I got the game yesterday and wanted to share my initial thoughts after finishing ALL of the first world.
One thing's for sure, the production values in this game really are top notch. Bright, colorful well done graphics and animation. Control is excellent too. Was the 10 year wait for an actual brand new Kirby adventure worth it to me? At this point after 1 world I would certainly say so. We really need more games like this and fewer FPSes. This is a very cute game and I have no problem with that. Music is much better than I thought it would be so far. I was concerned with that aspect of the game most after seeing a few of the trailers.
One thing I want to really comment on is the whole "No way to die and zero difficulty" comments that have been going around. The essential levels you positively have to pass through in order to go from one world to the next WILL be a cakewalk. There are no if's, and's or but's about that. You should have no problem getting well more than enough beads to get the gold medals for each stage. However, there IS some degree of challenge required for the extra stages that you can unlock for each world. As for me personally, I did have to play the 2 extra stages in World 1 a few times before I coukd get through them with enough beads for the gold medal and get all 3 treasures. Especially the one extra stage in the first world, without spoiling everything-it's a level with automatic scrolling so you REALLY need to be paying attention and keep up if you want enough beads for gold plus all the treasures. Neither of the extra stages I've played so far has been super difficult by any means, but in the one you do have to really look around and explore a big chunk of the level to get everything and the other you need to keep up with the scrolling and be observant. What I'm trying to say is in those levels I certainly did not feel the treasures or gold medal were just "handed" to me. I did have to do some degree of work to earn them. The boss at the end of the first world you can very easily beat-if you just want to progress that is. You see, in this case you truly need to "beat" this boss by getting ALL the beads he drops, as well as figure out how to get some extra beads aside from the obvious ones he drops in order to unlock one of the extra levels. Completing that extra level will open up the 2nd extra level. Anyway, if you get hit just a few times during that fight, you can pretty much kiss unlocking the extra levels goodbye and will need to redo it if you want to open that up. My point is that I wholeheartedly agree with the one review that said losing all your beads during those times is far greater punishment than a "game over" screen would be. You might be frustrated but it's the kind of frustrated that makes you go "c'mon I can do this", where you can SEE what you need to do and there's no half hour of guess work involved. That in turn makes you want to try again. And you will get it within a few tries.
But please don't let the cakewalk main levels scare you away from this game because everyone should at least check it out. it's got phenomenonal production values and it's FUN. The kind of fun games used to be many years ago and the kind of fun gaming needs to go back to being. If you want a nice, relaxing game that will not stress you out, make you curse and leave you genuinely smiling both while you play and long after you turn the Wii off this is that game. It's so cute you can't help but smile and be happy while playing. I feel it's well worth the 50 bucks admission price and I hope everyone who's bought the game as well feels that way. This is the kind of game that shows how incredible an imaginative game can be-and that you don't need violence or headshots in order to make a great game.
As a side note if you have a Kmart nearby and plan to pick up the game, do it there since you'll get a 20 dollar gaming credit coupon with it. It's a great deal and these gaming coupons will help a LOT with the 4 major releases I'm planning to pick up next month.