Kirby, one of Nintendo's cutest characters, made his video game debut in 1992 in the Game Boy adventure Kirby's Dream Land. Since that time, the company has pumped out a myriad of sequels and spin-offs, most of which play exactly like the original. While the concept of sucking up enemies and stealing their abilities makes for a successful formula, the recipe has lost much of its appeal. Kirby's latest 2D game for Nintendo DS, Kirby Squeak Squad, retains the series' charm as well as its popular mechanics. Too bad consumers have to pay $34.99 for a 14-year old product.

This time around, the pink puffball battles the nefarious King Dedede and a band of intergalactic rodents known as The Squeaks. These evildoers busted into the peaceful Dream Land and swiped Kirby's strawberry shortcake. Fueled by an insatiable hunger, he floats into action with two goals: to reclaim his stolen desert, and to consume everything in his path.

Squeak Squad plays almost exactly like previous Kirby games, a design decision that both blesses and curses the game. Kirby walks from point A to point B in search of magical doorways that allow him to progress through the game's eight worlds. Along the way, he performs familiar actions, including dashing, ducking, swimming and sliding. He can also float, exhale puffs of air at enemies, and in typical Kirby fashion, devour his foes. Doing this creates two options: you can either exhale the bad guy to break blocks and destroy an enemy, or steal its ability. Squeak Squad contains 25 abilities, all of which instill Kirby with special moves. Animal, for example, partially transforms him into a bear and enables him to swipe at bad guys using razor sharp claws. Ice lets him freeze opponents, Fire burns them, Spark electrocutes them and Sword lets him slash away. All of these abilities make Kirby a heck of a lot cuter than he already is (the Zelda-inspired sword costume, for example) and prove very effective during boss battles.

In addition, you have the option to store up to five items in Kirby's stomach, represented by the DS' touch screen. These include abilities, 1-Ups, an Energy Drink (partially restores Kirby's life gauge), Maxim Tomato (fully restores Kirby's life gauge) and Candy (causes invincibility). You can also mix abilities using the stylus (simply drag one ability into another). Doing this produces an entirely new ability. Mixing Ice with Sword, for example, produces the Ice Sword.

Unfortunately, these touch screen shenanigans feel more like cheap gimmicks. Simply pointing and dragging icons doesn't hide the fact that Squeak Squad feels like the same video game Nintendo released over a decade ago. At least the product has been wonderfully polished and the colorful cartoon graphics sing on the Nintendo DS. Kirby floats through a lush forest, sails through the clouds, and wanders through a desert, all the while using his abilities to alter the environments (fire destroys clouds, claws can dig). Even the music sounds amazing, a soundtrack that features classic Kirby tunes.