases that really pushed their series forward, why not Kirby? This game was too short, having even less content that Planet Robobot and Triple Deluxe and Return to Dreamland, the latter two were $20 by the time this game came out. It didn’t help that the game only ran at 30fps, where the previous games were 60. The friend mechanic is the only new thing in the game and it’s the worst main gimmick of the four modern Kirby games. It makes the game worse to play in my opinion. I could continue, but I don’t want to take away to spotlight from Demeech’s video he worked so hard on.

[@Demeech]

I went back and played Robobot for the review. Star Allies is a shadow of it!

[@nickk3077]

@@Demeech I LOVE Planet Robobot! It has to be in my top 20 2D platformers, along with Super Metroid, Donkey Kong Country 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, Wario Land 4, among others. Every level in Kirby Planet Robobot does something new, exciting and memorable! The first level has a mechanical Wispy Woods chase you! The second level has you operate your brand new toy in tis game, the robobot armor! It is fantastic and the second level shows you simple ideas that will get built upon in subsequent levels! The third level is on a train where you solve several puzzles in the background and foreground! Every level feels like an inspired piece of art! The music is fantastic, some might not like the techno or dubstep, but I personally really liked it and thought it was catchy, while also giving the game an edge that you wouldn’t expect from a simple Kirby game. My only complaint is that the game reuses gameplay elements from the previous games, especially Triple Deluxe. I didn’t even really notice it my first time around playing the game, but the more I play, the more I sorta see it. It’s obviously not a deal breaker though. The side modes are pretty cool too. Not as great as Dedede’s Drum Dash Deluxe, but very few things in life are. The 3D Kirby was actually really novel! It was simple, but nothing like it ever existed before.

[@ITzaMii_]

This was one of my first Kirby games and is probably a big reason as to why I'm a fan of this series. But I agree that this game is more bland than the colour of my wall. And now that I've played Forgotten Land, I can confirm that it's a massive improvement from Star Allies in almost every conceivable way.

[@BreadShowOfficial]

Potassium

[@chronogames9072]

The "level of fanservice it's so hight it's like a reverse modern paper mario" is honestly amazing.... great review!

[@DarthMolgy]

This was my first Kirby game, and even though it has some flaws I still absolutely love it.

[@spartanq7781]

Your sarcasm at the end makes me want to say thank you! I hate how we're supposedly nitpicking or just to ruin everyone's fun. Or how not thinking something you do like isn't perfect means you're not a real fan. I hate it so much.

[@NeoKokoro20]

I've always maintained the thought that this game would be better received had it costed less than $60 at launch, and had been a bit longer. That said, the Forgotten Land is a much better game, but I still enjoyed this one in its own right.

[@goldmastersimulations]

Not only did Kirby and the Forgotten Land introduce mainline Kirby into 3D, but it also addressed most of the issues Kirby Star Allies had. I really love the small UX issues it addressed. They fixed you accidentally getting a Copy Ability from a dropped essence. The UI is much cleaner. The Mouthful Mode gimmicks are the best Kirby gimmicks in a long time. They're like a better Robobot Armor type of gameplay. So it introduced new ideas and refined many of the finer details to optimize the user experience. The lack of 60fps is why I emulate the games instead. It's unfortunate HAL may not have had the budget to optimize these games for the Switch. The Switch's low-end, outdated hardware kinda holds back these games in a way. If HAL had lots of money to be independent, Forgotten Land would be a worthy addition to Steam's game library. And Star Allies could also sell normally at $30-40 and be discounted more aggressively during sales.

[@catsorafgc]

Goodness, I wouldn’t say it’s the worse Mainline Kirby game. For me that would easily go to DL3 or Squeak Squad. I still found Star Allies pre DLC to be a good time, I dunno

[@supercamborg4218]

DL3 is a good game imo, but yeah Squeak Squad is probably the weakest one

[@catsorafgc]

@@supercamborg4218 I just wasn’t a fan of DL3’s super simple copy abilities and how slow it is compared to other Kirby titles. It’s not a bad game mind you, but I didn’t care for it.

[@supercamborg4218]

@@catsorafgc that’s fair. Personally I like mixing and matching abilities with the animal buddies, you can see the evolution of the idea that would become the ability mixing in 64, and the overall focus on puzzles for a chill style. When I play it I’m usually playing for a more relaxing experience, so the slower pace and the coloring book art style make that a game that’s on the list of games to play when I want to unwind, at least for most of the game.

[@VictoryReviews]

"Just let people be happy" is the worst response to legitimate criticism 😂

[@Demeech]

Who would've thought that stupid comment inspired me to make the skit.

[@VictoryReviews]

@@Demeech yee I agree with you wholly! It's lame when that's people's defense for low quality games

[@mariosonicguy2569]

So we’re not allowed to enjoy things even if there low effort. YOU JUST DON’T WANT THEM TO BE HAPPY AND TRUST THE CRITICS MORE OFTEN. It’s so not fair. Trust in your opinion, not others not even the critics. Be sure you respect their opinions.

[@mariosonicguy2569]

@@VictoryReviews While I agree criticism can help improve things. But some people enjoy star allies more than forgotten land. And you don’t want them to be happy. JESUS CHRIST LET PEOPLE ENJOY THINGS AND NOT JUDGE THEM JUST BECAUSE THEY LIKE IT! STOP CHANGING THEIR OPINION! GOD!!! Sorry, your comment got me all worked up. This is why I HATE rant videos especially when they’re talking about the things I like.

[@wolfgangbirdie8891]

so are we just gonna ignore the fact that he completely skipped over the dream friend guest star runs or

[@elnino3740]

This games better that triple deluxe imo. It's in no way the worse kirby game when squeak squad and countless average spinoff exist

[@catsorafgc]

It’s definitely not. Thankfully the croc isn’t pushing his opinion as an objective truth

[@radioactivecheesenowinnucl4746]

Lmao I remember Star Allies was one of the first two Switch games I ever got (the other was Super Mario Odyssey), and I wanted it that badly because for some reason I am bloody obsessed with Kirby lore and I was desperate to dig in to Star Allies' lore before anyone else could spoil it for me.

[@micahlindley7515]

I also got the game for the lore, as well as a certain butterfly.

[@pn33milan11]

While i do agree the game could have used a 60fps framerate, since the menus do just that, i personally prefer a stable 30fps than a choppy 60fps. It could have been better, absolutely, but it's still perfectly serviceable, for the game it wants to be at least

[@catsorafgc]

The game couldn’t do 60 locked anyways due to what’s going on under the hood. Such as having high quality shadows, models, and lighting for everything in the game, or having large levels loaded despite the game being 2D. It was definitely a good idea to just lock the game to 30

[@justdex721]

"How its the worst Kirby game" huh. Didnt know this is a video about Kirby Squeak Squad

[@justdex721]

To clarify my point: Squeak Squad, like Star Allies, is a very easy game even by Kirby standards. However, Squeak Squad doesnt have a much harder extra post game mode like Star Allies does. Speaking of post game, Squeak Squad barely has one to begin with. Only a boss rush iirc. Compare that to Star Allies, with its extra campagne, revisit by playing as the allies, and a boss rush with customizable difficulty, and SS falls in comparison. SS's worst thing is the core gameplay design. It forces you to pick a path with no return on several levels, and if you pick the one with no treasure, too bad! Restart the level. That's bad game design. It also gave us the first instance of combining certain abilities, but it was really limited and you didnt have access to it untill the last two worlds. Why introduce this concept if its very limited and rarely used?! Overal, i think Squeak Squad is a far worse game then Star Alliss

[@catsorafgc]

Squeak Squad is a much worse game then Star Allies. Still a fun time though, but even pre DLC Star Allies had much more going for it content wise compared to Squeak Squad

[@heyitsyaboi8419]

Squeak Squad was worse than Star Allies even before SA’s post-release updates. It’s biggest accomplishment was coming up with Daroach and the Squeaks, which is pretty much all it’s ever known for anymore.

[@goatresx1799]

Star Allies is one of my favorite switch games, but you do make a valid point. The main reason I love KSA so much is mainly because it brought back several forgotten characters from the Kirby franchise (take Marx as an example) and brought them back after uh, idk how many years. The free update approach is bad, yes, but this is one of the only times where it is acceptable. Please don’t give me your fury, by all means you can dislike the game. Everyone has their opinions, so puh-lease, don’t nuke me just because I said Star Allies was one of if not the only time where Free Updates were acceptable.

[@M3rtyville]

9:38 btw what happened with DDD's eyes? They look like he has seen some terrifying things.

[@supercamborg4218]

He just always looks kinda spooked in this game

[@yuukiterumi2061]

I like this game but definitely mostly for the whole being able to have the villains and friends with their own campaigns but there is some interesting lore going on in this game

[@thomario8639]

I've always seen this game almost like Kirby's version of Sonic Forces. Mainly cuz they both wasted ideas with tremendous potential in blandness. They didn't resulted in bad games, but in meh ones. If you ask me, StarAllies is more consistently fun, while Sonic Forces has Higher Highs yet way lower lows.

[@DahHourglass]

Forces is just bad ( in my opinon)

[@Magic_Ice]

Forces never gets near the level of Astral Birth Void though

[@thatitalianlameguy2235]

Highs? Where the fuck are forces' highs? Star allies has actual level design and bosses. Forces is a 2 hour long scripted path.

[@cakelayer]

@@thatitalianlameguy2235 Toxic sonic fan detected

[@metaknightjudgesyoursins4710]

@@cakelayer ..I mean they ain’t wrong.

[@ExplodingDuckBrigade]

It honestly feels like you can’t take criticism well from commenters with your responses.

[@BabyDanielBD]

is this game the reason why some people wanted kirby to make the jump to 3d platforming so badly?

[@troykv96]

Oh okay, so veredict is basically: The only reason to play the game is having the pleasure of using Marx and Magolor. Makes sense to me... Though, in a more personal note, while I believe the game is the worst from the Return to Dream Land Tetralogy, I really enjoyed the idea of playing with characters that are so different (something that previously only really happened with Meta Knight) from playing the regular game, and some of them are overpowerly fun, like the previously mentioned Marx. Also, a small nitpick, but the Guest Star mode actually has some small differences if you use a Dream Friend, the first and the last stage have been changed to be a tutorial and a final challenge for the Dream Friend's special abilities, I personally find that very neat considering we ended up with a lot of Dream Friends after the last big update.

[@aydenmaxwell8759]

Um I'm just going to get it out there. Kirby star allies is my favorite Kirby game... DON'T JUDGE ME IT'S UNDERATED.

[@hectorthecartoonandvideoga9328]

It's my favorite, due to the combat.

[@ultramaster7893]

Tbh, I love Kirby star allies because I like how you have partners again like in super star and super star ultra, and I love how you can also play as them and not just only Kirby. Like in guest star where you play as your allies, including the dream friends (which I really love playing as the dream friends, they’re really cool and fun to play as). So yeah, the only thing that I’m not too happy about is that the adventure seems to be a tiny bit short (unless if you count heroes in another dimension as the adventure is still going, which I don’t know if that counts) and the difficulty for heroes in another dimension and soul melter ex is pretty frustrating for some parts in my opinion but I still managed to complete it. So yeah, Kirby star allies is a good game in my opinion.

[@toonaurz2620]

Remember all the games you could unlock in Kirby Mass Attack?

[@fnerd8282]

I really like your videos, I do, and I completely respect your opinon too. Even if it's definetly not as good as the 3ds entries I still got my kick out of it, mostly because I bought it after all the additional content came out, so probably I got a better experience than most people did.

[@switchnx]

Oh, you bought it after all the updates released too? Interesting!

[@nickk3077]

I played it after all of the content was added and I still thought the game was underwhelming. I never used the special characters because they were never integrated into the main game well and I didn’t want to replay the game again in a side mode. The new full game mode was a nice challenge, but it was very forgettable because there was only level theme and I don’t even remember if there was a story. I liked the level design, with more focus on the fun new characters. It was fine, but nothing special. I still don’t like the friends mechanic. I don’t remember if there was anything else added to the game besides the mode and characters that dramatically affected the game.

[@ducktail4068]

Something overlooked from star allies' flaws, is that the game is in 30fps. Ignorant people will be quick to say that framerate doesn't matter, but thats just wrong. Framerate contributes to the overall feel of the game. Almost every kirby game has been 60fps. This is because kirby's signature aesthetic and feel has been smooth and fluid. Kirby's gameplay has also been laid back and fairly slow and easy. This gameplay has been complemented by a smooth and fluid gameplay feel in every single game. But if you take away kirby's signature feel, you get a sluggish and boring feeling gameplay, it makes you feel mindless, it numbs you. Also, framerate has a misconception of being about graphics. Its not framerate is about performance and feel, not graphics. Graphics involve resolution, textures, aesthetic, models and some other things but not framerate.

[@elnino3740]

I have played td robobot and star allies and they all feel the same to me. Framerate shouldn't matter if the game still runs well and this stigma that any game that isn't 60fps is terrible despite the game functions perfectly fine at 30 is getting annoying.

[@catsorafgc]

There’s nothing wrong with 30fps though. You not liking Star Allies is one thing, but uping the frame rate wouldn’t have changed much when the overall game is the same

[@wohao_gaster7434]

3:51 "Everyone prefers Y and B" I guess I don't exist then

[@zeromarurb4791]

What do you think of Soul Melter EX? Not many people mension it

[@thegameowl11]

In order to find any sort of challenge in the arena mode, I thought of a copy ability nuzzlock. You have to beat every difficulty in succession but once you use a copy ability, It’s restricted for the rest of the run, same goes for if you want to bring a friend. No duplicate friends. No dream friends on difficulties lower than 7. And only one per party after that.

[@mischiefwaluigi0446]

3:47 Wait people DON'T jump with the A button?? That's actually a shocker to me since I could not imagine using any other button except A to jump and B for actions personally

[@PoyoDreamer]

Super star used B as the jump button and Y for action, but it really wouldn’t matter because it’s not like Mario where you’re using one finger to run and jump.

[@SecondBlue]

imo star allies's true arena ultimate choice thing (the one with void) is one of the best arena things

[@radioffIine]

Seeing gameplay of this game gives me traumatic flashbacks to when I was so disappointed in the lack of content in the game as a longtime diehard Kirby fan that I added my own playtime to it by beating the guest star mode as EVERY PLAYABLE CHARACTER.

[@kirbycommon7570]

How was it?

[@stijngryp2589]

i grew (mostly) up in the nintendo 3ds era and i always prefered A and B besides is it really a issue what buttons you pres when the controls are always different enough so that playing different games back to back interchangebly (bad english) feels wrong anyway?

[@mememasterm]

That ending was hilarious

[@BuddyPlot]

The final boss in the forgotten land was so good. Thanks hal

[@theenderkirby]

Well is your opinion overall while personally I like this game a lot and say that kirby's adventure or kirby squeak squad are the weakest mainline kirby game I can understand why you can see it as not so good

[@Khyon521]

I just hate how short it felt. It sucks that Kirbys first switch outing has less worlds than the 3DS games. The DLC literally carried the game, which is kind of sad

[@mariomaster101official]

Ngl this game is underrated and actually pretty fun

[@Kanny64]

But it's still pretty bad. (My opinion even tho I did like it.)

[@RyderPlatinumWarpstar]

For me, the game doesn’t get amazing until the very end when you start doing the final bosses and the post-game stuff (I should mention that the true final boss with Astral Birth Void in Soul Melter EX is actually amazing, and it’s a worthy end to the Return to Dreamland saga, not gonna lie the boss actually gets me a smidge emotional) I do love the bosses in the game, they’re usually the highlight of Kirby games, but the rest of the game just lacks creativity. Good thing for Forgotten Land though, where the ENTIRE game is great and not just some small portion. We need to start some kind of rally for opening up to criticism. Something like: #Criticism4Lyfe or #CriticismMakesThingsBetter I dunno.

[@lightningwarrior10]

In terms of Switch Kirby, I would consider Star Allies the starter and Forgotten Land the main course. I consider Star Allies a purposely simplistic game to attract new fans and get old ones back into the Kirby spirit before Forgotten Land

[@Gordonjamesheneryproductions]

4:44 this is Sonic 06 all over again

[@ethantreadway9478]

The positives of this game are really or normal Positive (Dream Friends, Great Multiplayer, Music, Graphics, Controls, Merging Copy Abilities, the Morpho Knight Twist, Kirby) The negatives are really or normal negative (A too basic story, A short main Story, Easy Levels, Not enough Character Depth, It’s in 2D) Return to Dreamland, Epic Yard, Triple Dexlue, Forgotten Land and especially Planet Robobot are better then this This Game is 6.5/10 for me. And I am a huge Kirby Fan.

[@hajilee4539]

Oh man FINALLY I found someone who's as bugged about the golf update as I am. Every time I criticize Switch Sports I always get a army of people saying "It's okay as longs as they update/add DLC". You 100% earned a sub from me ;)

[@kumarpatel81]

"Mario tennis ultra TRASH" LMAO

[@lightingboltzero8575]

Kirby Star Allies is my favourite Kirby game ever. Its a fan service Kirby game and a huge celebration of all past kirby games. My favourite thing about the game is the whole friends team, it reminds me of Kirby's Super Star with the cpu partner but super charged in Star Allies and making it a requirement to complete certain levels. I loved everything about this game from the levels, world map, awesome music, friends (CPU'S, I play single player) the puzzle pieces you can find in each level which when completed a puzzle will turn into a illustration of a past kirby game with a awesome tune in each one and then we have the final boss Void just a epic end battle. This game was so fun and I loved picking my favourite cpu team (Gooney, Marx and Poppy Bros Jr) throughout the whole game till the very end of beating Void, it was something special having the same friends cpu team with you throughout your adventure.

[@kirbyofthestarsfan]

Even if I had fun with this game, this nostalgia pandering entry was the last thing the series needed at its point, there was no reason to do a Definitive Classic Kirby game considering Return to Dream Land already nailed that part. I loathe this game a lot not for being bad but for pretty much making people think the series got stale (with one game) and just generally a really bad first impression for non-Kirby fans. This thing being sandwiched between the very ambitious Planet Robobot and Forgotten Land is definitely gonna make it the Squeak Squad of modern games

[@BlueToadFan]

Pretty good video, though I like star allies despite its issues you pointed out it's flaws pretty well even if I think saying this is the worst Kirby game is a bit much. The only thing in the video I didn't like was the last bit at the end about mocking Fans. Cause like Kirby Fans aren't like Pokémon Fans. Even at launch Kirby Fans did say their issues with star allies and rated it as a less enjoyable time than robobot and other titles, we didn't deny it's problems like pokemon fans did with sword and shield for example. Also while Fan feedback definitely caused some influence in the development of forgotten land, HAL planned way ahead, they made Blowout Blast specifically to test 3D movement and Battle royale to test 3D Copy abilities. Even Star Allies was technically part of that testing since it was the first Mainline HD Kirby Game and it and forgotten Land do share assets. If you ask for my personal opinion about star allies it's like 3D world for me. What I mean by that is when we got Mario Odyssey it was much easier for me to appreciate Mario 3D world as the fun multiplayer game it truly is. Same idea goes for Star Allies and Forgotten Land. Now that we have this unique single player focussed 3D Kirby game it's much easier to appreciate star allies as this fanservice filled 4 player celebration game it was always meant to be. I've done multiple playthrough's of guest star mode with friends and I have had such a fun time. Good video and glad I could share my two cents on it too

[@matiasguntern3496]

I love kirby and think there really arent bad games, but star allies is FAR from being in the worst.

[@KaptainKharisma]

My least favorite kirby game.

[@lightninja4795]

Sorry i want to agree with you but i cant i agree with base game but not the side modes the ultimate choice is just the arena and guest star allies is just dedede tour and metal night ultra but with no ex bosses so yea if you dont like these modes than you just dont like the arena or meta knight ultra or dedede tour.

[@Harrymation-productions]

I’m glad at least Hal laboratory learned from the free update stuff for forgotten land and dream buffet

[@skoobzkb]

My main criticism of Star Allies was that it was too short. But on the other hand, the fan service in that game was so much fun. They brought back so many old characters and made them playable for the very first time. It was something I absolutely adored and I enjoyed playing the game for the fact I could play through the game as all of the dream friends over Kirby himself.

[@lazy_figetspinner_from2228]

I can’t hate a Kirby game and star Allie’s Is meh but it’s still fun

[@andrescube64]

A second free update will let you play Golf this fall. *Head Slap*

[@gameinsane4718]

Pre-DLC is was meh I’ll admit, but, with the free DLC it’s pretty fun. I generally don’t keep friends around unless they’re for a puzzle or an element for my weapon and that’s helped a lot in terms of enjoying the game and making it a bit more of a challenge

[@awesomeraf7851]

18:35 that was so unexpected yet hilarious

[@dededejuega746]

I see your point but i have to agree and disagree with you. I liked the game but it was my least favorite from the return to dreamland saga. Edit also i am not much of a tech guy so i don't know why it is 30fps but hey the graphics look great for a switch game

[@catsorafgc]

It’s 30fps because of how good the graphics are lol. All the models, shadows, and lighting are much higher then most other Nintendo titles on the Switch

[@JackAttackgamingXD]

2020 also was kinda like 2018 in a way because the only games that were out were DLCs for older games a new Paper Mario and Animal Crossing New Horzions but don't get me wrong I like the animal crossing and Origami King but a new 3D Mario was what we Nintendo fans really needed so 2020 was basically "Play Animal Crossing for half of the year until Nintendo makes games uncommonly while they keep selling the Switch and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe"

[@maccamachine]

this game is pretty basic is some ways but i still really had fun with it because it was a nice chill game. i did like the harder modes like the boss rush stuff and the mode you can play as other characters plus the enemy waves in the room with all the power ups was pretty fun. and you get to unlock that original kirby design so that’s cool

[@ScytheJackal]

Will you cover Super Smash Bros at some point?

[@graftongazaway5633]

I mainly love this game for the free dlc, I know it’s definitely the weakest in the series but I just love it so much.

[@2CoolBros.]

While I'll stand by my personal opinion that Star Allies is fairly underrated and unappreciated. At the end of the day, I'll take the Star Allies criticism to mean people have really, REALLY high standards for Kirby. Which isn't a bad thing. Plus, we got Kirby and the Forgotten Land now so woohoo!

[@awesomeocelot7475]

So when is the first proper episode of Vlogging with Demeech?

[@dextar7]

It may have been bad as a game, but in terms of Lore it was crazy

[@TheBLUEM64]

what is this song at the end

[@Wario_Guy]

Does Robobot run at 30 fps?

[@ahmedhasan4966]

No

[@Jdudec367]

Eh.....the bonus levels just having classic music isn't really lazy, it's still a nice throwback. Kirby games are usually pretty easy....but yeah even for Kirby standards this game is too easy. Honestly....making a minigame arguably requires more effort the something like Kirby Fighters or Kirby Clash since those reuse a lot of existing assets, however Dedede Drum dash and Kirby Blowout Blast are both unique things that Star Allies could have used. Overall this game isn't really the worst Kirby game....Dreamland 1, 2, and Squeak Squad are all at least worse games then it from what I know and there may be some other games that are worse then it too. However Star Allies IS the worst of the Modern Kirby games but it's still a decent game.