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Created by Masahiro Sakurai, the disgustingly cute, ever-ravenous Kirby is one of Nintendo’s most popular characters. Accordingly, I’m dedicating most of July to celebrating the pink puff-ball.

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Quick Facts:
Kirby’s Dream Land (HAL Laboratory, 1992) was HAL Laboratory’s most successful release at the time thanks to its simple gameplay. Kirby further cemented his name with the highly praised NES classic, Kirby’s Adventure (ibid, 1993), and Kirby’s Dream Land 2 (ibid, 1994) sold over a million units. Bolstered by the critical and commercial success of Kirby Super Star (ibid, 1996), HAL Laboratory continued the Dream Land series with this pastel-coloured adventure, which, despite a mixed reputation, seems to be widely regarded as a fun but disappointingly average title.

Gameplay and Power-Ups:
Kirby’s Dream Land 3 is a 2D, action-orientated sidescrolling adventure that essentially acts as 16-bit remake or expansion of Kirby’s handheld adventures, specifically Kirby’s Dream Land 2. Accordingly, it mirrors many of the Game Boy titles’ mechanics, features, locations, and enemies, though is noticeably expanded to include five levels, each with six stages and a dedicated boss battle, with a secret sixth level unlocked by collecting all thirty Heart Stars to assemble the Love-Love Stick. Though a SNES title, Kirby’s Dream Land 3 continues to keep the controls simple and simplifies them from the Game Boy titles as you no longer need to hold up on the directional pad (D-pad) to inflate and fly. Instead, you simply tap B to either jump or flap Kirby’s stubby arms and bypass most enemies and obstacles (though they are more airborne hazards than ever here, so watch out!) You hold Y to inhale nearby blocks or enemies, either spitting them out with Y (which also doubles as a water spurt when submerged) or pressing down and Y to swallow the enemy and potentially gain a new ability, ditching it with –. You can now defeat enemies by jumping on them, slide by pressing down and A (though this doesn’t seem to hurt enemies), run by double-tapping a direction on the D-pad, and swim with B. X spawns Gooey, who has his own health bar and also devours and spits out enemies to aid you, though you’ll lose a block of health if he’s defeated. On the SNES original, a second player could control Gooey for some co-operative two-player action, but I’m not sure if the Nintendo Switch Online version supports this. You again restore Kirby’s health with Energy Drinks and Maxim Tomatoes, gain temporary invincibility with rare candies, and collect 1-ups or collect Star Pieces for extra lives. Star Pieces are now hidden all over and you need thirty of the buggers for an extra life, so be sure to look everywhere.

While Gooey helps quite a lot and even acts as a projectile in a pinch, you obviously primarily rely on Kirby’s copy abilities, of which only two are new (and the Love-Love Stick is only in the secret final level). Burning sees you become a fireball for a short burst and melts ice blocks, Cleaning kicks up dust to attack enemies, Cutter launches a boomerang-like projectile, and Ice sees you freeze enemies into ice blocks you can hit into others. Needle sees spines burst from Kirby (great for breaking blocks beneath you), Parasol adds a short-range melee attack to your arsenal, Stone sees you crush enemies and blocks from above, and Spark emits electrical sparks that frazzle nearby enemies. You can only use one copy ability at a time and lose it if you take damage, but they can again be combined with Kirby’s animal buddies for additional attacks. You partner with a buddy when visiting special areas, pressing X to mount or dismount them, and each has different abilities. Coo the Owl, Kine the Sunfish, and Rick the Hamster all return from Kirby’s Dream Land 2, with Coo allowing you to fly indefinitely, Kine making swimming a breeze, and Rick still keeping you from slipping on ice. Newcomers ChuChu the Octopus, Nago the Cat, and Pitch the Bird see you stick to ceilings to bypass spikes and other obstacles, gain a triple jump (somewhat redundant since Kirby can fly), and offer constant flight (despite Kirby’s weight). When you have a copy ability, Nago breathes fire, Pitch attacks like a rocket, Kine gets covered in spikes, and Rick transforms into a rolling boulder. Rick also tosses Kirby, Coo fires three icicle projectiles, Kine spits fireballs and energy waves, Nago pogos around on a parasol, ChuChu flies on a broom, and Pitch darts ahead like a lance. There are a bunch of different combinations and you’re constantly given the chance to switch your buddy, with it often being necessary to have a specific buddy and/or copy ability to access hidden areas or earn Heart Stars.

Kirby’s Dream Land 3 retains the same gameplay mechanics as its predecessors, tasking players with exploring colourful, largely linear levels, using doors to switch to new areas, destroying star blocks to reach side paths, and occasionally racing against a scrolling screen that kills on contact. Sometimes these force you up or down narrow shafts, while other times you must swim through tight tunnels or outrun boulders (hopping to or dropping down to safety as required), but both are perilous as the screen’s quite fast. Green gelatinous blobs blast you through blocks, water jets speed you through underwater caverns, some blocks crumble beneath you, and you’re occasionally tasked with a looping door maze. Spikes occasionally jab you or fall from above, snow and sand shifts you towards bottomless pits, spiked Gordos float everywhere, and lava threatens to scorch your toes. Wind currents boost you up or push you along at speed, enemies sometimes spring to life from chalk drawings, and raging snowstorms push you back and screw up your platforming without the right friend on hand. Kirby’s Dream Land 3 offers one mini game per level where you can earn a Heart Star. These see you matching which Gordo was thrown, picking the right pot that hides an Elieel, correctly guessing how many coloured Gordos appeared, and matching the sounds they make. These mini games can be tricky as they speed up as you progress, though the rewind feature largely negates this. Each level ends with a jumping game where you press B at just the right moment to jump on goodies, and every level has a non-playable character (NPC) to help for a Heart Star. You must make sure not to crush certain flowers, collect pieces of Professor Hector’s Robotic Operating Buddy (R.O.B.), flash freeze and destroy Metroids, use Needle to burst a balloon and rescue Piyo, bring Kine to Mine, Rick to Pick, and Naga to Shiro, and rescue Goku (not that one) for Chao (not that one, either). There’s no in-game direction for what you need to do and which abilities or friends you need, so there’s a lot of trial and error and replaying without a guide and is can be frustrating as you must help every NPC to see the true ending.

Presentation:
Kirby’s Dream Land 3 takes advantage of the SNES’s superior processing power and colour palette (at least, compared to the Game Boy) to present a super vibrant, pastel-coloured adventure somewhat akin to Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island (Nintendo EAD, 1995). While Kirby still lacks idle animations (beyond swaying his arms and blinking), he pops far better than on the Game Boy thanks to the pastel colour palette. He yelps when hit, comically squishes and inflates, still performs his adorable victory dance, and noticeably changes form depending on with copy ability or animal friend he’s using. These see him whip out a parasol, turn into a rock, sweep with a broom, jump into Kine’s mouth, and be rolled along by Nago. The game’s bookended by some partially animated comic book panels that show the gist of the super simple story, and each level is introduced with a short cutscene showing Kirby with his buddies. Unfortunately, the world map from Kirby’s Dream Land 2 has been replaced with a storybook-like image that charts your progress across. The in-game action is also needlessly obscured by the large heads-up display, which shows a lot of relevant information but eats into the screen space. The music is just as jaunty as ever, with the SNES continuing to offer chirpy remixes of Kirby’s 8-bit themes, though it was a bit disappointing to see every location from Kirby’s Dream Land 2 recycled. Sure, they look and often play very differently, but it didn’t help the game stand out and contributed heavily to me seeing this as more of a 16-bit remake than a true sequel. Little graphical touches do help, however, such as clouds rushing by, the water rippling, snow moving and even burying you, and flowers pulsating or rotating as you explore. Foreground elements occasionally obscure the screen and there are some instances of parallax scrolling, but Kirby’s Dream Land 3 largely keeps things very safe with its linear, often barren paths and simple level layouts. At least, until you’re search for NPCs to help for Heart Stars, then you must often seek out the right copy ability or animal buddy to find new paths or progress.

Since each level has six different areas to explore, there’s quite a bit of visual variety on offer, though the sheer number of stages can be daunting (four and a fifth boss stage would’ve been enough) and reducing the stage count might’ve meant including a penultimate castle stage. Like Kirby’s Dream Land 2, things start with “Grass Land”, a colourful grassy and woodland area that introduces the basic gameplay mechanics. At times, the area veers into bizarre visuals like Fantasy Zone (SEGA, 1986), especially once it mixes in mosaic patterns with the treetops and mountainous backgrounds. “Ripple Field” is, again, a tropical themed area largely full of beach-like areas with palm trees and underwater tunnels filled with jet streams and narrow caverns. Day turns to dusk as you progress, you venture into coral caves and an ancient palace and eventually reach stone grey cliffs. This segues nicely into “Sand Canyon”, an arid desert populated by dinosaurs and (strangely) snowmen and featuring a trippy pyramid-like temple, vast mountains, narrow tunnels where boulders chase you, and crumbling sand blocks. “Cloudy Park” is, naturally, a cloud-based location where you float on wind currents, paddle through water, battle both the autoscroll and obscuring foreground clouds, and venture into a palace of mesh and pillars. “Iceberg” sees you either struggling through deep snow, battling snowstorms, or slipping on ice. Snow falls around you, gleaming ice constructs obscure enemies, Kirby’s chased by avalanches, and you end up inside King Dedede’s fortified stronghold where a gauntlet of mini bosses awaits. The final area, “Hyper Zone”, is a surreal void where you indefinitely float to battle Dark Matter’s many forms and players see different endings depending on if they’ve beaten this final challenge or not. While there are some fun elements in each location, like chalk pictures coming to life, shifting ground, and enemies masquerading as background elements, it’s all a mishmash of gimmicks from previous Kirby games. This results in some ill-fitting choices, like volcanic areas in “Sand Canyon”, though I guess these allow every area to have some variety. Kirby’s Dream Land 3 may play a lot slower than its predecessors, but it performs extremely well, with no slowdown or sprite flicker no matter how many enemies fill the screen.

Enemies and Bosses:
Basically all of Kirby’s previous enemies return here, each performing exactly as before. All are defeated in one hit and will respawn if you venture offscreen, and many bestow copy abilities when swallowed. Devouring Broom Hatters or the witch-like Kekes gifts you Cleaning, for example, while Sir Kibble grants Cutter and Chilly grants Ice. You’ll eventually encounter many armour-clad Bukisets, each wielding different abilities depending on the situation, allowing you to quickly change abilities if required. Waddle Dees return, still wandering about and lacking their eye beam attack, and now paddling about in adorable life rafts or riding Nruffs. Babuts still drain your health with their bite, Poppy Bros. Jr.s still ride apples and bombs, and Mumbies float after you. Pterodactyl-like Pterans fill the skies, often while fire-spewing Galbos wait below, Scarfys and Propellers pursue you on sight, and ravenous, shark-like Acro Jr. wait in some waters. Cloud-like Louds float above dropping rain, caveman-like Dogon’s reflect your projectiles, mole-like Doka shovel dirt in your face, and hungry Pactos wait offscreen to cobble you whole. Similarly, Peloo may emerge from the background to grab you with its sticky tongue, Apolo often spin around platforms or pillars, and Yaban leap up and fire arrows at you. Sasuke float from above, Mopooe emerge from the snow and Oro from the ground or ceilings (often right near a door), and Nidoo disguise themselves as doors. Tick thrust a needle up as you pass over them, cannons (and larger cannonballs) fire potshots, skull-wearing Gabon toss bones, and spider-like Mariels emerge from the darkness and doorways to catch you off-guard.

Although you no longer need to battle mini bosses to rescue Kirby’s animal friends, you may have to battle them to acquire Heart Stars and you must endure a gauntlet of them in the final area of “Iceberg”. Three mini bosses return from Kirby’s Dream Land 2. Blocky hops about the small arena and charges at you, leaving behind rocks you must dodge and then spit at it if you don’t have a copy ability. Captain Stitch floats around and fires its spines at you, leaving its core vulnerable for a few seconds so you can attack. Jumper Shoot flies about, often spinning like a propeller, and again throws its sandal at you. Boboo is a large walking flame who charges across the arena, Haboki is a sentient broom who boasts a similar attack, and Yuki is a malicious pile of snow who slithers about, collides with the walls, and tosses its head (or multiple heads) as projectiles. When battling the mini bosses in the last stage of “Iceberg”, it’s advised that you inhale the defeated mini boss to acquire their ability to snag goodies in the area prior to the next battle. A few familiar bosses also return, though with additional phases. Wispy Woods uproots and chases you, for example, while the Ice Dragon, Sweet Stuff, Mister Shine and Mister Bright, and Kracko are all summoned by Ado’s drawings. The Ice Dragon throws an ice cube along the ground, whips with its tail, and has freezing breath; Sweet Stuff produces electrical sparks and tosses starfish; Mr. Shine and Mr. Bright drop fireballs and/or energy waves; and Kracko surrounds itself with minions and chases you with a lightning bolt. Ado’s drawings are a far cry from the real deals, however, and they’re notably much easier to defeat than in Kirby’s Dream Land 2.

The giant shark Acro initially slides across the ground and into the cavern walls to cause rocks to fall then, after enough hits, the battle moves underwater. You must dodge the Acro Jrs., anchors, and skulls it spits and the rocks that continue to fall and attack with your waterspout or copy ability, but don’t get too close as you’ll take damage from its large hit box. Raccoon and fox duo Pon and Con are fought in “Sand Canyon”, with them simply wandering or hopping back and forth across different platforms while flanked by their disposable minions. They’ll toss bombs and each have their own health bar, but this is a simple matter or switching to the right platform and attacking each as they approach. After besting his mini boss gauntlet, you’ll encounter King Dedede atop his castle in what starts as a repeat of Kirby’s Dream Land 2. As ever, King Dedede attacks with his giant mallet, a theatrical ground pound, and by sucking you up and spitting you out. After enough hits, Dark Matter emerges from King Dedede, restores his health, and puppets him about. In this phase, Dark Matter emits homing blobs of dark energy and, most disturbingly, transforms into a ravenous mouth that tries to eat you! Defeat the possessed King Dedede after collecting all thirty Heart Stars and you can tackle Dark Matter in the warped “Hyper Zone”. This time, you battle Dark Matter’s true form (a dark, disembodied eye) while constantly flying about. You must swing the Love-Love Stick to attack Dark Matter, chipping off its smaller pieces and avoiding its lancing black lightning. Upon defeat, Dark Matter gives way to Zero, a massive white eye that takes up a lot of screen space, fires a barrage of smaller Dark Matter eyes alongside red energy blasts, and attacks from the background with red explosions. Once this is defeated, the red inner core goes nuts, flying erratically about the scream but easily being finished in a few hits compared to its bulbous, spongy first form.

Additional Features:
You get three saves files in Kirby’s Dream Land 3, which each tracking your completion percentage. This is based on how many Heart Stars you’ve collected and how many levels you’ve cleared, so you’ll need to consult a guide and jump back in to replay any previous areas to find those missing Heart Stars. This means replaying every single level, often in specific ways, which is a hell of a chore compared to Kirby’s Dream Land 2, though it’s the only way to battle the true final bosses. Luckily, the Nintendo Switch Online also offers an “SP Version” with all Heart Stars collected, allowing you to quickly jump into the “Hyper Zone” if, like me, you haven’t got the time or patience to get the Heart Stars legitimately. Finishing the game this way unlocks a bunch of additional extras, including the ability to watch every cutscene and level introduction and listen to the game’s soundtrack. You can also play remixed versions of the goal-jumping mini game with whichever animal friend you desire, tackle every Heart Star mini game at will in the “Super NES M65” mode, and take on the “Boss Butch!” boss rush mode without the aid of any copy abilities, healing items, or even Gooey! These extra games also count towards your completion percentage so you must master each of them to hit 100% (or, again, just play the “SP Version”). Finally, of course, the Nintendo Switch Online version includes save states and a rewind feature to mitigate much of the game’s difficulty.

Final Thoughts:
I was strangely disappointed by Kirby’s Dream Land 3 in ways I honestly didn’t expect. While the game looks and sounds great, utilising cartoonish visuals brought to life by fun pastel colours and a colouring-book aesthetic, it feels very slow and sluggish at times. Not because of slowdown or hardware issues, either; this is purely down to the game engine and physics. This oddly makes the game feel slower than Kirby’s Dream Land 2, even with Kirby’s new dash ability. It doesn’t help that Kirby’s Dream Land 3 revisits the same locations as the last game and recycles the same copy abilities, adding basically nothing to Kirby’s repertoire beyond the additional attacks and abilities afforded by his animal friends. Even these were a disappointment, though, as they were just out in the open to partner with and sometimes felt like a handicap to Kirby’s momentum (except when using Kine in water). While, yes, each area is vastly different from Kirby’s Dream Land 2 and contains a lot of variety thanks to the six-stage structure, this approach makes for a laborious gameplay experience, one further compounded by you being forced to replay levels to acquire Heart Stars. I did enjoy the added variety and challenge offered by these, but a little direction about what to do would’ve been appreciated as I never felt excited about replaying a stage. I did like the mini game sections and the new bosses, but Kirby’s Dream Land 3 recycles so much from the last game that it’s difficult to get too excited about facing the returning bosses, even with their slight tweaks. Gooey was a fun addition, but probably more enjoyable with a friend to play alongside, and there are some fun extra modes on offer. However, at the end of the day, Kirby’s Dream Land 3 is just a 16-bit recycling of the portable games, which is technically great, and it’d probably be better to skip the previous 8-bit titles and jump straight to this one. However, there’s little about it to help it stand alone or outshine Kirby Super Star, so I couldn’t help but be let down by how Kirby’s Dream Land 3 turned out.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

Did Kirby’s Dream Land 3 have a place in your SNES library back in the day? Which of the new animal friends was your favourite? Were you disappointed that so much of the game was repeated from Kirby’s Dream Land 2? Do you agree that this was a disappointment compared to what came before? Did you ever collect all the Heart Stars and clear the boss rush? Which Kirby videogame is your favourite? Whatever your thoughts on Kirby’s Dream Land 3, leave them in the comments and go support me on Ko-Fi if you liked this review.

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Created by Masahiro Sakurai, the disgustingly cute, ever-ravenous Kirby is one of Nintendo’s most popular characters. Accordingly, I’m dedicating most of July to celebrating the pink puff-ball.

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Quick Facts:
Masahiro Sakurai helmed Kirby’s proper 16-bit debut on Nintendo’s industry-changing SNES. Beginning development on the NES, Kirby Super Star was created with three goals in mind: co-op play, expanded attacks, and an omnibus format. The legendary Shigeru Miyamoto requested the addition of two-player co-op and Sakurai was inspired by the ground-breaking graphics of Donkey Kong Country (Rare, 1994). Kirby Super Star was widely praised as one of the best in the franchise and was later remade for the Nintendo DS in 2008, to equally rave reviews.

Gameplay and Power-Ups:
Kirby Super Star is an eight-in-one collection of mini games and bite-sized adventures where players control perhaps gaming’s cutest videogame character and fly about devouring both enemies and food. Those who’ve never played a Kirby videogame before are in luck as each of Kirby Super Star’s game modes offers an optional tutorial, where players are either told their objective or follow onscreen prompts (against the backdrop of a stage play) to perform Kirby’s signature actions. While each game plays a little different, Kirby’s controls and abilities remain largely consistent, meaning you jump with B (tapping the button to inflate like a balloon and fly across stages), inhale enemies or blocks and spit them out with Y, swim by tapping B, and fire a water spurt when underwater with Y. You make Kirby dash by tapping left or right on the directional pad (D-pad), perform a sliding kick by pressing down and B, and block by holding either that Left or Right triggers. Kirby has way more options to restore his health as stages are littered with foods, from the recurring Maxim Tomatoes to puddings and sweets, alongside 1-ups, though these are sometimes hidden behind star blocks or uncovered by lighting fuses or destroy bomb blocks. Kirby still climbs ladders, uses doors, blasts to new areas on Warp Stars, and drops through certain platforms by pressing down on the D-pad. You must still avoid bottomless pits, spikes, and flaming or electrical hazards as you explore each colourful game mode. Players also still swallow enemies with Y and then press down to copy their abilities. By pausing with +, you can review the assortment of attacks afforded by each ability, with Kirby sporting various new moves and combos. Although Kirby’s animal friends don’t appear, you can press A to ditch your currently equipped copy ability and spawn a friendly enemy to help until their health depletes.

Players can feed this “Helper” to boost their health and even transform them into other enemies by tossing them other copy abilities or having them touch another baddie; a second player can also control the Helper for some two-player co-op action. There are nineteen Helpers to choose from and twenty-four copy abilities, with twelve returning from previous games, a random selection appearing if you swallow two viable enemies at once, and two special, one-use copy abilities appearing in certain game modes. Returning copy abilities include the Beam, Cutter, and Hammer, with the limited use Mike still destroying all nearby enemies, Fire still lighting fuses, and Ice still turning enemies into ice cubes. New abilities see you tossing Poppy Bros. Jr.’s bombs, cooking nearby enemies to produce food, swinging a yo-yo, and blasting around on a jet pack. The developers wisely combined some copy abilities from Kirby’s Adventure (ibid, 1993) into one by incorporating different moves, meaning Backdrop and Throw are combined into Suplex, Fire and Fireball into Fire, and Freeze and Ice into Ice. Kirby can become a ninja and toss shuriken, throw vaguely familiar martial arts moves with Fighter, deal damage with flapping and thrown feathers, and activate special switches with Hammer. He can also hop onto a Wheelie Helper to chase down Meta Knight and blast enemies in a sidescrolling shooter with Starship, dish out rapid sword combos, and crush enemies with Stone. Helpers sport the same attacks as the enemies you fight and are super helpful against bosses, though they can be a bit mindless and can get hurt very quickly. You can always use A to turn them back into an item so you can spit them out, though, and many games feature the option to either select a new copy ability or change your Helper into something more useful.

Initially, only four game modes are available (alongside two sub-games), with each carrying different difficulty ratings and retaining Kirby’s abilities across them all. Long-time Kirby players will immediately recognise “Spring Breeze” as a truncated remake of Kirby’s Dream Land (HAL Laboratory, 1992), reducing the Game Boy title to five levels and having you battle 16-bit redesigns of each boss. Consequently, there are no mini games in this mode and each level is noticeably shorter than on the handheld. You can still fly amongst the clouds, enter doors, swim through caverns, and must avoid spikes and pits but this is literally a breeze with Kirby’s expanded copy abilities and Helpers. “Dyna Blade” is similar, featuring only five levels, but utilises a world map (where mini bosses sometimes appear) and hidden areas to mix things up. These are mostly discovered by destroying star blocks or hitting switches and reach 1-ups, additional copy abilities, or rare candies that make you and your Helper briefly invincible. Each level ends with a goal mini game where you time a button press to be shot by a cannon, cannons blast you about in levels (with you either racing into the right ones or timing button presses to crash through walls), and you also encounter an autoscrolling section on your way to battle Dyna Bird. “The Great Cave Offensive” is a “Metroidvania” adventure where you explore caves and other areas for treasure, which is generally inside chests but is also found behind blocks and such. Sometimes they must be grabbed before they fall down pits or into lava, sometimes you need to dash through doors before they close, and sometimes they’re in hidden areas. You can view your collection with X and earn more points the more of the sixty treasures you find, saving your progress in special rooms and using mine carts to reach new areas. Completing “Dyna Blade” unlocks “Revenge of Meta Knight”, a seven-chapter race to bring down Meta Knight’s Halberd battleship. Each chapter has a time limit, with you restarting the chapter if you fail, and sees Kirby exploring remixed areas, fighting against or being pushed along by raging winds, dodging cannonballs, navigating claustrophobic air vents, and destroying the wings and defences of the Halberd, besting Meta Knight’s loquacious lieutenants as you go.

Finishing “Revenge of Meta Knight” and “The Great Cave Offensive” unlocks the longest and most taxing game, “Milky Way Wishes”, in which you can’t inhale enemies but can grab copy abilities from “deluxe pedestals” and freely switch between them using the D-pad. Players must visit each of the eight worlds, gaining copy abilities to bypass obstacles (frozen lakes, spike pits, an assortment of mini bosses, etc) and retrieve stars. This involves a lot of exploration and backtracking, mainly through door mazes and experimenting with copy abilities, and culminates in a sidescrolling shooter. You can also take on the “Gourmet Race” (either alone or with a friend), which sees Kirby racing against King Dedede in either a three-lap grand prix or individual races. There are no enemies so you’re better off tapping dash, taking shortcuts, and using boost pads to blast ahead since you must not only beat King Dedede to the checkpoints and finish but also eat more food than him along the way. There are also two sub-games, with “Samurai Kirby” essentially a reskin of Kirby’s Adventure’s “Draw” mini game and “Megaton Punch” mimicking Mortal Kombat’s (Midway, 1992) “Test Your Might” bonus round. In “Samurai Kirby”, you must press any button at the right time to get the drop on your foe across five rounds while “Megaton Punch” sees you pressing a button when the power gauge is at its peak, when the aiming reticules are aligned, and when the pendulum swings in the middle to deliver crushing blows to Planet Pop Star. These sub-games come with three different difficulty levels and are largely featured as distractions from the main game as they don’t count towards your 100% completion goal. As ever, enemies constantly respawn, though water and flaming hazards will damage them. There are some instances of vertical traversal or where you’re forced to go to the left, though I didn’t notice icy areas being slippery. Spikes occasionally cover walls, ceilings, and floors or spring up when you go for pick-ups and there are loads of bomb blocks scattered about, some of which hide flaming blocks or bottomless pits.

Presentation:
When I think of classic Kirby, Kirby Super Star is what comes to mind. This is peak Kirby, to me, thanks to its gorgeous, colourful visuals, stellar performance (there’s no slowdown or sprite flickering here), and jaunty soundtrack. All your favourite Kirby tunes are back and better than ever, adding pep and vigour to vibrant areas and casting an ominous cloud over the more serious “Revenge of Meta Knight”. Even the game’s tutorials are whimsical and amusing, and the game includes Mode 7 sprite rotating and enlarging to give bosses an extra edge. Many backgrounds and partially animated cutscenes feature what look like digitised, pre-rendered graphics, giving a greater sense of depth and colour, with some adopting a plasticine aesthetic and others almost a pop-up book look. Kirby has never looked better in 2D than here, being as squishy and adorable as ever but showcasing more emotion than in 8-bit. Not only does the heads-up display (HUD) still comically display any danger he’s in, but Kirby bursts into flames when scorched and changes colour and adopts attire and weapons to suit his copy abilities. This sees him strap on a jetpack, don a jester’s hat. Scream into different microphones, wield a paintbrush and yo-yo, and even wear goggles and use a snorkel when swimming! In recreating Kirby’s Dream Land, “Spring Breeze” offers 16-bit versions of each level’s introduction sequence and also revises the ending, even bolstering King Dedede’s arena with animated spectators (alongside cameos from the Super Mario (Various, 1985 to present) franchise). Each game mode includes a tutorial, introduction, and ending, with Kirby caring for Dyna Blade’s chicks, performing a victory dance with his Helper, flying over forests as your treasures are tallied up, and riding into the sunset after downing the Halberd. “Revenge of Meta Knight” sees Meta Knight’s allies scrambling to muster their forces and defences against Kirby, text boxes peppering the action as you destroy the battleship bit by bit, with the Halberd looming in the background of some levels and Dyna Bird even coming to assist you. It’s a nice touch considering the game’s just a collection of sub-games but really adds to the immersion as there’s a sense of reward each time you play.

While many of the games share familiar thematic areas (forests, caverns, castle, and such), each presents them in different ways (even the HUD changes). “Gourmet Race” has you racing past various locations, for example, in a straight race, though the path often splits into upper and lower paths and is peppered by obstacles and pits. “Revenge of Meta Night” gives returning areas a gloomy aesthetic by presenting them at dusk and having you battle around the windswept exterior and bustling, steampunk-esque interior of the Halberd. “Samurai Kirby” may be set in a single area, but the blood-red sunset, anime visuals, and amusing outfits and weapons used by the competitors make it stand out, almost as much as the braying crowd in “Megaton Punch”. “Spring Breeze” recreates Kirby’s Dream Land with a far more detailed, cartoony 16-bit redesign. You still hop to tropical islands and explore palaces in the clouds, though elements of “Castle Lololo” have been merged with “Float Islands” and “Mount Dedede” is simply a showdown with King Dedede in a boxing ring. “The Great Cave Offensive” offers not just caves and caverns, but crystal mines, wooded areas under thick leaves, an ancient castle, and a beautiful palace garden, each with hidden doorways and areas to loot more treasure. “Dyna Blade” starts in the vibrant “Peanut Plains” and sees you explore the grounds and interior of the ornate “Mallow Castle” and eventually scale “Candy Mountain”, where massive mountains peek from the clouds in the background. By far the greatest visual variety is found in “Milky Way Wishes”, which includes seasonal gimmicks, flooded caves, volcanic areas full of mine carts, and a jaunt through the starship-like innards of the Galactic Nova.  

Enemies and Bosses:
Kirby Super Star sees the 16-bit debut of many of the pink puffball’s most recognisable enemies, though it’s mostly split on how many provide copy abilities and most of them are noticeably durable (largely to justify spawning a Helper or show off Kirby’s new attacks). Waddle Dee and Waddle Doo return, with the latter gifting Beam or Parasol, as are Blippers, the ever-annoying Gordos and Shotzos, and Bronto Burts, who fill the skies when you’re flying over platforming sections. While the sunflowers look cute, they’re actually carnivorous plants, the bear-like Grizzos ram into you on sight, Gator’s pounce with their sharp teeth, and Magical Sweepers float around firing a spread of projectiles. Blade Knights slash with their swords, ninja-like Bio Sparks can toss you even if you’re blocking, and Bombers walk around and explode to damage everything in sight. Poppy Bros. Jr.s return, sometimes balancing on apples and tossing either bombs or boomerang-like projectiles, as do the explosive Scarfys (who now adopt a more sinister visage when chasing you) and snowman-like Chillys, who freeze you with their icy aura. Plasma Wisps float about firing needle-like projectiles, Wheelies race across the ground, Knuckle Joes rush in to pummel you, and Birdons flap overhead shooting their feathers or dive-bombing you. Be sure to keep your distance or quickly attack whenever you see a Tac as these mischievous thieves will either steal your currently equipped copy ability or make off with your Helper, sentient microphones wander about spitting harmful musical notes, and you’ll be left completely vulnerable if you swallow a Noddy as they briefly put you to sleep. Enemies appear across most game modes, quickly being mixed and matched to add additional variety and copy abilities and even getting a palette swap in some games, though it can occasionally be difficult to make out who is an enemy and who is your Helper if you’re not paying full attention.

Many recognisable and recurring mini bosses plague Kirby’s Super Star, acting as mid-game obstacles and gifting special copy abilities upon defeat. The brutish Bonkers still swings his massive hammer and tosses explosive coconuts, though you one in “The Great Cave Offensive” places you in an arena with a bomb block that must be avoided or you’ll both perish! Bugzzy is as annoying as ever, charging with its pincer-like mouth and either repeatedly slamming you into the ground or swoop from above, Mister Frosty and Poppy Bros. Sr. both toss ice cubes and bombs, respectively, though I found Mr. Frosty a complete pushover with the right copy abilities and you sometimes fight two Poppy Bros. Sr.’s at once! Meta Knight’s goons plague you throughout “Revenge of Meta Knight” attacking in at least twos (though they share a health bar) and often fought in gauntlets. These guys teleport in and swing axes, toss tridents, wielding a mace, or spin a javelin like helicopter blades but, even with their numbers, they’re a joke compared to Kirby’s Adventure and easily decimated with copy abilities like Cutter. Kracko Jr. also returns in “Bubbly Clouds”, swooping around and dropping either bombs or Waddle Dees, though it’s barely a nuisance. Iron Mom and Jukid round out the new mini bosses, with the former being an armoured fighter who throws long-range punches or pounds the ground and the latter being a martial artist who launches fireballs or tries to grab you. You’ll also fight the Heavy Lobster a couple of times in “Revenge of Meta Knight”. Though the first fight is cut short by Kirby being blasted off the Halberd, the second sees you being chased through an autoscroller full of blocks and then battling it as it rockets across the ground, attacks with its pincers, and takes shots at you.

“Spring Breeze” presents 16-bit versions of every boss from Kirby’s Dream Land except Kabula. Whispy Woods looks better than ever, still attacking with puffs of air and by raining apples, and you even fight two at once in “Revenge of Meta Knight” for an added challenge.  Lololo and Lalala are easier than ever thanks to the increased screen size making it much easier to hop between each level and attack them from behind as they pass and even Kracko is somewhat easier thanks to Kirby’s copy abilities. Kracko’s still got a large hit box, though, and fires a spiralling eye beam and deals damage by raining on you. King Dedede is as predictable as ever, still diving, swinging his mallet, trying to splat you with his butt, and looking to inhale you, though he proves quite spritely in “Gourmet Race”. Likewise, your final showdown with Meta Knight echoes Kirby’s Adventure, with him offering you a sword for a fair fight and attacking with a flurry of stabs, a downward thrust, and a spinning attack. He also sports a tornado spin, an energy wave, drops plasma balls, and swoops at you as you race to escape the crashing Halberd. To reach him, you must destroy the Halberd’s massive twin cannon and central reactor, with the former attacking with cannonballs and an extendable hand and being attacked in stages and the latter only being damaged by tricking the nearby laser turret into blasting its shield. Upon scaling “Candy Mountain”, Kirby and his helper battle the mechanical bird Dyna Blade, who sports an extendable neck and squeezes you with its talons. Mode 7 also allows Dyna Blade to attack from the background, a feature mirrored by the monstrous Fatty Whale. This massive, pipe-sucking foe causes rocks to rain from above and kicks up a huge wave from the background, causing damage by sheer size alone (much like Dyna Bird).

“The Great Cave Offensive” may boast the quirkiest and most interesting bosses. The elusive Chameleo Arm, for example, camouflages itself, tries to eat you, and spits paintballs (which you can swallow to get the powerful, single-use Paint copy ability). Wham Bam Rock emerges from the shadows and attacks with his disembodied, rocky hands, looking to crush you, squeeze you, and flick you about. He also causes rocks to fall (which you can use as ammo) and tries to punch you, though his vulnerable face is a largely stationary target. However, it’s the Computer Virus who is the most amusing boss of “The Great Cave Offensive”, in my opinion. This battle is as a parody of turn-based role-playing games and sees dialogue boxes comment upon the attacks and strategies. The boss shifts between three forms (five in the unlockable “Arena”), beginning as the unassuming Slime, transitioning to a marionette, and ending with a witch who uses elemental attacks to burn or freeze you. In “The Arena”, it also becomes a knight and a daunting red dragon that causes blades to rain across the screen, powers up its attacks at the cost of a turn, and flaps its wings to send you flying. “Milky Way Wishes” concludes with you blasting through the Galactic Nova, destroying its defences and attacking the pillars protecting its nucleus. You must destroy these on your first pass or you’re forced back through the stage, which makes it harder to hit your target. Succeed and Kirby battles the bizarre, jester-like creature Marx against a cosmic backdrop. Marx teleports about dropping seeds that sprout into thorned vines, energy balls that freeze you, and eventually summoning a devastating black hole that you must frantically fly away from to avoid. However, as you can freely cycle through every copy ability, it’s not too troublesome to avoid Marx’s attacks and deal damage, especially in this version of the game.

Additional Features:
Indeed, the Nintendo Switch Online’s save states and rewinds are super useful in Kirby Super Star, allowing you to easily rewind to undo any mistakes, though it’s the “SP Version” that’s most helpful. This lets you play a 100% complete save file, skipping over the tedium of “Milky Way Wishes” to tackle Marx without issue. If you’re playing legitimately, however, you must complete the six main game modes (not including the sub-games). This means besting each level of “Spring Breeze” and “Revenge of Meta Knight” and outpace King Dedede in “Gourmet Race” each time, neither of which are too difficult. However, “Dyna Blade” hides two big switches needed for an additional 2% (1% per switch) and you must locate all sixty treasures in “The Great Cave Offensive” and clear every planet in “Milky Way Wishes”, obtaining each Copy Essence Deluxe and defeating the final bosses. Completing this unlocks “The Arena”, which is essentially a boss rush mode that sees you battle every boss in succession, replenishing your health and choosing new copy abilities after each, and unlocking the game’s sound test once you succeed. If you’re playing the Nintendo DS remake, there are a few changes, such as the sub-games needing to be unlocked, three new sub-games, and four new game modes (including one where you play as Meta Knight).

Final Thoughts:
I’ve played Kirby Super Star before, mainly on emulators and a little bit on the SNES Mini, but this is the first time I’ve sat down and played through the entire thing. Still, when I think of Kirby, this is the game I think of. Despite being a collection of disparate game modes with no singular narrative, this may very well be the best Kirby videogame of his classic era. Everything looks, sounds and plays incredibly well, with the visuals really popping and giving everything a vibrant, cartoony look that adds to Kirby’s adorable, whimsical charm. I loved seeing Kirby change colour and appearance with each copy ability, and spawning a Helper to fight alongside, with the system adding a fair bit of strategy as you don’t want to get cut short with a lesser copy ability against certain bosses. Each area oozes charm, with the game beautifully mixing pre-rendered graphics with cartoonish sprites and interesting colour palettes to deliver a visual treat. I especially enjoyed the little tutorials and introductions, and the bite-sized 16-bit do-over of Kirby’s Dream Land. I think “Revenge of Meta Knight” was my favourite game mode as I’m a big fan of the brooding anti-hero and I liked the sense of danger added in the aesthetics, the environment, and the ticking clock. “Spring Breeze” was a close second, beautifully recreating Kirby’s first outing but in truncated fashion, while “Dyna Blade” added a bit more in its world map and remixed aeras. “The Great Cave Offensive” was a fun chance to explore in new ways, though those who like searching high and low will probably get more out of it. The same is true for “Milky Way Wishes”, which I found largely tedious due to the backtracking and trial and error required. Luckily, the “SP Version” eases these issues, allowing you to experience everything the game has to offer…and there’s a fair bit here, especially if you have a friend to play with. I’d wager the Nintendo DS version is even better thanks to the superior hardware and additional game modes, but Kirby Super Star is still well worth your time for his masterfully it adapts and expands upon Kirby’s core mechanics and how beautifully it brings his quirky world to life.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

Did you own Kirby Super Star on the SNES or did you first experience it on the Nintendo DS? Were you a fan of the colourful visuals and quirky sprites? What did you think to the new Helper gimmick and which game was your favourite? Did you ever find all the treasures and battle Max? Which of the many bosses was your favourite and did you ever best “The Arena”? Is this your favourite Kirby videogame? Share your memories of Kirby Super Star below and support me on Ko-Fi to recommend other Kirby videogames for me to review.

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Created by Masahiro Sakurai, the disgustingly cute, ever-ravenous Kirby is one of Nintendo’s most popular characters. Accordingly, I’m dedicating most of July to celebrating the pink puff-ball.

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Quick Facts:
After nineteen-year-old Masahiro Sakurai Kirby’s Dream Land (HAL Laboratory, 1992) put HAL Laboratory on the map, Sakurai spearheaded Kirby’s much-praised NES debut the following year alongside lead programmer Hiroaki Suga and producers Satoru Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto, and Takao Shimizu. Kirby’s Adventure forever changed the franchise by allowing Kirby to copy enemy abilities and also debuted Meta Knight, Kirby’s oft-recurring rival. Now regarded as an NES classic, Kirby’s Adventure was widely praised as an improvement over the Game Boy title, though still noted to be on the short side.

Gameplay and Power-Ups:
Kirby’s Adventure is, essentially, a NES remake and expansion of Kirby’s Dream Land, recycling many of the same gameplay mechanics and locations (though with new names) and tasking players with guiding Kirby through seven main, dream-like levels battling many of the enemies and bosses from the handheld title. This time, players get three save files that track their completion percentage, encouraging you to both play in bursts and try out every game mode as opposed to finishing the game in one sitting. Additionally, Kirby’s Adventure features various hub worlds containing doors to levels, mini games, and bosses, with more of each hub world uncovered as you progress and the game allowing you to fast travel to previous areas as you wish. Kirby jumps with A and tapping up on the directional pad (D-pad) inflates him for indefinite flight, just as before, which does mean the platforming challenge is minimal but Kirby’s also a bigger target when inflated. Kirby dashes by double-tapping left or right on the D-pad, pressing down and A performs a slide attack to smash star blocks or fit through narrow gaps, while tapping A swims. If you press B when inflated or underwater, Kirby expels air or a spout of water to attack enemies and destroy star blocks, and Kirby can again enter doors and climb ladders by pressing up on the D-pad. Kirby also still replenishes health with Pep Drinks and Maxim Tomatoes, earns 1-Ups either by collecting them, increasing his score, or completing various mini games, uses Warp Stars to rocket across levels and occasionally becomes temporarily invincible after eating candy tossed to him by the mysterious anti-hero, Meta Knight. When falling from a great height, Kirby seems to defeat any enemies beneath him, but you’re just as likely to take damage as Kirby can’t typically defeat enemies this way, so it’s better to avoid hitting anything when in freefall.

Kirby’s repertoire is significantly expanded by his new ability to inhale enemies with B or X and then copy their abilities by pressing down on the D-pad. Some enemies don’t offer new abilities, some have limited uses, and all can be discarded with – if you fancy trying a new one, or are lost if you take too much damage (though you can reacquire the ability if you’re quick). There are twenty-five copy abilities here (twenty-six if you count “Mix”, which appears when you swallow two viable enemies at once and initiates a roulette to randomly select an ability), with each explained on the pause menu. You can toss boomerang-like projectiles with Cutter, cut enemies to pieces with Sword, crush anything beneath you with Stone, add an umbrella melee attack to your arsenal and float through the sky with Parasol, and light up dark areas with Light. Mike destroys all onscreen enemies as in Kirby’s Dream Land, and Hammer crushes enemies and special wooden pegs. You can leap to higher ground to escape autoscrolling sections with Hi-Jump, fire ricocheting shots with Laser, and barrel across hills and straights with Wheel. Sleep is more of a hindrance, causing Kirby to take a nap and leaving him vulnerable, Crash is a one-use, screen clearing ability, and Ball adds a bouncing mechanic to the game. UFO is one of the most overpowered abilities, allowing Kirby to freely fly about in a spacecraft and fire various beams at enemies but disappearing when you finish the level. Some abilities are somewhat redundant; Freeze and Ice are largely indistinguishable, with both turning enemies into ice blocks. The same is true of Fire and Fireball; though Fireball unleashes a flaming charge, they both scorch enemies and light fuses to either destroy special blocks or fire Kirby from cannons. Similarly, both Backdrop and Throw let Kirby perform wrestling moves and I fail to see why Spark couldn’t have just had Light’s functionality. Still, these abilities are super fun and there are always different ones to try. It’s rare that you cannot pass obstacles or clear levels if you don’t have the right ability, but certain abilities access hidden switches that open more of the hub world and count towards 100% completion.

While the copy abilities add some much-needed depth to Kirby’s gameplay, the rest of the game is largely copy and pasted from Kirby’s Dream Land, though expanded considerably, with each level having four to six stages to explore, alongside various mini games. While most levels are very linear, others scatter platforms for you to jump to, bottomless pits to avoid, floor and ceiling spikes that can be tricky to bypass when inflated, and claustrophobic tunnels and caverns to explore. Many of these are underwater, some levels feature wind that pushes you back, much of “Orange Ocean” features slippery, icy platforms, and some areas are blocked by destructible star blocks. Autoscrolling sections or parts where you’re chased by enemies occasionally provide an additional hazard and anxiety as you scramble up through narrow, hazardous shafts, explosive coconuts often drop from trees, spiked Gordos and annoying cannons are strategically placed to mess up your progress, and “Butter Building” features a rotating stone tower. Sadly, you’ll see the same areas recycled over and over here, with the challenge increasing and gimmicks getting mixed up but often to the detriment of the level theme. “Ice Cream Island”, for example, is noticeably devoid of ice cream and spends more time in the clouds and you’ll return to the forest aesthetic of “Vegetable Valley” even when exploring the mountains of “Yoghurt Yard”. Every time you clear a level, you can press A to fling Kirby up to platforms for points and 1-ups and there are four mini games to tackle in the hub worlds to earn more 1-ups. These see you picking up Kirby dolls with a crane, catching eggs tossed by King Dedede while avoiding bombs, pressing A at just the right time to gun down enemies, and battling the various mini bosses in a coliseum-like arena.

Presentation:
Kirby’s Adventure is as cartoony and whimsical as its Game Boy predecessor but naturally far more colourful and much bigger, increasing the length of the adventure and offering numerous mini games and extra modes upon 100% completion. Although Kirby largely looks and animates exactly the same, he’s now his trademark pink and you can track his status on the heads-up display (HUD). This alerts you when you’ve taken damage or shows what ability you have equipped, though the HUD does take up a lot of real estate and somewhat limit the gameplay area. Kirby is as expressive as ever, showing pain when hit, dancing alongside his kin upon clearing levels, and even changing colour with certain abilities. These also come with additional animations and effects, such as surrounding Kirby with ice shards or flames, transforming him into a heavy stone, or gifting him a sword. There’s a lot more attention paid to narrative in this title, with each level being introduced by small cutscenes, Meta Knight popping up to challenge you, and fun little cutscenes in the finale. These see the self-righteous Kirby ignoring King Dedede’s pleas and accidentally unleashing Nightmare from the Fountain of Dreams, leading to Kirby and King Dedede setting aside their differences to safeguard their home. Kirby’s Adventure features some returning tunes from Kirby’s Dream Land, including the victory fanfare and even evoking the Game Boy visuals and memorable tunes in one area of “Rainbow Resort”. Sadly, while things start off enjoyable enough, Kirby’s Adventure is crippled by horrendous sprite flickering, screen tearing, and slowdown in the middle-to-late game, with the game chugging along as more enemies and obstacles fill the screen and even struggling to render the environment when Kirby’s using certain copy abilities. It doesn’t help that enemies constantly respawn, but it does make some sections unbearable difficult as the NES hardware is clearly struggling to put everything onscreen, which is a shame as there are some unexpected visual elements here, such as rippling water and rotating backgrounds.

Kirby’s Adventure essentially rips its levels from Kirby’s Dream Land but gives them new names to provide the illusion of being an all-new adventure. However, “Vegetable Valley” is just “Green Greens” under a different title, “Ice Cream Island” pulls is tropical setting and underwater caverns directly from “Float Islands”, and “Castle Lololo” and “Bubbly Clouds” crop up time and again, especially in “Butter Building” and “Grape Garden”. Essentially, Kirby’s Adventure has a handful of level themes (woods, castle, clouds, sky palace, etc) that it recycles across all levels. While this adds some visual variety, it means the levels have very little cohesion. I already mentioned how “Ice Cream Island” is devoid of ice cream, but “Grape Garden” spends more time amongst the clouds than the trees, for example, and all these areas return with new colour palettes and tougher gimmicks in “Resort Island”. The only level that really stood out to me was “Orange Ocean” as it features a colourful dusk-time aesthetic, takes you from a dock to the deck and interior of a pirate ship, and ends with you skidding about on precarious ice platforms as a sadly basic (almost ugly) aurora borealis shines above. I also liked when areas were plunged into a black and purple darkness, with only Kirby visible until you get the Light ability, and I guess I didn’t mind “Butter Building”, which mixes its castle setting with a sort of toy box aesthetic, gothic visuals, and an impressive rotating tower. I also liked how “Grape Garden” sees you hopping to blimps and battleships, but again this has nothing to do with the level theme (I saw no grapes and very few gardens). The eighth stage might just be a glorified background for the penultimate boss, but the Fountain of Dreas was very colourful and beautiful and I liked that you fought Nightmare against the rushing night sky, with stars twinkling around the Moon and such. Unfortunately, I think Kirby’s Adventure suffers from not giving each level a distinct visual identity. If it had stuck to a theme for each level, it would’ve been even more impactful when the aesthetics and gimmicks returned in “Rainbow Resort” rather than simply presenting the same caverns, sloping rounds, narrow shafts, and level layouts we’ve seen a dozen times or more already just with a different colour palette.

Enemies and Bosses:
Seventeen enemies return from Kirby’s Dream Land, with each posing the same threat level as before. Obviously, Waddle Dee is back to wander about and float down on parasols but Waddle Doo is also back, now gifting the Beam power. Poppy Bros. Jr. continues to roll around on apples and bombs, you can now utilise Sir Kibble’s Cutter attack, Kabu still teleport about and try to crush you, Scarfy still leave a lingering explosion when defeated, and Glunk still take pot shots when you’re underwater. Sadly, you can’t improve Kirby’s swimming abilities by devouring Blipper, but you can become a whirling tornado by eating Twister (once it stops spinning), gain a sword by eating a Blade Knight (providing you avoid their surprisingly effective slashes), and perform a Hi-Jump after swallowing a nimble Starman. You’re best off quickly destroying or fleeing whenever a Bomber appears as their self-destruct can damage you if you’re too close, Chilly’s will also freeze you solid if you don’t give them a wide berth, and Hot Head’s will similarly roast you alive. Wheelies blast along at high speed (but can easily be tricked to fall down pits), frog-like Slippys (no relation) can catch you off-guard while you’re happily platforming above water, Cool Spooks allow you to light up dark areas, and Rockys crush you from above if you’re not careful. Enemies respawn once you leave the area and often fill the screen, causing massive slowdown and making it difficult to pass certain sections without taking damage. Most enemies are defeated in one hit, however, or award a copy ability, with some waiting behind museum doors in the hub world or helpfully trapped within block walls to give you the edge before trickier sections.

You battle a bunch of mini bosses in Kirby’s Adventure, often after being transported to their territory via Warp Star or challenging the “Arena” mini game. Each is also fought as you progress up the “Rainbow Resort” tower and also awards a rare copy ability when their corpse is swallowed. Poppy Bros. Sr. returns to toss bombs that you must spit back at him (unless you have a copy ability on hand), though you sometimes fight two at once, which can cause performance issues. The ape-like Bonkers swings a massive hammer, sometimes multiple times, tosses explosive coconuts, and charges at you. The beetle-like Bugzzy was quite tough as it tries to skewer you with its needle-like nose and performs the Backdrop if it grabs you. Similarly, the Rolling Turtle hurls you with Throw if you’re not careful, closing the distance with his roll attack, and the Fire Lion can both unleash a flaming charge and ponce on you, scratching with its claws, meaning you must be on your toes when fighting these mini bosses. Mister Tick Tock and the Grand Wheelie were jokes by comparison, especially with the Cutter ability. You simply slide under the former and stay away when he unleashes his sonic blasts and hop over the latter as it charges back and forth, with even its smaller minions being easily avoided. Likewise, the walrus-like Mister Frosty was a complete pushover, especially if you have Fire, with him barely getting a chance to toss his ice blocks if you corner him. Meta Knight constantly forces you to endure a gauntlet against waves of his formidable Meta-Knights. These guys continuously respawn until you whittle down their combined health bar, often occupying different platforms and making it difficult to manoeuvre due to their weapons. You’ll face four of his formidable Meta-Knights in these gauntlets, with some hacking or tossing axes, others flittering about and flinging javelins, another swinging a nasty mace, and others tossing tridents.

Three bosses return from Kirby’s Dream Land, meaning you battle Whispy Woods again, with it still raining apples and spitting air puffs (though Freeze decimates it). Paint Roller was an interesting boss as he spawns various enemies you can either destroy or use as projectiles. While his movements are erratic, I found Cutter easily beat him. Mister Shine and Mister Bright have separate life bars and fling fireballs, summon shooting stars, charge at you, and spew pixelated rain. Kracko returns in “Grape Garden”, beginning as an invulnerable eye that chases you past destructible cloud platforms before it assumes a monstrous form and blasts the ground with lightning bolts. With the wrong copy ability, this fight can be tough as Kirby’s hit box is especially sensitive to Kracko’s attacks, Kracko also has a large hitbox, and the sprite flickering causes serious issues. Heavy Mole was also an interesting fight as you must chase it as it bashes away dirt, making sure to not get crushed by the screen or thumped by its boxing glove-like appendages or hit by its missiles. Tornado works well but also had me taking damage if the ability wore off in the wrong place. When you fight Meta Knight in “Orange Ocean”, he tosses you a sword for a fair fight and proves an adept swordsman, attacking from above, performing a spinning slash, and using quick swipes on the ground. King Dedede is largely the same as Kirby’s Dream Land, with him sucking you up and spitting you out, inflating to fly about, performing a ground pound from above, and swinging his mallet. Defeating him kicks off a two-phase final fight with Nightmare. In the first, you freely fly firing projectiles with the repaired Star Rod and must quickly whittle down the eye-like Nightmare’s health, avoiding his projectiles, before the ground crushes you, which is tricky as he’s a hard target to hit! Next, he assumes a wizard-like form and you must battle him with whatever health you have left (though you restart from this section if you die). In this fight, Nightmare teleports about, swoops by, and flings stars, with his only weak spot being his distorted torso, which is only exposed for a short time.

Additional Features:
Each level has anywhere from two to six hidden switches to find, which will open more of the hub world and contribute to your 100% completion score. Hitting them all also unlocks all the mini game doors and brings you closer to unlocking the “Extra Game” mode. “Extra Game” mode limits Kirby’s health to three hits and disables in-game saves, and beating it unlocks the game’s sound test. Clearing the main game also unlocks a boss rush mode and the Nintendo Switch Online version allows for save states and rewind functionality, making it easier than ever to clear levels, find hidden switches, or unlock these extra modes. If you want to jump right into a 100% clear saved game, however, you can load up the “SP Version” to explore all the unlockable features. If you play the Game Boy Advance remake, not only will you have the benefit of far better graphics and multiplayer modes, encounter different bosses, and altered copy abilities, but you can also play as Meta Knight in the unlockable “Meta Knightmare” mode.

Final Thoughts:
I’ve put off Kirby’s Adventure for some time. I first bought it from the Nintendo Wii’s Virtual Console, played about ten minutes, and never came back to it because of life and such. That was a shame as there’s a lot to like about this classic 8-bit title. It’s everything its Game Boy predecessor was and more, with the hub world, multiple levels, and extra unlockable modes all adding to the replay factor. Allowing Kirby to copy the powers of his enemies was an inspired way to expand his repertoire and make the gameplay more fun and interesting. While there aren’t many chances to explore levels further with each copy ability, they make combat much more enjoyable and its fun testing out different copy abilities and seeing how they can help or unlock hidden doors. I enjoyed the many mini bosses, even if fighting them gets a bit old after a time, and the colourful, interesting boss battles. Meta Knight’s always been a favourite of mine and I enjoyed seeing him pop up, but I got a bit fed up of repeatedly fighting his minions. While Kirby’s Adventure is very colourful and packs a lot into it, the NES is clearly struggling with the game; the screen tearing, slowdown, and sprite flickering was honestly awful at times. I was also disappointed that levels lacked recognisable theming, recycling many backgrounds and gimmicks and making everything feel very samey very quickly. While this is still is an enjoyable title, a must-play for any fans of the NES, and its many improvements mean it’s the superior choice to Kirby’s Dream Land, I’d wager you’re better off playing the Game Boy Advance remake.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

Was Kirby’s Adventure in your childhood NES library? Do you agree that his new copy abilities vastly improved the gameplay? Were you disappointed that the levels didn’t have strong thematic identities? Did you enjoy seeing Meta Knight crop up or did you find his gauntlets tedious? Were you also bothered by how much the hardware struggled with the game? Did you ever unlock all the extra modes? Which Kirby videogame is your favourite? Whatever your thoughts on and memories of Kirby’s Adventure, leave them below and be sure to support me on Ko-Fi if you want me to cover the Game Boy Advance remake.