Kirby: Canvas Curse

Kirby: Canvas Curse throws out the D-pad almost entirely: after a curse turns Kirby into a rolling ball, you guide him purely with the stylus, drawing rainbow rope lines across the touchscreen for him to roll along, tapping to stun enemies, and flicking him into launches over gaps. It's one of the purest examples of a game designed around DS touch input from the ground up rather than a console game with touch controls bolted on.

Levels lean into the drawing mechanic with vertical climbs, moving platforms you have to bridge on the fly, and boss fights where the rope itself becomes a dodge tool as much as a path. Copy abilities return in a limited form — Kirby can inhale certain enemies for temporary powers — but the drawing mechanic stays the constant thread across all seven worlds, making this one of the more mechanically distinct entries in the whole Kirby library.

This page hosts the verified Canvas Curse ROM, built for Delta Emulator on iPhone — load it directly with no BIOS file or extra setup required.