During Nintendo's press conference, President of NOA Reggie Fils-Aime talked about how different the new kirby game was, and it, in fact, looked different. Later that day, we had the chance to get our hands on it at the Nintendo booth.

 

The controls couldn't be simpler: jump with one button, use that "lasso attack" with another. Kirby can turn into a car to run faster, a parachute to fall down slower, a rock to smash things and a sub when underwater.

 

The lasso is used to grab anything, from zippers to threads to buttons to stickers. You can also use it to attack enemies or grab them. The swallow attack to absorb powers is, apparently, gone.

 

We played the demo in co-op mode. That means we could jump on each other and grab each other. The score and the life is shared, so there's no competition. During the stages we would rip blocks made of thread, use buttons as grappling points, pull zippers to unveil secret passages and remove stickers to find treasure. Most surprisingly, when you find a door on this game and enter it, you're thrown behind the yarn, and while moving there, you'd see kirby popping out, as if you had thrown the yarn over something that was walking around.

 

The artstyle fits, and everything really does look like a sewed yarn. This effect grants Kirby the ability to play with the stage in a way never seen before. For example, during one part of the demo, both characters got mixed on a weird machine, turning both players into a megazord of sorts. one player would control the movement and shoot missiles, while the other was able to punch things around.

 

Kirby's Epic Yarn looks promising, with an artstyle that allows you to bend the stage and a co-op mode. The only thing that concerns me, though, is that the game seemed too easy, even for kirby standards, but hopefully it won't stay that easy during the whole game. Kirby's Epic Yarn is set to release this holiday.