Holy crap, they finally made a fleshed-out NES game!

The second game of the Kirby franchise, it overall feels like a reimagined version of the first game with more stages and new features to make it less... uh... boring like the original, sorry Dream Land fans.
This game is obviously nothing special compared to modern Kirby game, it introduced a whole lot of feature that just feels normal to see in a Kirby game but the main importance of this game is the fact it was released on the NES, shocking with how great the game looks and plays it honestly just look like an early Super Nintendo game.
Other than being a technical marvel, this game is fun to play too! The gameplay is a whole lot smoother compared to Dream Land making it my favorite NES game to play since it's good enough to be compared to a modern platformer, though it's worth noting that this game was released at the very end of the life cycle of the NES so it's obviously unfair to compare it to an early NES title.

If I had to name a few complaints it would be that some stages are a bit too short and they all kinda blend with each other, I wish it would be more like 3 stages per world instead of 6 short stages. Also, the jump button doesn't let you fly you have to do it manually with the dpad it's really weird.

So yeah, this is a legitimately good NES game, quite shocking to say the least, nice job Sakurai.

I think it's only fair to review my favorite game of all time while I suffer from executive dysfunction in relation to, well, everything right now. As it turns out: work fucking sucks the life out of you. And then some.

Speaking of sucking. Kirby does that. I'd go further on that, but the common mind would waver into the depths of juvenility. Instead, I'll just mention that Kirby can obtain abilities. That's the point of this character, right? This is the first game in the series where he... they??? they can do that. Kid me was fucking pumped for that. Did I mention this was the first game I've ever played in my life? Would that count as some sort of bias?

Either way, whether it's the first game I've ever played or not, it's also the game I've played the most times. Of course, we're not going to count playtime, that'd be cheating. I'm talking about playing a game and finishing it over and over again. I can't ever get enough of this game. Its pacing and action is so much fun. Even if it's on the easy side for an NES game, it still provides unparalleled entertainment for such a primitive console. A lot of people would complain about the framerate being bad, well I've gotten so used to it that I've been using it to my advantage. After all, what doesn't kill me, makes me stronger.

The graphics are so colorful and the palettes are used super well for each world. Every world has its own thematic and, as a kid, I would dream of going to the many castles Kirby would visit there. I still remember those dreams. I was like, 4 years old. The progression of the worlds being from more down to earth, to straight up being in nothing but a dreamlike setting, just hypnotizes me. It's something that's so hard to explain, I just love the atmosphere of this game. I want to live there.

What with the graphics comes the audio, oh god, the audio. Permanently cemented on my mind is the rainbow resort track. Nothing in this world has come close to emulating a literal dream. I am dreaming when listening to the soundtrack, I am dreaming when seeing the world of Dreamland. Sakurai just understood from the get go on how to create a literal dream world.

This game holds a special place in my heart. I bought it for every single possible platform, yes, even the 3D one on 3DS. I'm gonna piss you off however and say that Nightmare in Dreamland on GBA is not Kirby's Adventure to me. It's not the same, it just ain't. I will forever treasure the japanese copy I bought from ebay, I'm ready to call it my family heirloom.

You should play this game, I think. Dream about it, if you will.

Apenas um jogo daquela bola rosa que destrói Deuses

A história é que basicamente o Kirby acorda de um sono que ele não sonhou e ele vai descobrir o motivo indo para uma fonte dos sonhos e lá ele descobre que o King Dedede quebrou a Star Rod em 7 pedaços e agora o Kirby tem que derrotar os 7 chefes incluindo o Dedede.

A gameplay do jogo diferenciou muito do primeiro jogo pois ele agora pode copiar as habilidades de certos inimigos e ganhar poderes. algumas musicas do jogo são legais e outras eu tive que escutar alguma do Spotify por que eu não tankei. Sinceramente eu digo que ele esteja no top 5 de melhores jogos do Nintendinho. 8/10

Pros: The introduction of the copy ability for the Kirby series, which, of course went on to become the defining trait of both the character and the franchise, it's a HUGE plus for this game, can't be understated how genius that mechanic is. Eating enemies, and taking on their powers. Just genius. Also, the sprite-work and graphics of this game are gorgeous, maybe the best on the NES.

Cons: Little things, like pressing up to fly, really messed up my game, time and time again. On Dreamland for Game Boy, pressing up to fly was useful, wanted to do it often, since puffing out air was a primary way to attack. Here though, I have abilities, and I don't want to go into flight mode to puff air, I'd rather just not start flying... and it's way too easy to accidentally start to fly, as you'll mistakenly hit the up button time and time again, especially since you press up to go into doors, and you'll be racing towards doors often enough to hit that Up button by mistake. Yeah, little thing, but it's enough of an issue to write this much about it! Another "little thing", losing your copy ability after taking one hit, where you then have to chase down the copy ability bouncing around the stage as a star, to gain it back again... It's just annoying, and it happens way too often. These are two elements that were both immediately fixed in the sequel to this game, which I find to be far far superior in every way. And these two minor things, are enough to sour this experience for me, despite so much good in here.

What it means to me: I didn't play this game until well after it came out, not until the Gamecube generation was in full swing, and by then, I'd had played several better Kirby games that had released after this one. So I started on the wrong foot, and it painted the experience worse for myself... It's hard to go back to this one for me, but I do appreciate what it brought to the franchise, especially copy abilities, which is most definitely the biggest contribution of any Kirby title.

Even without a few features that have made Kirby the beloved franchise it is today, Kirby’s Dream Land is actually a pretty good game, and I’ve already shown why in my review of it. However, Kirby’s Adventure, which is the sequel to that game, introduces colour and copy abilities to the pink ball’s series. Is this game better than what came before it?

Yes. It’s pretty obvious. Do you want to know why it’s better, though? Read this review to find out!

The game starts off with a tutorial on how to draw Kirby, which is pretty funny and cute if you ask me. Then, we see the title screen, which now contains colour and Kirby waving at you. This is already an upgrade from Kirby’s Dream Land’s title screen just being the title of the game.

Vegetable Valley is the first level of this game and it’s super neat. In the opening cutscene, you learn how to gain copy abilities, which you can do by inhaling an enemy and completely eating it instead of just spitting it out of a star. Then, you are plopped into a hub world. I’m not a big fan of hub worlds, but unlike Sonic Advance 3’s hub worlds, the hub worlds in this game are easy to navigate. After opening a door that has the number 1 on top of it, you are placed into this colourful world that has these weird, oval-like structures in the background. There are also some trees in the distance. I’d just like to say that Vegetable Valley is clearly the Emerald Hill Zone to Green Greens’ Green Hill Zone. The setting, music, and boss battles of this level are very similar, if not completely identical to those of Green Greens. Anyway, you are provided with quite a few enemies to gain copy abilities from, which is very cool. The level design is empty in the first part of this level, but that’s fine as this is just the beginning.

After completing this level, you find yourself in a place full of clouds called a Goal Game before falling onto a platform. When this happens, you must time your pressing of the A button extremely well so you can get to the highest layer of clouds. After this, you are sent back to the hub world. When you enter the second part of Vegetable Valley, you walk for a bit before jumping onto a Warp Star and fighting a slightly harder version of Green Greens’ mini-boss. It’s nice that the developers of this game didn’t just copy the original and actually made it more difficult. There are some cool little platforming segments, but they can easily be skipped by flying.

After finishing the 2nd part of Vegetable Valley and completing the Goal Game, you can head to the door that sends you to the 3rd part of this level. It’s basically the same as the 2nd part of Vegetable Valley, so I’m not really gonna talk about it much. The 4th part of Vegetable Valley starts off with a fight with a mini-boss called Mr. Frosty, who looks like a walrus without tusks. My experience with him was short-lived since I spammed the fire ability to beat him very quickly. However, he did chuck some ice cubes at me, so he did do some damage. After making your way through a mix of platforming and empty segments, you find yourself face to face with Whispy Woods once again. This time, he attacks much faster than he did in Kirby’s Dream Land. Also, the apples can bounce, so they have more of a chance of hitting you. By the way, there’s no Goal Game after any main boss battle.

Ice Cream Island is the second level of this game and it’s just as good as, if not better than Vegetable Valley. The first part of this level is nothing special, so I won’t talk about it much. It has more unique level design than its predecessor, and the beach setting allows for some great music and artwork. It even reintroduces water, which is actually tolerable in this series. The second part of this level has you ride a Warp Star to a desert-like area before fighting a mini-boss. This mini-boss is a wheel with eyes that will zoom towards you and launch little versions of itself at you. If you don’t have a copy ability, you can just inhale the little wheels and hit the mini-boss with them. However, the game provides you with a few copy abilities right before the fight starts, so you can just use those. After beating the mini-boss, you make your way through the desert before going to the third part of the level.

In the third part of Ice Cream Island, you meet and fight Axe Knight, Javelin Night, Mace Knight, and Trident Night, known collectively as the Meta-Knights. You can defeat each of the Meta-Knights by inhaling either one of their teammates or the weapon either they or one of their teammates will try to hit you with and firing them at your target. After beating the Meta-Knights, you can continue. This part of the level is basically the same as its predecessors, so I’ll just move on. The fourth part of Ice Cream Island has you fight Mr. Tick-Tock, who will launch music notes at you, jump around, and create short-ranged sound waves. You can inhale the music notes and shoot them back at Mr. Tick-Tock, but if you have a copy ability, it becomes much easier. In this part of the level, you are placed in a world of clouds. I like the change in setting as it shows that the developers are creative.

In the fifth part of Ice Cream Island, you make your way through many different settings, ranging from a forest to a cloud world. However, there’s nothing to really talk about other than that. The main boss Battle of Ice Cream Island is against Paint Roller, who will paint random objects, which range from an umbrella to a car to even Kirby. Paint Roller will then chuck these random objects at you. He will also move around a lot, so you have to dodge him quite a bit. To defeat Paint Roller, you must inhale these objects and spit them back at him. The variety of objects and Paint Roller’s unpredictable movements make this fight much less repetitive than it should be.

Butter Building is even better than the previous 2 levels. This level’s music and artwork is even more great than those of its predecessors and the level design makes this level more of a challenge. In the first part of this level, you have a rematch with Mr. Tick-Tock. Other than that, though, there isn’t much to talk about. From the second part of Butter Building to the last, there is much more of a focus on platforming in narrow and tall spaces due to the whole story of this level is about Kirby getting to the top of his tower.

Speaking of the second part of Butter Building, that’s what I’m going to discuss now. There’s a little segment where you must walk on this circular platform that turns when you walk on it. Some enemies will pop up out of nowhere, but you can easily deal with them. After some walking, a door will appear and you can move on. In this part of the level, you will fight Bugzzy, who is a stag beetle. He will zoom towards you and grab you before throwing you away, so you have to dodge him quite a bit. He will also launch little stag beetle enemies at you, and you must inhale these enemies and shoot them back at Bugzzy to defeat him. Well, you can do that or you can use a copy ability. Either way, this fight is actually super cool.

In the third part of Butter Building, you walk on that circular platform again and do a bit of other platforming. Now, there’s one segment that I think is super interesting and fun. Basically, you are placed in this narrow and tall blue room. You can use some of the doors to go to a room that is nearly identical except for it being red instead of blue. Some areas in the blue room cannot be accessed unless you go through a door in the red room and vice versa. It’s super original and cool. In the fourth part of Butter Building, you have a rematch with the Meta-Knights before making your way up numerous platforming-focused segments.

In the fifth part of Butter Building, you walk on that circular platform for the billionth time before fighting Bonkers, who is a gorilla with a hammer. When he tries to hit you with his hammer, large stars will appear. You must inhale these large stars and fire them at Bonkers to defeat him. It’s similar to the King Dedede fight at the end of Kirby’s Dream Land, but it’s much less boring. In the sixth part of Butter Building, there is a segment where you must traverse a nearly pitch black hallway where you can only see yourself, a Cool Spook and its light, and the outlines of enemies. The music changes to be more spooky in this section, which is pretty neat.

The main boss battle of Butter Building is against Mr. Shine and Mr. Bright. One of the two will go up to the sky and launch attacks from there while the other will try to hit you on the ground. After some time, they will switch places, which makes this battle less boring. The attacks that are launched from the sky will emit large stars that you can inhale and fire at whoever is on the ground. All you have to do is avoid Mr. Shine and Mr. Bright’s attacks while shooting large stars at them to beat them. Mr. Shine and Mr. Bright’s unpredictable and varied attacks make this fight much less repetitive than it should be.

Grape Garden is the fourth level of this game and I like it, although it isn’t as good as its predecessors. The first part of this level has you go through a few different settings, ranging from a cloudy world to a dark but starry area. There is a slightly boring and annoying segment where you have to break through a ton of Star Blocks, but if you have a copy ability like Beam, it’s not that big of a deal. The second part of this level is a bit annoying due to there being a labyrinth near the middle that involves a lot of wandering around, searching for entrances/exits, and breaking Star Blocks. At the end, you have a very similar mini-boss battle to the one in Green Greens, but instead of there being one mini-boss, there’s two. I like how you have to try to avoid one bomb while attempting to inhale the other. It’s nothing too difficult, but it’s not stupidly easy like the original.

The third part of Grape Garden places you on a blimp, which is a nice change of scenery. After going through a door, you enter a segment where you are being pushed by the blimp’s propellers. You must fly until you find a door near the bottom of the blimp while dodging enemies. It’s actually super cool to see Kirby’s ability to fly being used for a segment. Well, for two segments. Right after going through the aforementioned door, you must play through a segment that is nearly identical to the one before it except for the fact that this one is shorter and the fact that you must get onto a Warp Star when you reach the end of the blimp. Then, you just gotta walk up these cloud platforms before getting to the end.

The fourth part of Grape Garden includes a segment where you roll down multiple slopes. Along the way, you will have to avoid/kill enemies. You can use the Wheel ability to complete this segment faster. I like how it’s more speed-focused than platforming-focused. Near the end, you will fight Rolling Turtle, who will zoom towards you and grab you before throwing you. He will also roll around and chuck little versions of himself at you. You have to inhale these little turtles and fire them at Rolling Turtle to defeat him. Well, you can either do that or spam a copy ability. This fight is pretty cool, and it isn’t too hard.

In the fifth part of Grape Garden, you fight the Meta-Knights once again. Don’t worry, they’re going to appear in the next few levels as well. There’s a slightly annoying segment where you must fly through quite a few tiny rooms containing Gordos that you must dodge, but once that ends, so does this part of the level. The sixth part of Grape Garden has a rematch with Mr. Tick-Tock. It surprises me how much he appears in this game. Other than that, though, there isn’t much to talk about.

The main boss battle is a rematch with Kracko. The first section of this fight has you either flying or using the Hi-Jump ability and jumping onto cloud platforms to get to the battlefield as Kracko destroys each platform one by one. Kracko actually goes pretty fast, which makes this chase scene quite intense. The second section of this fight has you face off against Kracko as he hits you with a variety of attacks. Sometimes, he will slowly move across the battlefield as he spews lighting onto the ground. He will also occasionally launch a Starman, which you can use to get the Hi-Jump ability if you didn’t already have it. Using the Hi-Jump ability, you can launch yourself into Kracko, damaging him. Do this multiple times and you will beat him. This battle is actually super cool and I definitely prefer it over the Kracko fight in Kirby’s Dream Land.

Yogurt Yard is the fifth level of this game and it’s pretty good. The first part of this level places you in a cloudy world, which is a nice way of continuing where the fight with Kracko left off. After a bit, you enter a segment where you just fall down while dodging enemies. After breaking through some Star Blocks, you make your way through different settings before going to the next part of the level. The second part of this level has a similar maze to the one in the third part of Butter Building, which is super neat. It also contains a rematch with Bonkers, which I think is cool.

The third part of Yogurt Yard starts with a very similar segment to the first section of the Kracko fight. You can either fly or use the Hi-Jump ability to jump onto platforms. I’ve already stated that I like this formula before, so there’s no need to state it again. There’s also a segment where you just get pushed upwards by a wind shaft, and it’s super fun. Speaking of super fun, there’s a segment where you can use the Wheel ability to zoom through enemies. I love it. After playing through a segment where you have to fly downwards while avoiding spikes, you move on to the next part of this level.

The fourth part of Yogurt Yard contains a rematch with the Meta-Knights. It also contains a segment where you must swim across two hallways containing Gordos and spikes that you must avoid. After completing a segment where you fall down and try to avoid enemies, you can go to the next part of Yogurt Yard. The fifth part of this level has you go onto a Warp Star that will take you to a castle. In this castle, you will fight a lion. This lion will try to grab you before scratching you and throwing you away. It will also try to jump on you. When it lands, large stars will appear, which you must inhale and shoot at the lion. Either do this or spam a copy ability and you’re good to go.

The sixth part of Yogurt Yard starts with you trying to avoid wheel enemies. You can use one of these wheel enemies to give you the Wheel ability, which will be useful in the next segment. Speaking of which, the next segment has you zooming through a cave while trying to avoid Rockys that will try to crush you. The Wheel ability will make you pass by these Rockys before they can even fall. After zooming through some grassy plains and flying over some watery death pits, you can head to the main boss battle.

The main boss battle is against this weird machine called Heavy Mole. Basically, both you and Heavy Mole are placed inside of this little cave. Heavy Mole will start digging through the cave and you have to keep up with it. Occasionally, Heavy Mole will shoot missiles at you, which you can inhale and fire back. Just do that while trying not to die from being crushed or falling to the bottom of the screen and you will defeat Heavy Mole. This is honestly a super creative, fun, and even difficult fight. It’s great.

Orange Ocean isn’t as good as every level that precedes it if I’m being honest. In the first part of this level, you are plopped into water. You can have a rematch with Rolling Turtle if you want, but it’s much more difficult. In this rematch, there is now some water covering the ground. When Rolling Turtle launches little versions of himself at you and you inhale them, you must jump out of the water before shooting them back at Rolling Turtle. If you don’t, the star that comes out will quickly sink to the bottom of the screen. I decided to skip this rematch because it pissed me off. Luckily, the water segment doesn’t last long. After playing through some platforming segments that you can easily skip by flying, you move on to the second part of this level.

The second part of Orange Ocean has a segment where you climb up and down cloud platforms to get past multiple pillars. To be frank, it’s quite slow and boring. This part of the level also contains a segment where you have to avoid both Gordos and Scarfies. If you have a copy ability, this is pretty easy, but if you don’t, this is quite difficult. The third part of Orange Ocean takes place on a ship, which is a nice and original setting. During this part of the level, you have a rematch with Bonkers. Unlike the rematch with Rolling Turtle at the start of this level, this fight is actually tolerable. After this, you must climb the aforementioned ship’s masts until you reach a Warp Star, which will take you to a new location. However, you can easily skip the mast climbing by flying. After doing a bit more platforming, you can go to the next part of the level.

The fourth part of Orange Ocean isn’t that good due to a few really annoying segments. For example, there’s a tiring segment where you must walk and swim through numerous tunnels to get to a door. The tunnels that contain Gordos are underwater, so it’s harder to avoid said Gordos. It’s also just boring in general due to the complexity of the maze. There’s also a pretty annoying segment where you must fly upwards while avoiding coconuts that will try to fall on and damage you. Nearly every single time I tried to dodge one coconut, another one would fall on me. The placement of the coconuts could really be improved. After another coconut-focused segment, you can move on to the next part of the level.

The fifth part of Orange Ocean suddenly takes you to a snowy and icy world, which is a wonderful and unexpected change of scenery. From this point to the main boss battle of this level, everything gets much better. There’s a segment in this part of the level that I find to be both extremely funny and sad. Basically, you have to go in and out of a water tunnel to get to a door. Before you can get into the water tunnel, though, you must break a Bomb Block, which will drown some Blade Knights. It’s both hilarious and depressing to just watch them sink to the ground while they’re utterly confused by what just happened. Anyway, after completing this part of the level, you can move on to the next.

The sixth part of Orange Ocean has a very unique segment. Near the middle of this part of the level, you find yourself in front of two doors. I went into the bottom door and fought against two Mr. Frostys. During this rematch, I realised what the ice cubes were for. You have to inhale them and shoot them back. If I didn’t have a copy ability the first time I fought Mr. Frosty, I would’ve realised this much sooner, but here we are. Anyway, at the end of this part of the level, you have a rematch with the Meta-Knights.

The main boss battle of Orange Ocean is against the leader of the Meta-Knights and one of the most iconic Kirby characters of all time. Yes, I am referring to Meta-Knight. At the beginning of this fight, you are given a sword, which is what you will use to attack. Meta-Knight will either jump or run towards you before swinging his own sword. You have to take advantage of the times where Meta-Knight isn’t doing anything by hitting him with your sword. Do this a couple of times and the fight will end. Meta-Knight’s build-up takes place across numerous levels and finally facing him is quite epic. The variety in his moveset and the new form of combat makes this fight more fun and less repetitive.

The second I got to Rainbow Resort, the worst thing that could possibly happen happened. When I saved and quit, the save didn’t actually work, so when I tried to load my save, nothing happened. All of my progress vanished. At this point, I wasn’t motivated to replay the entire game, so I just gave up.

In conclusion, I definitely believe that Kirby’s Adventure is a step up from Kirby’s Dream Land. The latter half of the game does have some flaws, but that’s the case with a lot of video games. I think that this game deserves 4 stars. It’s quite good.