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Kirby's Avalanche (known as Kirby's Ghost Trap in Europe) is a puzzle video game co-developed by HAL Laboratory, Compile and Banpresto. It was released by Nintendo on February 1, 1995, in Europe and on April 25, 1995, in North America for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the Western release of Japanese Super Puyo Puyo. There was not a Japanese release, and the game remains the only Kirby title not released there.
Plot
King Dedede has challenged Kirby and other members of Dream Land to an Avalanche Competition at the Fountain of Dreams. Kirby decides to take on the challenge, battling his way through the forest in Avalanche matches against an assortment of his old foes from Kirby's Dream Land and Kirby's Adventure (including recurring bosses such as Poppy Bro Sr. Whispy Woods, Kracko, Meta Knight and King Dedede), and ultimately to a final showdown at the Fountain of Dreams with King Dedede to win the Cup.
This is the very first Kirby game to have dialogue, and the only one where the hero himself speaks. Kirby's attitude is rough and sarcastic while still cheerful. This is much like Arle Nadja in the early Puyo games, though this might be a coincidence.
Characters
Characters in parentheses indicate the original Puyo Puyo character the characters' respective playing level was based from.
Beginner levels (Lessons)
- Lesson 1: Waddle Dee (Skeleton-T) - A nervous enemy who is usually known to be the weakest enemy in the Kirby series.
- Lesson 2: Bronto Burt (Nasu Grave) - A flying creature with a bad attitude, includes calling Kirby "victim" and as well as ordering him to shut up.
- Lesson 3: Waddle Doo (Mummy) - A Waddle-Dee-like enemy who shoots a "beam" from his singular eye. Technically, it's actually Dark Matter possessing Waddle Dee's body, like in Kirby 64, like Ecolo possessing Arle's body to be Dark Arle, and as well Squares possessing Marle's body.
Normal and hard levels (Stages)
- Stage 1: Poppy Brother Sr. (Draco) - A normally weak mini-boss who is known for tossing bombs at his foes.
- Stage 2: Whispy Woods (Suketoudara) - An apple tree who hates it when people step on his roots. He's known for being the first boss of almost every mainline Kirby title.
- Stage 3: Kabu (Sukiyapodes) - A teleporting statue who always seems to block everyone's way.
- Stage 4: Broom Hatter (Harpy) - A witch who, like Kikimora, has a constant cleanliness obsession. However, like Witch, she has a bloomstick and a hat.
- Stage 5: Squishy (Sasoriman) - A squid who loves messing in other people's affairs.
- Stage 6: Lololo & Lalala (Panotty) - A duo from the Eggerland games (Adventures of Lolo in the US), another series that made its debut on the MSX. Their relationship with Kirby is unknown. Like Harpy and Panotty, their Blobs clear into music notes.
- Stage 7: Bugzzy (Zombie) - The king of all insects, a giant stag beetle known for his dangerous wrestling moves.
- Stage 8: Paint Roller (Witch) - A painter on roller skates whose paintings come to life. Kirby thinks of him as the "meanest art student ever". However, he self-proclaims the "art master" when reveals it to Kirby. He first rudely interrupts Kirby completing to him about "Kirby losing".
- Stage 9: Heavy Mole (Zoh Daimaoh, but the board doesn't shake, however because of being a mining one-eyed machine instead of a "heavy" animal) - A mining one-eyed machine who never stops burrowing. Although his first name is "Heavy" he is not heavy, but he flies.
- Stage 10: Mr. Shine & Mr. Bright (Schezo) - Rulers of the night and day. Much like Dream Land's actual moon and sun, they are known for getting into feuds with each other.
- Stage 11: Kracko (Minotauros) - Like Whispy Woods, he is a recurring boss in the Kirby series, known for zapping his enemies and frying them. However, he seems to have a sensitive side, and has never forgotten any of his losses to Kirby.
- Stage 12: Meta Knight (Rulue) - A major character and one of the major bosses in the Kirby series, a masked swordsman who bears a striking resemblance to Kirby without his mask.
- Stage 13: King Dedede (Satan, but the board shakes as in Zoh Daimaoh's stage) - The self-proclaimed the King of Dream Land. He has a kind heart, despite how many misunderstandings he's been involved in, and doesn't see Kirby as an enemy, but yes a friendly rival, unlike Arle who is Rulue's main rival. Generally, he is the final boss of the mainline Kirby series.
Version differences
While the core gameplay remains the same, the Japanese and Western versions are drastically different cosmetically. As the story in Super Puyo Puyo is more focused on Arle and Carbuncle's adventures like the Madou Monogatari and Mega Drive Puyo Puyo versions, the Western version replaced them with Kirby characters to appeal to Western audiences.
As a game released later in the SNES's life cycle, this game has bright colors and advanced graphics for its time. The sound consists of remixed tracks from Kirby's Adventure and Kirby's Dream Course, with only one original track from the Puyo Puyo game itself (the panic music). As the game boots, a sampled "Kirby's Avalanche!" or "Kirby's Ghost Trap!" can be heard.
Both versions have cinematics between each round, with differences being Kirby and his opponents shown having full conversations and trash-talking each other in full sentences in the Western version, and that Kirby's personality comes off as a lot more sarcastic and confrontational, just as Arle and Carbuncle were in the Japanese version. This differs greatly from other Kirby games, where Kirby hardly speaks at all and is also friendlier in general.
Reception
Kirby's Avalanche received generally positive reviews, garnering an aggregate score of 74% on GameRankings based on seven reviews. IGN awarded the game 7.5 out of 10, comparing it favorably to Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, another Super Puyo Puyo clone released for the Sega Genesis in North America. GamePro commented that "Although Kirby's Avalanche is a rehash of an overdone puzzler theme, it's so well done that it's worth playing - that is, if you don't already have three puzzle games just like it." They particularly praised the graphics and the cuteness of the digitized speech.
Next Generation reviewed the SNES version of the game, and stated that "While we've seen this kind of game before, and this version doesn't offer any improvements it's still excellent fun."
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| Main series: Puyo Puyo • Puyo Puyo Tsu • Puyo Puyo SUN • Puyo Puyo~n • Puyo Puyo Fever • Puyo Puyo Fever 2 • Puyo Puyo 7 Compile-era |