The game came in the mail within a week. It did not have a plastic cover at all. I purchased it used and the envelope literally had the cartridge wrapped in paper. This kind of stunk because it was part of a birthday gift. We justed emptied out an old case and wrapped it for her. SHe didn't even seem to notice. No problems witht he game so far...have had it for 17 days.

Recently I was finally able to get Kirby Canvas Curse. The game got tons of great feedback when it came out years ago, and is still placed in a lot of top 20 DS games lists. That surprised me, especially given how many great DS games there are now. It's a good game despite not feeling like a Kirby game. But hey, if you were sick of going around sucking up enemies this could be for you.

Gameplay is pretty simple- Kirby is rolled into a ball and you have to navigate him through each stage while defeating enemies and solving some puzzles here and there. You draw lines on the touch screen which act as bridges, walls or platforms so he can keep going. Tap Kirby to propel him forward and if there's a gap in the floor, draw a line over it so he doesn't fall. It's easy for the first couple of worlds, but later on the difficulty spikes up a bit and you'll need to be fast with the stylus. You can tap enemies on the screen to stun them, and once Kirby touches them, they're toast. Some have powers that Kirby can use, most of which you'll be familiar with if you've played previous Kirby games (flame, needle, rock, etc.). After you clear three stages in each world, you'll get to face one of three boss challenges. Each one's different: one puts Kirby in the roll of the BreakOut ball, another has you racing and collecting food, and the other simply has you connect the dots. And once the worlds are done, there's the final boss. Though there are also special tokens you can collect in each stage that net you a little something special at the end too.

Unlike any other Kirby game, Canvas Curse is refreshing, but doesn't feel like a Kirby game to me. There's no flying, eating enemies, or animal buddies. Kirby stays in ball form the whole game. It took me a little while to get used to controling him exclusively with the stylus, but I got the hang of it after a few stages. When you draw lines, you can go a good length before using up your ink and needing it to refill, so go nuts with the bridges. Sometimes it got annoying when I needed Kirby to go in a different direction, especially on small platforms, because you need to draw a wall and propel him toward it so he goes the other way. 'kinda wish there were more boss fights than just the 3 main ones too, but it's not that big of a deal. Also, make sure you collect every star when you can, because the game doesn't hand out 1ups very often.

The graphics look good still today, and there wasn't any slowdown when I played. Some of the later stages have just plain beautiful designs, often looking like abstract art. There were times when I'd let Kirby stay still so I could enjoy the scenery. Likewise for the music- a lot of it's memorable, something I haven't said for a Kirby game since Kirby's Dreamland 2 over 10 years ago.

If you can find a copy of Canvas Curse and love Kirby, it'd be hard to not recommend it to you. Just keep in mind what the gameplay's like and give it a half hour or so before deciding if you don't like it. With all the hidden tokens, it should keep you coming back for a while.

Kirby Canvas Curse is very fun and unique because it is the only Kirby game on the DS to use the DS's stylus. There are also 3 or 4 more characters to unlock after you beat the game with Kirby. The graphics and sound are also some of the best in the Kirby series. Don't just take my word for it, this is the highest critically reviewed Kirby game. I rate this Game 88.5/100.

This game i all about the stylus, you tab Kirby to make him move and make little bridges. So no buttons. In some locations i had a heard time getting to the enemies because of the cliffs. I am not very far in the game:(. This is my only Kirby game. (Unless you count Super Smash Brothers Brawl.) But i have played Kirby Super Star Ultra (my friends game) and it was more fun. I liked it because of Kirby's transformations and the challenge for us button lovers.(Oh yeah did i mention he is limbless.)

Pros-
Challenging.
The always loved transformations.

Cons- absolutely no buttons. (It uses the DS to it's full potential but not the gameboy.)
Some levels are just way to difficult, so you give up after a while.


RKgamer

Although probably not the greatest Kirby game ever, this is definitely the best handheld Kirby out there.

Kirby Canvas Curse has Kirby regularly doing his thing in Dreamland, when an evil sorceress appears out of the sky. She waves her magical paintbrush, and the world turns to paint! Kirby gives chase, but the sorceress turns him into a ball! Helpless, Kirby lies on the ground and sees the magical paintbrush. Then, it transports to you on a ray of light! (also known as your stylus)

This game is probably the only Kirby game with a good story (I haven't played any of the classics so I don't quite know). You play with Kirby as a ball. You can touch Kirby to make him dash forward and attack or just go faster, and you use your stylus to draw lines for him to ride. There are 6 main levels each with 3 smaller levels within, which each have 3 stages. Once you clear one level, you can go on to the next and the next, until you reach level 7 after facing a few boss challenges along the way. Here you see "The World of Drawcia". Here, you go through two stages. Once through, you see a very strange mirror. Once you enter, you are put in fierce battle with Drawcia Sorceress! I won't elaborate further.

In each stage of each mini level of each level, you can find a Medal. There are 250 levels to hunt for and collect. However, most of the medals are NOT found in the stages. They are found-no, earned-in something called Rainbow Run. Here, after you have completed a LEVEL, you will find these mini levels again. However, you will be trying to either finish a certain stage as fast as possible, or will be trying to use as little ink for lines as possible. I have currently beaten the game (minus 3 medals) and now find Rainbow Road the only thing that is very satisfying.

These medals can be traded for prizes inside "Medal Swap". Here you can get things from new courses in Rainbow Road to new characters! These new characters you must use in order to completely beat the game. Once you beat the game with all 5 characters and have gotten all the medals, you will have beaten Kirby Canvas Curse!

This is a game that needs to be in every gamer's library of games. This one is just too good to pass up. I give it 5 stars out of honest. That is what I think! I'm not just over doing the star button here, I MEAN IT!! If you don't get it, sorry for you. If you do get it, get ready for one of the greatest games on the hand held market! Your friend in gaming,
CPU12 The Nintendo Freak