Review Round-up: Kirby and the Rainbow Curse puts reviewers at opposite ends

While the rest of the internet argues about the scoring of video games, I'm sitting here rounding up the polarizing reviews of Kirby and the Rainbow Curse.

Rainbow Curse is not your typical Kirby game. Kirby is stuck in a ball form and endlessly rolling forward, you guide him by drawing rainbow colored lines across the screen. The story mode in Kirby and the Rainbow Curse has twenty-eight levels and challenge mode offers over forty.The game itself is designed with a modeling clay look, making it somewhat unique.

What makes it polarizing? People just can't dig the gameplay.

For some the repetitive actions are relaxing, for others it's tedious. Here are the reviews from around the web in order of highest to lowest to sites that don't score:

Destructoid

It's a game that has a little something for everyone, all without compromising its unyielding, unique, and undivided attention on its mission to blast pure adorableness into the world in all directions. If Kirby and the Rainbow Curse doesn't make you smile, you may need to see a doctor for that."]It's a game that has a little something for everyone, all without compromising its unyielding, unique, and undivided attention on its mission to blast pure adorableness into the world in all directions. If Kirby and the Rainbow Curse doesn't make you smile, you may need to see a doctor for that.

9/10

Polygon

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse shines because it’s a simple game that delivers superbly on a simple concept. You’re repeating many of the same actions again and again, but with each new stroke it feels more refined, more graceful. I’ve never felt smarter or more sophisticated while playing a Kirby game.

8.5/10

Game Informer

I never fully fell in love with only having secondary control of Kirby. Drawing platform lines is undeniably different, but I’m not convinced it’s the best way to play a platformer. Rainbow Curse smartly toys with the mechanic, adding surprising twists and changes, and by the end I was having a good time – even if I still was yelling at Kirby to just do what I told him every now and then.

7.75/10

NintendoLife

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse is perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon: a pleasant roll through a gorgeous world, with some novel concepts, and one of the most beautiful games the Wii U has yet seen. However charming the game may be, Rainbow Curse is a few strokes from greatness: overly repetitive mechanics, underused ideas, and a failure to integrate its clay theme into gameplay in any meaningful way keep it from reaching the lofty heights to which it potentially could. Well crafted, but not a masterpiece.

7/10

GameSpot

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse is a tiring game. It's taxing without being rewarding, like doing a mile on a stationary bike and discovering that you only burned away calories from one bite of your lunch burrito. The game gets frustrating quickly due to repetitive obstacles and there's not much incentive to dig into a game that won't give you that agency. It's a mediocre romp through a gorgeously detailed world that doesn't give you the control you need as a player, which ultimately dulls its shine.

5/10

GiantBomb

Playing Kirby and the Rainbow Curse was a tedious experience from beginning to end, and it lacks the "time and place" factor of Canvas Curse. If Nintendo was more open to bringing its properties to mobile and tablets, I could see the game being more appealing as a cheap eShop or iPad title. As a full-fledged $40 Wii U title, however, it only feels like a disappointment.

2/5

No Score

Wired

…Rainbow Curse works great for me. I don’t even need to look at the TV when the game is this good. It’s a little strange that the best home for touchscreen gameplay is now the Wii U, rather than the 3DS. But I’ll take it where I can get it.

IB Times

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse isn’t Kirby as you know it. It’s a departure from the traditional mechanics and a new experience for veterans of the franchise. Maybe Nintendo will dedicate more titles to the Gamepad, but this shouldn't be the future of home console Kirby games. At $40 it’s okay, but as long as you're not expecting Kirby games of yore.

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