Thursday, May 9, 2013

Away Game Special: Spinning Yarns Together

It quickly earned a reputation for being incredibly childish, but Kirby's Epic Yarn offers some worthy challenges. 

First off, it's true that you can't die or wind up with a "Game Over" in Kirby's Epic Yarn. However, when you're trying to get everything unlocked as you go, losing a bunch of beads because you've been rescued from a pit or fallen into spikes is as bad as being kicked out of the level. And that goes double for the game's co-operative play mode. 

That is the mode where the game's challenge truly shines through. The screen barely zooms out if two players are on either side of it. As a result, the players are tethered together, and will be brought back on screen if they stray too far away or get trapped in a scrolling area. What's worse is that once the game puts more and more emphasis on precise platforming two players will quickly run out of room between jumps. They'll be grabbing each other with their yarn whips and otherwise falling all over each other. 

Nonetheless, this hysterical sort of gameplay really adds to the game's fun. Playing it solo would definitely be far too easy (especially since there aren't really any places where the boost a second player can offer is necessary to find hidden items/areas). But, working with another player in the game's tight spaces turns it from a cutely stylish platformer into a frantically challenging, fun experience. 

If you can play it regularly with another person and love a good platformer, I highly recommend Kirby's Epic Yarn.

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