Who doesn’t love Kirby? The pink, squishy, balloon boy is back with a fun addition on the Nintendo Switch that everyone can pick up and play. Super Kirby Smash is a free-to-start game that was made available a little after the Nintendo Direct this week. So let’s quickly cover what is this game and why you should try it out.

The actual gameplay is a series of missions and battles where Kirby and his similar counterparts all put on different hats (metaphorically and literally) and fight some big ol’ baddies. Up to four players locally or online can hop in to take down a wide variety of bosses and enemies. Kirby can use one of four main roles: Sword Hero, Hammer Lord, Doctor Healmore and Beam Mage. The Hero is great at offense and has a shield to protect friends. The Lord is all about beating the crap out of enemies and dealing massive damage, massive hammer...massive damage. The Doctor attacks fairly well and can throw out healing pools for himself and allies pretty frequently, making him a very important asset. The Mage can stun and stop enemies allowing for massive damage phases.

Having these different roles filled can make a challenge go from impossible to doable, or from very hard to mostly easy. Along with these different roles, there is a lot of loot to collect and purchase with in-game currencies or real money. The loot helps improve stats and some have general perks and abilities. There is a real element of progression and evolution in the game, which surprised me. There are also various vanity items that can be purchased in the game. As for now, I haven’t seen where the “free-to-start” will lead people, what they may have to pay to proceed or the limitations of the game. So for now, why not play a fun little game with a bunch of expansion and ways to play?

I highly recommend to any Nintendo Switch user to download Super Kirby Clash and play with friends, match make to play with random others or on your own. Let us know what you think of the game and the “free-to-start” method.