Mouthful Mode Mania

We have made it to the most memorable message of the month. To make things meaningful I will march on with the motif of many modern mainline Kirby games. Many Kirby games have their own memorable methods to mow down monsters while moving throughout the map. More recent methods were the Miracle Fruit and the mecha suit from the 3Ds games and the multiple members that were moving with you in the previous Switch title. But make way, because Mouthful Mode is the major method to move through a mysterious metropolis marked by moss for millenia. There are many modes for Kirby to maneuver with although many of them are mostly used for mini moments in most stages as a means of making something manifest itself. Many times there will be multiple moments where you must make use of more than one morph to move forward. Thankfully, the majority of them are managable and easily mastered due to the movments being kept to a minimum so as to keep things moving without making muscle memory a necessity. Also many abilities mimic some from past games. The most maneuverable morph mimics the wheel power by making you a motorized vehicle which can move in a more open environment. Also making its mark is the water power only now it’s made by amassing mouthfuls of water for mist washing. Another memorable one is the vending machine, which may seem more like a modern firearm than the ranger ability. There are many more than Kirby can morph into to mow down those menacing mongrels that moved him here. Not to mention that Kirby maintains his method of mimicking enemies. He has many methods at his disposal on this mission.

Remember minutes ago when I mentioned the Miracle Fruit and Mecha from modern Kirby games made before this one? I’m going to use these in models to make the major motif in Modern Kirby more apparent. The Miracle Fruit is a macguffin for certain moments in missions when Kirby must mop up monsters at maximum power with his mouth, making him into a miniature black hole. Aside from making monsters into mega meals there isn’t much more to this magical melon. It is not meant for multiple moments but instead only in mandatory sequences. Kirby’s other abilities are mostly moot so overall the Miracle Fruit feels meh as a major macguffin. The Mecha is much more mobile and feels less mandatory. Sure it can make most monster encounters feel mundane but there is more merit in having it when moving through levels than having missed it since it is mostly mandatory when mapping out areas to find missing collectibles. The major upgrade to the Mecha as compared to the Miracle Fruit is it can mimic Kirby’s copy ability into its mainframe. This allows for more potential movements when managing the mecha. Now I want to mention that mouthful mode is a mix of the Miracle Fruit and the Mecha in the way it is managed. Some mouthful modes are mostly made for particular moments in levels ranging from minor to major in term of length. Some are made to make things more managable, but are not mandatory to move forward. Some are missable if you are moving a mile a minute like a madman. Even when they make Kirby move using his more malleable self by morphing into a more mysterious module, it makes the most sense to move along with it since mouthful more makes for a merry good time.

Mouthful Mode is mostly more abilities for Kirby to make use of as he makes his way through most areas. Many of them are used more than once and you mercifully can maintain the ability you had prior to morphing into the module needed for moving on. It maintains a more manageable medium between past gimmicks because most of these ones are not made more arduous to find and manevuring through many of them is mighty managable. They might become a bit much when moving through the mini levels where you must show mastery over multiple mouthful modes throughout the game. Many of those are mighty meager with minutes given to master them, so may you have fun. You might though since control and movement is a major métier of this game. Kirby mixes up the way you move whenever Mouthful Mode makes an appearance making the game almost like marking a more modern Kirby by having more maneuverability in 3D in those sections. Many like me have made some musings before this mainline game came out as to what modern Kirby would move like in a more multiplex setting. Now we’ve made it and we have a Kirby who was made more malleable to maintain a mix of movements for a modern era of platfoming. The multiple transformations makes the exploration more mysterious and less predictable. You must swap between Kirby major abilities and Mouthful Mode if you want to manage to muster all those members of Waddle Dee town. I guess the most memorable thing about Mouthful Mode is when I see an item I can morph into by making Kirby interact with it, I am making the choice mostly because I want to and not because I must make my way through. Even if I must, they are momentary methods to make mysteries for me to muddle through and thats all that matters to me. See you next month!