Kirby: Canvas Curse [DS]

Brace yourself, it's about to get interesting. The Nintendo DS, which has a library largely composed of unremarkable titles, is on the verge of being overrun with unique and intriguing games. At the vanguard is a little pink amorphous fellow named Kirby, one of Nintendo's venerable but second-tier characters. Who'd have thought such an unassuming little guy would be the star of one of the best Nintendo DS titles available, and easily one of the most innovative platformers you'll ever play?

Many DS games feel like they have to be dragged kicking and screaming to find some way to support the touchscreen, which is often optional. Other games that are more creative with the touchscreen are short and under-developed, more tech demos than bona fide games. But Kirby Canvas Curse is finally a full-fledged game that feels like it was built from the ground up specifically for the DS' touchscreen.

Played exclusively with the stylus, you're not fumbling around trying to press buttons with one hand, use the stylus with the other, and actually hold the system with a third hand (not included). Instead, you interact with the game by touching the screen. Touch Kirby to send him spinning forward, touch enemies to briefly stun them, or touch buttons to interact with bits of the level like doors, cannons, spinning gates, and so forth. The only thing between you and the game is the tip of your stylus.

Touching things is just the beginning. Kirby rolls lazily through the levels, kind of like a slightly sad balloon bled of its helium, drifting along the street with a goofy face painted on the side. Unless you spin him up Sonic the Hedgehog-style, he's kind of lame as far as platformer characters go.

But what makes Canvas Curse tick is the way you can draw a path for him. Use the stylus to trace a line and he'll stick to it, rolling along its length. Pull him along with a downwards stroke, pop him up into the air with an impromptu ramp, push him underwater, give him a bridge across a gap, or just keep him flying along from ad hoc platform to ad hoc platform.

There's a wonderful visceral sense that you're spinning this goofy pink balloon at your virtual fingertips, working with the demands of gravity and friction to get him from one side of the level to the other. But just to keep things interesting, and in keeping with Kirby's schtick, you can eat some enemies to give Kirby special powers and play a more proactive game. This is where the game really takes some lively twists.

In one of Canvas Curse's most beautiful, frustrating, and addictive levels, Kirby is flying freely through an open galaxy of planets and black holes. There's even a boiling hot sun along one side. It's a remarkably free-spirited exercise in 2D physics and navigation, testing your skill at managing the "ink supply" for drawing your lines. But if you manage to eat one of the elusive rocket enemies -- and what would make more sense in an outer space level? -- then you're guiding a virtually indestructible rocket on its mission to find the triggers that open the exit. One easy-to-miss twist has transformed everything from a pink ball at the mercy of inertia and gravity to a rocket speeding along whatever course you steer for it.

This mission also highlights how Canvas Curse makes great use of its painting concept. The storyline has something to do with Kirby escaping from paintings, which gives the artists a lot of leeway to experiment with distinct and unique styles. The galaxy level is heavily stylized, as if it were built from huge pixels in an Atari 2600. But some earlier levels have richly blended color and curving surfaces. Some basic themes are repeated and there are some blandly colorful Toontown-ish areas, but the levels are mostly a joy to behold. No other game looks like this. It's lovely and holds many splendors.

Unlike a lot of handheld platformers, Canvas Curse has serious longevity, which comes from a combination of replayability, challenges, and unlockable content. Each level has three hidden medals that you can collect. You cash in these medals for bonuses from a blind menu. This includes cosmetic effects (different patterns for the lines you draw), gameplay aids (additional health for Kirby), and even substantive content (entirely new levels; new characters with slightly different properties than Kirby).

In addition to replaying levels to look for medals, each level awards medals for scoring high on its unique Time Trial and Line Trial. In Time Trials, you try to get the other end as quickly as possible. In Line Trials, you try to use as little ink as possible. Winning medals to chase unlockables gives Canvas Curse scads of replayability beyond the six or so hours it takes to get through it the first time.

It's too bad that Kirby isn't a more interesting character. Without a more compelling protagonist, many Nintendo DS owners might write this off as a gimmick or a kiddie game. But the fact of the matter is that this is the perfect combination of a lazy pink blob, an innovative interface, and some of the loveliest 2D artwork you'll find in a game. Combine this with the on-the-go ease of a handheld system, and what more could you ask for in a platformer?