Mario isn't the only versatile character in Nintendo's line-up of mascots; Kirby has so many unique abilities that he's been able to take on a great variety of genres over the years. Though his main strong suit has always been side scrolling adventures, his ability to take abilities from enemies made him a fan-favourite in Super Smash Bros. and his circular shape enables him to take part in a variety of other genres and unique games, like the puzzle title Kirby's Ghost Trap on the SNES (which is essentially Puyo Pop with Kirby but then again Puyo Pop is basically Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine with... Puyos...).

It was inevitable that Kirby would eventually show up on the Nintendo DS and why not? He's one of the best fits for the system's unique abilities and what better team to develop the title than long time Kirby developer and creators HAL Laboratory - the team not only responsible for the fantastic Super Smash Bros series but also is credited for helping create Earthbound, under the name HALKEN.

In Kirby: Power Paintbrush (known as Canvas Curse in the US), the loveable pink dude is taken back to his 2D side scrolling roots: however, this time he's been cursed and cannot use his hands or feet, which is where you, the player, comes in. Using a stylus you need to help Kirby across eight different worlds (each with three levels) by drawing rainbow lines for him to follow. This isn't a case of Yoshi: Touch & Go, where that's pretty much all you do though - far from it. Tapping Kirby makes him spin faster, allowing him to gain speed and take out enemies. I know what you're thinking: "But it will be impossible to touch Kirby quickly when he's rolling around!" but you couldn't be more wrong. Kirby brilliantly stays in the centre of the screen at all times when he's rolling quickly, thus you can continually tap him over and over without having to readjust the stylus. Drawing lines also not only allows Kirby to follow them up and around to other areas, or in loop-the-loops, but you can also block enemy attacks from hitting the defenceless Kirby as he rolls on by.

Now, I'm not exactly a huge Kirby player... not that I dislike the character; I just never really delved into the games too much, so because of this I hadn't paid much mind to this title whilst it was in development. It wasn't until I read Dexter's preview that I stood up and took notice. His detailing of using a limited amount of ink to guide Kirby and the similarities between classic Sonic games, which I am fond of, made me perk up with excitement. He was completely right too; Power Paintbrush is the best DS game released yet.

As you progress through the varied and beautiful worlds, you encounter a great number of enemies from the Kirby world, some of which are just there to get in your way and others to steal abilities from. To attack an enemy you have to either tap them to stun them first and let Kirby roll into them, or make Kirby charge into them quickly; if you hit a special enemy you take his unique ability, which then changes Kirby's dash attack into something entirely different. You can make him bloat up into a balloon, turn into a flaming ball of fire, slide across the ground as a block of ice and even turn into a rock, smashing through items or sinking down to the bottom of a body of water. Plenty of other items are around to interact with, including blocks you need to tap with the stylus to break and special obstacles, which can be opened with switches or with one of Kirby's unique abilities.

Each level looks entirely different from the last, even when they're within the same world; furthermore, every single one has at least three red medals hidden to collect, some of which are fairly obvious and others just about invisible they're so well hidden. Unfortunately, the map on the upper screen can give away some of the harder medal positions, taking away a lot of the joy and challenge of discovering that hard to find medal. Collecting the medals isn't just something to do for fun either, as you actually need to buy the unlockable items in this game. Costing from a little as 3 medals to as much as 12, there are lots of great goodies to enable different coloured lines with other patterns, new levels and mini-games, additional music, plus even more life for Kirby. There are other cool things as well but I'll leave them for you to discover. This approach is a great one and really makes you want to completely finish the game - and trust me when I say you'll be playing long after you finish the main eight worlds.

Upon completing the main eight worlds, my profile read only 36.5% complete with 7 hours and 38 minutes clocked in. I had only obtained about a 100 medals of 250! The rest of the medals need to be obtained in the Rainbow Run mode but first let's take a look at the Subgames. This is simply a mode that allows you to freely face off against one of the game's three bosses (not counting the main boss), on a variety of difficulty settings. You see, when you complete a world, you actually get to pick a boss to challenge from a selection of three. Each one has a description with pictures explaining how to defeat the boss and they're all completely different, not just from each other but to the entire game itself. Again, I don't want to spoil the surprise but trust me when I say they are loads of fun and you'll actually be looking forward to challenging them. I only wish there were more, as you end up facing off against each one about three times on higher difficulties (after the second the boss is unlocked for Subgame play).

The cool thing about facing the boss in Subgames, other than being able to relive the great battles again, is that you can select from three difficulty levels and then try to place a high rank on each. The game calculates your final score and gives you a grade - even marking the date you made it. This is a great feature for those out there who like to challenge buddies to place the highest score, like back in the good old days! Right, ancient Ed? [Button it, you cheeky young whippersnapper or I'll take my cane to you! Ed]

Where placing high scores is the basis of a lot of recent DS games, Kirby is a full fledged, level-based game that lasts longer than anything else out there on the market. Obtaining the medals in the other mode, Rainbow Run, is not a fast process. All eight worlds and levels are featured in this mode and each level has a total of six new medals you can win - three for time trial and three for line trial, where you have to use as little ink (or lines) as possible to place highest. Additionally, Rainbow Run has another world with a whopping 48 possible medals. A lot of the levels in this world have to be bought via trading in medals but they're well worth it, as they are ability-specific areas. For instance, Kirby is always a brick in one level, or a tyre in another and so on. Collecting every medal is not a quick or easy task but well worth it and really shoots this game above any other DS title when it comes to replay value that is actually worth playing. There are even more "skins" for Kirby as well - and yes the game keeps track of which ones have completed which levels, meaning that to fully exhaust the game you have to beat the main quest with all the skins!

The graphics in Kirby are an example of excellent, polished 2D animation. The menu presentation is unique and takes full advantage of the title's theme and design, even matching the box art. The worlds are bright and colourful, with gorgeous looking parallax scrolling backgrounds that vary drastically in style across each unique level. Kirby looks as good as a rolling pink ball can and his reactions to various events are spot on - every ability he takes on acts perfectly for the way it looks. The enemy designs are what you would expect from a Kirby game and will be very familiar to fans, while the boss fights are so distinctly different to the actual game that they look and feel almost like another game - which is a good thing! Kirby looks just as good as it plays and the presentation and style of the game is perfectly executed.

The sound here is classic Nintendo, with joyful, feel good effects for every action, right down to drawing a line (the sound even changes with different lines). Kirby never actually says anything or makes any noise but the rest of the sound is so good and fits so well that you probably won't even notice. The music for each zone is classic - perfect tunes that will get you right into the game without annoying you. Melodic and full of rhythm, you can listen to quite a few of them outside of the game in the sound test as well.

Perhaps more worlds would have been nice for this title, as I found myself not wanting to play the game because I knew the next time I turned it on I would complete it and I simply didn't want it to end. Kirby: Power Paintbrush is a very refreshing game for the DS and is both the kind of game the system needs and what people want from it. That's why it's such a shame that there aren't more worlds in the main game and that it isn't that difficult, especially when it comes to finding the medals, thanks to the top screen map (though actually getting them often takes very creative gameplay). I can see why the developers halted it at eight worlds though; it's a good healthy number for an amount of worlds (and seems to be Nintendo tradition) but each one is so unique and has great moments that are one of a kind to each area that it feels like a well crafted set. It gives the same vibe that a campaign like Halo 2's does, give or take a few sections. While a harder difficulty level would have been appreciated, the massive amount of replay value is a great thing, especially for a handheld, as you'll probably find yourself straying from the game for awhile and then picking it up to find those remaining medals when you're standing in line, sitting on the loo, or riding on a road trip.

Kirby: Power Paintbrush is the DS's first saving grace. Yoshi, while decent, didn't offer us what felt like an actual game - it was more like an expanded demo. Pac-Pix has a great idea but still felt like just an expanded tech-demo, though still at least had progressing levels and didn't base everything on setting scores. Kirby offers us a fully-fledged game with a main mode and great secondary modes, with plenty left to unlock and find, as well as high scores, times to beat and a great little game where you launch Kirby through the air as far as possible! Despite a lack of multiplayer, if you own a DS then you should own Kirby - simple as that. It's fun for everyone that actually will last a long while and makes great use of the handheld's touted abilities without sacrificing familiar gameplay for gimmicks that are short lived.

Reviewed by Christopher Martin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).