It's another lovely day in Dream Land. You -- in all of your big, hairy, gorilla glory -- are sitting beneath the warm summer sun, lazily peeling bananas and pondering the meaning of life and the nature of existence. Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye, you catch a glimpse of something quite strange -- a frenzied cloud of pink coming straight toward you. Before you have time to react (or to question what the appearance of this seemingly self-aware pink mass might portend), this bubblegum leviathan descends upon you. Coming from every direction you feel the furious pounding of a thousand tiny puffball fists slamming into you. Your banana falls to the ground. You'll never again know the taste of this soft, yellow fruit, your life cut tragically short at the hands of Dream Land's newest menace -- the Kirby gang.

A strange scenario to be sure, but such is the terror Dream Land's baddies must face in Kirby's next portable outing, Kirby: Mass Attack for the Nintendo DS. The title puts the titular pink puffball back in action, but this time with a little help from his friends. In Mass Attack, players use the system's stylus to move and command an army of up to 10 Kirbys. You can flick them at enemies, lasso them all together for easy transport, or just lead them around in your quest to find all the tasty collectibles, beat the bad guys, and work your way to the end of each area.

In a recent demo I had of the game, I was intrigued by this departure from the norm for the series. Kirby's Epic Yarn for Wii recently explored changing the Kirby formula by dropping the copy ability, which has been a series staple ever since Kirby's Adventure for the NES. But even Epic Yarn was far closer to a traditional Kirby experience than this game.

The emphasis in Mass Attack is largely on strategy, with some puzzle and adventure elements thrown in for good measure. Commanding a writhing horde of Kirbys from one end of a level to the other -- all while taking out enemies and working your way around blocked paths -- takes more thought than you'd initially think. Given this unique set of mechanics, I'm curious to see how the game ups the ante as it progresses.


Another thing to keep in mind is that you have to keep each of your Kirby soldiers alive as you play, otherwise you'll lose them. Each Kirby has a certain amount of HP, though this stat is invisible to the player. When one of your Kirbys turns blue, you know they're in danger of dying soon. When they die, they turn into a little Kirby angel that floats up to the sky. Hit this angel with another Kirby before it flies off-screen and you'll be able to save him before he disappears, otherwise you'll have to wait until you get enough points to earn a brand new Kirby.

I'm usually apprehensive about touch only games, as they often feel a bit gimmicky. From what I've played of Mass Attack, this isn't a problem at all. I had a lot of fun running around the bright and colorful world and throwing my Kirbys at unsuspecting bad guys. I only got a chance to work my way through a couple of the levels, but I'm excited to see what creative ways the developers find to show off this interesting new mechanic, and how they keep it from feeling repetitive. If they succeed, and what I've seen looks promising, then we should be in for another awesome trip to Dream Land when Kirby: Mass Attack hits store shelves on September 19.

---

What do you think of Kirby's new shtick? Should he have just said no to the gang scene and stuck to sucking up enemies? What fun uses can you think of for this touch mechanic? Let us know in the comments section below!

• More 3DS & DS Previews
• Latest 3DS & DS News, Reviews, and Videos