Functional Vs Impractical: Kirby Is A Pink Outline?

Let me be perfectly frank here: I don't hate new ideas for graphical concepts. As an artist and a designer, I am, at first, suspicious of how it will work properly. For example, when I saw Katamari Damacy for the first time, not only did I not like the simple gameplay mechanics (which I now love in the game), but I was weary of the graphics being too cartoony. Upon trying it, I found that, while part of the game's charm, the lack of texture keeps the from over processing, and that keeps the frame rate up. In short, no slow down makes us gamers happy, and charming and stylized art keeps the art crowd happy. Everybody wins... except maybe Roger Ebert.

I also don't personally have anything against Kirby. Or yarn, for that matter.

So, with all that said... Nintendo, what the hell are you doing? When I saw Kirby's Epic Yarn, I was thinking, "Okay, its a WiiWare Downloadable game." My next reaction was, "This isn't a downloadable game?!" Seriously, this, from a design standpoint, is a horrible idea. Look at the screenshot above. Do you see why?

If you said "I can see the background through the characters," you're absolutely right. I'd also give credit for the background is just as bright as the foreground, but at least Nintendo placed a drop shadow. See, outlines, no matter how thick, if there's nothing in them to distinguish it from the foreground (i.e. just an empty hole), it's incredibly hard to keep track off. While they did use the character's main color as the outline, notice that the rocket is the same shade of pink as Kirby and his robot. Also notice that it is a similar shape that Kirby would be in movement. If that isn't enough, notice the flying enemy that is the same shape as Kirby, but is only distinguishable by its wings that shows up on the trees, but probably wouldn't show up on the sky (much like the blue dome above Kirby that I didn't even see until now).

In short, your bound to lose track of the characters when they're just out lines. This is made worse when you realize that some of the colors are used for more than one object on screen that are both similar in shape. Even worse, the outlines blend into the background, making it hard to see the outlines of a character in the first place. How to fix this?

Well, let me put it this way: I know that Nintendo is trying to do something new with the graphics. I can respect that. But, I think we can agree that there is one element that needs to go: color. Not all the color, mind you, but the background color. If you kept your foreground as bright colored outlines, and made the background black and white, that would make the characters immensely easier to see. The eye is drawn to bright objects, and having that many bright colors, as well as a lot of them looking very close to each other if not the same, will make it hard to track for the average person. Making the background black and white gives the players a way to identify the foreground, and play the game without losing track of where he or she is.

I'm not trying to say that Nintendo can't come up with a good idea, or that this game is going to suck. I'm old enough to know that I can't make bold decisions like that. But, I do know this: if I handed that image in as an illustration for a book or for a graphic design assignment, I would be fired. Quickly.