Kirby’s Dream Land Review

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Who would have thought that a little pile of pink fluff could spawn a hugely successful video game franchise? Back in 1992, HAL Laboratory and Nintendo released Kirby’s Dream Land for the Game Boy. This cute side-scrolling action platformer was a must-have for the system and spawned one of Nintendo’s most successful franchises that is still thriving today nearly thirty years later. The introduction to everyone’s favorite little pink puff starts with Kirby’s Dream Land review.

Kirby’s Dream Land Plot:

Who would have thought that stealing food would start a war? Our cute little pink friend Kirby lives in Dream Land. One night, King Dedede, a mean and hungry penguin invades Dream Land and steals all the food away. Along with the food, King Dedede has stolen the sparkling stars that the Dream Land critters use to traverse the land and get more food. If Kirby doesn’t do something, all the residents of Dream Land will starve! That’s a cute little plot to go along with this cute little Kirby’s Dream Land review.

Kirby’s Dream Land Gameplay:

Kirby’s Dream Land has some of the most iconic music in video games, especially for the Game Boy. The entire game’s soundtrack is filled with cute little tunes and sound effects that will stay with you long after you’ve played the game. Even when poor little Kirby dies, the sound that the game makes is iconic. How about the sound that Kirby makes when he is sucking in air? Imagine it in your head, I know you know the sound!

Before each level, Kirby will have a fun animation previewing the scenery. It’s a nice touch by the developers and the small details make Kirby’s Dream Land come to life. Kirby comes with a unique attack and defense in the form of him being able to suck just about everything up. Kirby can use his vacuum-like mouth to defend himself against enemy projectiles and falling objects. He can take those objects and transform them into stars and shoot them back out at the enemies. There’s nothing like turning enemy attacks against them! If there’s nothing to suck up, Kirby can inhale and shoot air out as an attack which I did many times during my Kirby’s Dream Land review. His sucking power doesn’t just defend and attack, but it’s also a way he navigates through levels. Puffing himself up, Kirby can float around and fly up to new floors or flap his tiny arms as he floats over pits.

Unlike the last game I reviewed (Gunstar Heroes) Kirby’s Dream Land isn’t difficult. Rarely will you find yourself in danger of dying or exhausting Kirby’s hit points. Common enemies are pushovers with the only real danger coming from when Kirby is floating around in the air with projectiles or enemies flying around him. Boss fights were both fun and simple during my Kirby’s Dream Land review. The first boss is a stationary tree. The key to defeating him is to have Kirby suck up the falling fruit and shoot it at the tree. I think the boss fights might be a little too simple but I understand that the programmers couldn’t get too crazy on the Game Boy. There are three other bosses to fight before facing King Dedede. They are relatively easy to defeat and the only one I died on was the floating cannonball cloud. I think it just surprised me at first but I killed him on the second try.

King Dedede is the final boss but before you fight him you have a boss rush of the first four. They are just as easy the second time around, even more so because you know how to defeat them. King Dedede wasn’t difficult during my Kirby’s Dream Land review but it took longer to beat him due to his high health bar. He’ll try and smash Kirby with his hammer or jump on him but his attacks are easily recognizable and not difficult to avoid. When his hammer comes down or he lands on the ground after jumping stars will pop up. Kirby needs to suck up the stars and fire them back at King Dedede to defeat him. Blast him with stars and he goes down without much of a fight.

Once you defeat King Dedede you’re treated to a cute cutscene of Kirby blowing up and attaching himself to the castle and flying away. This makes so much more sense to me as I didn’t know what the heck he was doing when I beat the game but if King Dedede stole all the food it’s probably in the castle so Kirby is just returning it. The Game Boy is simple but it was nice to see all the animation from Kirby during these short scenes.

Memories:
I was first introduced to Kirby on the Nintendo when I was a little kid at my friend’s house. We would play it for hours and it was simple enough for a couple of six-year-olds to understand. There was a level that Kirby needed to suck up multiple blocks or get past some type of roadblock. For some reason, we never were able to do it but my friend’s mom knew how to make Kirby do it. She wasn’t a cool mom and was a complete hardass but I remember thinking it was cool to see her do it. To this day I still have no idea why or how she knew how to perform the trick but I’m thankful that she progressed the game for us.

I beat Kirby’s Dream Land a few years ago for the first time and had just as much fun back then as I did writing my Kirby’s Dream Land review. I’m excited to review more games in the series.