Kirby's Dream Land Game by Nintendo/Hal Company Reviewed by Philip Wesley Save: None Released: 1992 Works with: Game Boy to Game Boy Advance SP ESRB Rated: K-A Rating Descriptions: Comic Mischief Quick Opinion: Own **************************************************************************** Opening Snide Remarks: Interesting facts about Kirby. Kirby was originally animated as a place holder character. Then before Kirby was named Kirby, he was called Popopo. Which makes a bit of sense when you consider that the main bad guy is King Dedede, and there are enemies like Lololo and Lalala. The general plot is this: King Dedede stole ALL of the food in Dreamland! So, Kirby must track down stars to get to King Dedede's hideout and rescue the food! In order to get to King Dedede's hideout, Kirby must travel through four worlds and beat up King Dedede's four (five?) evil co-horts! **************************************************************************** Gameplay Description: Kirby has only a few abilities in this game. He has the ability to eat his enemies and then spit them out again. He has the ability to float and puff out air as a weapon, and he has a few items that grant him special abilities. Kirby can eat spicy curry to shoot fire for a temporary amount of time. Kirby can eat candy to be invincible or a mint leaf to float and shoot. The game play is pretty simple, you go from point A to point B in wide open side scrolling levels with multiple doors that hide special items. Along the way, you encounter a mini-boss and then a larger end boss before moving on to a new world. There are five worlds in all to explore while chasing down King Dedede. Each of the bosses has a specific pattern that they follow and the trick is to exploit that pattern for items that you can swallow and spit out at the boss. The game is a bit easy for experienced platform gamers, but the float and "eating" mechanic of the game are pretty unique. The gameplay is fun and the replay value is helped by secret codes you can earn by beating the game. This game is a bit short, but definitely a fun experience! Liked: Fun, unique, and fairly original. A lot of little hidden secrets in the game. Hated: Short, and a bit easy the first time through. **************************************************************************** Graphics Description: This game looks pretty good and everything is really easy to see, even on the old "green screen" Game Boy units. The game also has a wonderfully cute, and quirky feel to the graphics. Kirby has a ton of neat animations in the mini-cutscenes that start each level and in his little "victory dance" at the end of each level. The bosses are big and creative looking. You get attacked by a TREE in this game. I think my favorite boss would have to be Krako, a cloud with an eye and spikes that shoots lightning and enemies at you. The backgrounds show off a variety of settings from peaceful meadows and hills to a seaside area with a pirate ship on it. The game looks good and there are no problems with seeing enemies, enemy shots, spikes, or other items. Liked: Kirby is a great looking game! All the animation, the cute character designs, the funny animations, the backgrounds, the bosses, and the cinema scenes. Hated: Nothing actually, this is one of the better looking Game Boy games on the system. Everything is clear and easy to see. **************************************************************************** Sound/Music Description: The music from composer Jun Ishikawa is quite catchy and fits every area very well. It will get stuck in your head and it will staty there. Thankfully, the music is pretty good in this game. The sound effects match up with what is going on and there are no annoying sound bites or anything to mess up this part of the game's presentation. The boss music is perfectly appropriate and the credits are memorable too. Everything has a "happy" feel to it that works well with this game. Liked: The music and the fact that there is a Sound Test! Hated: Nothing to hate here. **************************************************************************** Play Control/Game Design: Pressing UP on the control pad causes Kirby to inflate and for the first few moments when playing the game, I kept accidentally inflating Kirby when I did not want to do so. It took a little playing around to get over that habit. That would be the only complaint that I have about the play control in this game. The challenge in the game is pretty low when you first play through, but the game provides you with tools to make the game quite a challenge. Press UP, A, and SELECT at the same time to access the harder "Extra Game" and then hold DOWN, B, and SELECT to access the Configuration Mode. Inside the Configuration Mode, you can change the amount of lives you have and the maximum health that Kirby can acquire. You can also access the Sound Test from this screen. If you feel the game is too easy, put it into Extra Game mode, then bring Kirby's life bar down to ONE hit. Now play through the game. I have beaten it in that mode and I am quite pleased with the customizable difficulty of the game. I also like to time my own runs through the game with a stop watch. My best time on the normal mode is under 10 minutes. Stop the Stop Watch when they do the cutscenes or Kirby's dance. The level design is pretty great as there are a lot of extra places to find and interesting items to use. The bosses are creative and interesting as well. The game is a tad short, but that is fine. There is still enough challenge and fun to be had in this game. Liked: I like the level design, and the extras that allow me to customize the game. Hated: Accidentally pressing UP at inopportune times when I first started playing the game. This is also a pretty short game. **************************************************************************** Improve: Maybe if they gave Kirby the ability to absorb the powers of his enemies, or gave him animal friends. They could also make his games have more exploration, more levels, and more to do. Maybe they could even give him an antagonist that had a sword and was really cool. Maybe they could name that antagonist MetaKnight or something. That would be great! Wink. Wink. Nudge. Nudge. RIYL: Platform side scrolling adventures, Kirby, Starfy. **************************************************************************** Final Words: This is a great first outing for Kirby and it would lead to many more adventures with Kirby. The game is quite good, but sadly very short. If you can track down a copy, buy it and enjoy it. Kirby's Dreamland is a great game and worth your time. **************************************************************************** Score Gameplay: **** Graphics: ***** Sound/Music: ***** Play Control/Game Design: *** Value: **** Star Total: 63 Personal Opinion Merit: 20 Final Score: 83% Letter Grade: A ****************************************************************************