Kirby's Avalanche, known in Europe as Kirby's Ghost Trap, is a Puyo Puyo

Puyo Puyo

is the inaugural game in the Puyo Puyo series originally released in 1991 by Compile for the MSX2. Since its creation, it uses characters from . It was created by Masamitsu "Moo" Niitani, the founder of Compile, who was inspired by certain elements from the Tetris and Dr...

 game developed by Compile

Compile

Compile may refer to:* Compile , a Japanese video game company founded in 1983 that specialized in shoot 'em up and computer puzzle game genres...

 and HAL Laboratory

HAL Laboratory

is a Japanese video game developer that was founded on February 21, 1980. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. Its name comes from the HAL 9000 computer in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. The company is most famous for its character Kirby, the protagonist of the eponymous game series, as well as...

, released by Nintendo

Nintendo

is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....

 in 1995. It is a localization of the Japanese game Super Puyo Puyo

Puyo Puyo

is the inaugural game in the Puyo Puyo series originally released in 1991 by Compile for the MSX2. Since its creation, it uses characters from . It was created by Masamitsu "Moo" Niitani, the founder of Compile, who was inspired by certain elements from the Tetris and Dr...

in much the same way that Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

-External links:* at Game Rankings* at The Internet Movie Database...

 being the localization of the Genesis/Mega Drive

Sega Mega Drive

The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...

's Puyo Puyo. It was one of four Kirby games released on the Super NES

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...

, and the second Western Puyo Puyo title released. This game was never released in Japan.

As a game released later in the SNES's life cycle

Product life cycle management

Product life-cycle management is the succession of strategies used by business management as a product goes through its life-cycle. The conditions in which a product is sold changes over time and must be managed as it moves through its succession of stages.Product life-cycle Like human beings,...

, this game has bright colors and advanced graphics for its time. The sound consists of remix

Remix

A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....

ed tracks from Kirby's Adventure

Kirby's Adventure

Kirby's Adventure, known as in Japan, is a platforming video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System video game console. It was first released March 26, 1993 in Japan, and was later released in North America on May 1, 1993, and in Europe on...

, with only one original track from the Puyo Puyo game itself (the panic music). As the game boots, a sampled "Kirby's Avalanche!" can be heard.

Gameplay

In the game, as in all Puyo games, groups of two colored blobs (in this case, sprites of the beans from Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine) fall from the top of the screen. You must rotate and move the groups before they touch the bottom of the screen or the pile, so that matching-colored blobs touch from above, below, the left or the right. Once four or more same-colored blobs touch, they will disappear, and any blobs above them will fall down to fill in the space. If a player manages to set off a chain reaction with these blobs, rocks will fall on the other player's screen destroying it and causing them much woe. The number of rocks that falls depends on both the number of blobs popped and the number of consecutive chain reactions. These rocks will only disappear if a player manages to pop a group of blobs that are in direct contact with the rocks.

Notably, in the cinematics between each round, Kirby is shown trash-talking his opponents in full sentences. This differs greatly from other Kirby games, where Kirby hardly speaks at all and is also much friendlier in general.

Plot

King Dedede has challenged Kirby and other members of Dream Land to an Avalanche Competition in the Dream Fountain. Kirby, taking on the challenge, has decided to battle his way through the forest and into the Dream Fountain to win the Avalanche Cup from King Dedede.

Virtual Console

In Europe and Australia, the game was rereleased on the Wii

Wii

The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...

's Virtual Console

Virtual console

A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...

service on July 27, 2007, and in North America on September 24, 2007. It costs 800 Wii Points.

The game is identical to the original release, except for one minor change: a cheat code that was given after completing Competition Mode which originally had to be entered on controller 2 can now be entered on both controller 1 and controller 2.