Kirby: Canvas Curse

Delightfully loopy. [Sept 2005, p.91]

It has longevity, charm, and controls that endure the wild departure from traditional platformers and make a highly enjoyable game. It comes highly recommended.

Graphically and sonically, Kirby: Canvas Curse excels and impresses with apparent ease. If you fail a level, then that wonderful “one-more-go” feeling that eats up so many hours of our lives as gamers comes into play, and whilst this game isn’t the longest by any means, it’s possibly the most enjoyable on the format so far.

Everyone from the hardcore FPS frag machine to a person who strayed away from games all their life can pick up Touch! Kirby. Being universally enjoyable is just another benefit, making this one of the best DS games to date. [JPN Import]

It couldn't really be done on any other platform, yet it doesn't sacrifice its gameplay for the sake of short-lived gimmicks.

Kirby's use of touch-screen technology provides a fresh and engaging game.

It's innovative for sure, but for me, that's not enough. [Aug 2005, p.57]

Very Unique Canvas Curse does it's own thing with a very interesting concept.

Gameplay is unique, especially for the era. It's quite fun once you get a handle on it and can pull off more advanced maneuvers. Underwater sections are sometimes vexing but a welcomed change of pace for such a short game. The end-game difficulty ramps up oddly fast with spikes galore and narrow passages to navigate but the challenge is nice for a change. Backgrounds are an artistic hodgepodge and occasionally a tad gaudy but it fits the theme and certainly is distinct. The music is surprisingly underwhelming for a Kirby game. Other than the final boss, every boss deviates from typical gameplay with more of a minigame-type offering. I would've liked more boss fights using the magical brush. There are lots of reasons to return after beating the game including other minigames, time trials, and collecting all the in-game medals.

A flawed but enjoyable touch-based Kirby spin-off title. I find the core gameplay to be somewhat unwieldy, especially when compared with the spiritual sequel to this game, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. I didn't ever feel quite comfortable controlling Kirby in Canvas Curse, which isn't something I experience in Rainbow Curse. Abilities are present, and do offer novelty to the experience, but their use tends to be very situational. The visuals and audio are quite nice, the paint theming is effective much of the time. Canvas Curse does reuse a few too many elements from previous titles, specifically enemy sprites and music. The game's soundtrack consists almost entirely of remixes of previous songs from the series, and those these are all well done, they do make the game feel as though it has less of it's own identity. Kirby: Canvas Curse is not one of my preferred Kirby spin-off games, but it still offers a quality experience, and though flawed is still worthwhile.

Not a Good Kirby Game. It is not the same as any other it is not a platformer. The game to me just is not that great. its not the worst kirby game. but its not the best.

Loved Mass Attack, so I thought I'd pick up a used copy of this one for another fun, stylus driven Kirby game. But Mass Attack it is not. Kirby feels clunky to control; I'm constantly scribbling underneath him just to get him to go the right way or actually do what I want. Frequently I try to use his powers and end up getting hit or dying. The game also feels very...small. There's no world map, very few unlockables. The music is good as always and it still looks bright and cheerful like a Kirby game should, but it's way more frustrating than fun.