Kirby Star Allies

Description

In Star Allies, Kirby must stop the dark priest Hyness from reviving a cosmic evil after the shattering of the Jamba Heart spreads corruption across the galaxy. The game retains Kirby’s classic inhale‑and‑copy mechanics but adds the Friend Heart system, allowing Kirby to befriend enemies and recruit up to three allies. These companions can be AI‑controlled or player‑controlled, enabling drop‑in multiplayer. The game also introduces Friend Abilities, where Kirby combines his powers with allies’ elemental skills (fire, ice, electricity, etc.) to create new attacks or solve environmental puzzles.

The campaign spans colourful side‑scrolling stages across Dream Land and beyond, with set‑piece “Friend Actions” like the Friend Train and Friend Star that transform the party into powerful formations. Post‑launch updates expanded the roster with “Dream Friends” — legacy characters from across the Kirby series such as Marx, Gooey, Adeleine & Ribbon, and Magolor — turning the game into a celebratory crossover.

The game is technically a 2D side‑scrolling platformer, very much in line with the traditional Kirby formula. What it did do, though, was act as a stepping stone toward 3D. HAL Laboratory’s general director Shinya Kumazaki has explained that Star Allies was treated as the culmination of their 2D work, and even its final boss battle experimented with 3D movement and perspective. The team considered Star Allies and Kirby and the Forgotten Land (2022) to be part of a “single connected project”,  with Star Allies laying the groundwork and Forgotten Land finally realising the leap into fully 3D action gameplay.

The base game is extremely easy in its difficulty, it feels perfect for much younger players. The free updates added challenging modes like Heroes in Another Dimension, which rebalanced the game for veteran players. During my initial play through I quickly lost interest but once the updates hit I happily finished the main game and beyond. It is short, but being an early Switch title I set my expectations carefully. Commercially, Star Allies was a success, selling over 4.3 million copies by 2022, making it one of the best‑selling Kirby titles.