Ah, 1992, back to a simpler time for Kirby... But a bit too simple...

This game is the Kirby we know and love and I doubt I need to introduce to you what Kirby is about since you probably already played a more modern Kirby title in your life, it would be more interesting to point out what's missing from this title compared to the more modern Kirby ones.
The elephant in the room is obviously the lack of copy abilities, it really sucks to play a Kirby game without it since you don't really miss them till they take it away from you. This game is really short, though it kinda is the quirk of Kirby game since they all tend to be on the short side, this one is about 30 minutes long.
If there's one unique thing about this game is the difficulty, it's easy as hell! And for a Gameboy game it's honestly a miracle since Gameboy and NES games used to be hellish to complete, making this game feel more modern and well uh... finishable.

Should you play this game? Why not, it's part of Kirby's history and it's short as all hell.

The feelings I have for this game are similar to those I have for mario land: it's amazing that they managed to make this run on the Gameboy.

This game in particular excels in aesthetic and personality: it has a very distinct and clear art direction, which is an admirable thing for a tiny portable game. Unfortunately it is a bit too simplistic, and it lacks a real gameplay hook, as in the ability-copying mechanic that Kirby has in future games. This first entry is just a cute, simple platformer, with unremarkable mechanics, somewhat dodgy controls, and a lot of heart. A solid enough foundation for the soon-to-be flourishing Kirby franchise.

(This is the 68th game in my challenge to go through many known games in chronological order starting in 1990. The spreadsheet is in my bio.)

There are three things about this challenge than I enjoy the most. Reaching a new generation of consoles. Playing my first ever game or a sequel in a well-known franchise. And witnessing the debut of an iconic character/series. The second and third points both apply to this game I'm reviewing today, which is Kirby's Dream Land, the debut of Kirby.

The game came out on April 27, 1992 in Japan and released in NA and PAL regions later that same year exclusively for the Game Boy. I never played a Kirby game before and pretty much all Game Boy titles I've played as part of this series I didn't find enjoyable, but this game is definitely by far the best one on that system for me so far.

The game is unique for its focus on beginner gamers over experienced ones, and I can confirm that this game works as intended in that regard. Though newer entries in the Kirby series probably get the job done even better, if you ever want to introduce a beginner/new gamer to Kirby or platformers in general, this game does a fine job there as well, though the monochromic graphics of the Game Boy might be offputting at this point in time.

It did the job back in the day though, and how! Up until 2022's Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Kirby's Dream Land was the best selling game in the entire series with over 5 million copies sold, over a million more than 3rd placed Kirby Star Allies. The newest entry in the series finally bested the 92 Game Boy title with about 6.5 million copies sold up to this point.

Is it the second best game in the series? I'm going to assume no, even though this is my first ever Kirby game. It will obviously lack a lot of features introduced later on and the Game Boy is not known for being a powerful system of course, so there was only so much the developers led by Masahiro Sakurai could do, though there is no doubting the creativity and marketing behind this game at the time.

STORYTELLING/CHARACTERS | 3/10

I'm giving it additional points for introducing an iconic character, but as is common for the early 90s, there is very little story here and that is pretty much relegated to the manual.

Dream Land is a place on a tiny star "somewhere far". The inhabitants are called "Dream Landers" who use magical Sparkling Stars to play and work among the heavens. But, of course, something evil befalls this place, as otherwise the player would have no reason to be here in the form of Kirby. Kirby is a "spry little boy", who sees the need to rescue his fellow Dream Landers because evil King Dedede swooped down on Dream Land from the neighbouring Mount Dedede and stole both food and Sparkling Stars.

For obvious reasons, I'm not going to overanalyze this, it's a basic, cutesy setup that isn't supposed to make a lot of sense to introduce us to this character.

What is more interesting is that Kirby was supposed to be named "Popopo" and the developers, HAL Laboratory Inc were looking to self-publish the title. That is, until they realized that pre-orders for the game were on the lower end, so they asked Nintendo publish, who decided to change the character's name to Kirby based on the results they got from polling Nintendo of America. While the Popopo game was no more, you can see it live on in other parts of the game. Stage 2 plays on Castle Lololo. The final stage plays on Mount Dedede and you fight the final boss King Dedede there.

Another notable tid-bit is that there was some confusion regarding Kirby's color. We now know it's purple, but the monochromic display of the Game Boy meant nobody but the developers knew this at the time, so there is a funny story that some of the staff thought Kirby was white, while Shigeru Miyamoto assumed he was yellow (like Pac-Man or 'Noobow'). I can't say if this is the main reason for it, but in later Kirby games that had 2-player modes, the second Kirby would be yellow.

GAMEPLAY | 12/20

Kirby is a 2D platformer. As is usual practice for the time, you move to the left or right of the screen, fight enemies and do some platforming until you reach the end of the level and move on to the next stage. There are bosses in each stage as well.

What makes Kirby unique are two things. First, Kirby can inhale and exhale enemies. Think of Yoshi from Super Mario World. He inhales them and when he spits them back out, they turn into a star and kill other enemies. You can also inhale with Kirby to make him fly. Kirby will continue flying until you exhale, which releases an "Air Pellet" that kills enemies but also makes Kirby fall back down.

The other unique feature here is the difficulty. The director, Masahiro Sakurai, wanted to make this game beginner-friendly and an easy pick up and play title. He also wanted to have the player to make use of enemies in a way that wasn't the case in other games, both of which where the core ideas behind this game. This is pretty easy to see in gameplay. Inhaling an enemy and spitting it back out makes things pretty easy. Flying allows you to entirely bypass enemies and some of the "harder" platforming segments in this game. And bosses usually only need to be hit a couple of times before they die. We went over the sales numbers, so this definitely worked in attracting players.

Now, while this game is 'easy' and definitely wants to help the player in actually beating it (which will only take an hour for the majority of players), it's by no means a game where you just run straight and beat the game. Kirby is equipped with a health bar, and after six hits taken, he dies. You can use "Pep Brew" and "Bag of Magic Food" items to replenish health, but I did lose more than a few lives. After 4 deaths, you get a GAME OVER screen.

Where the game gets even easier though is that there seem to be unlimited continues (I used 4 and didn't see a counter for how many I have left) and that, if you simply lose a life, you just go to the beginning of the screen, which is usually just a few seconds of gameplay.

Regardless, boss fights were clever enough to be enjoyable and the five stages, while short and mostly easy, offered a nice introduction to Kirby.

MUSIC/SOUND/VOICE | 7/10

No voice acting. The sound design is pretty good and way more intricate than you would expect from a Game Boy title. Sound effects sound unique here and not chosen from a pre-made selection like some other games. Notable sounds are for inhaling/exhaling and for dropping the microphone power-up, which lets out a cute screeching noise.

The soundtrack suits the game really well and gives off the vibe of a fun little adventure with low stakes. So, again, suitable for this game. Most of the tracks have a slow pace, with the boss theme being the exception. There is no track specifically here that stands out in my opinion. It's a soundtrack that I feel like I'd definitely be nostalgic over had I played this back in the day, but there is no iconic song here like we'd get from future Kirby games. Tracks that even non-players of Kirby games like me knows of, such as Gourmet Race.

GRAPHICS/ART DESIGN | 7/10

The Game Boy is a great handheld. I'm not disagreeing on that. But because it is a handheld from the late 80s and Nintendo had to achieve a lot from so little, there are many things about it that don't translate well to today in my opinion, unlike the home consoles from the time. The monochromic screen doesn't help.

That said, this game is probably my favorite looking Game Boy game so far simply due to its design and presentation. Kirby immediately endears himself to the player through his cute character design. On top of that, the visual effects in this game are pretty good for the Game Boy.

ATMOSPHERE/IMMERSION | 7/10

If you're looking for a low-stakes, low-challenge, quick to beat type game, and you want it to be retro, this is the one. The game does a great job of making this obvious as well, from the gameplay to the visuals to the music. No color is a shame though, and on the Game Boy there aren't areas in this game as diverse as you'd like to see, but that's something that can be built on in future entries.

CONTENT | 6/10

There are 5 stages and 30-60 minutes of gameplay here for one playthrough. You got one or two bosses per stage. I give the game an above-average score because a one hour game that is enjoyable to play is 10 times better than a 30 hour game with 95% of that being boring and repetitive. That said, it still is very little and the gameplay, while unique and enjoyable, is what it is.

LEVEL/MISSION DESIGN | 7/10

The first four stages are similarly designed in two parts. You go through the first part and I believe 2 or 3 times take on a mini-boss at the end. Then you climb on a star and are shot through the map to the second part of the stage. At the end of this stage, you fight bosses in all stages, collect a star, watch Kirby and two clones do a victory dance, and move on to the next stage.

As explained, the stages are usually pretty easy. Later on, there is enough going on that you WILL end up losing lives and continues, but nothing that will give you trouble the second or third time through.

The final stage is a boss-rush stage. You enter four doors and go through very short stages to fight the same four bosses at the end. After that, the final door opens up and you enter a boss fight with King Dedede. The boss fights all are distinguishable and unique enough considering what the devs were working with in terms of gameplay.

Overall, the devs had a concept in mind and stuck with it, and unlimited continues bring it all home to make for a frustration-free experience.

CONCEPT/INNOVATION | 8/10

This game sold over 5 million copies! The creation of an iconic character and making a fun, beginner-friendly game will be major reasons for that. You'll be hard-pressed to see gameplay based on inhaling enemies too, and it's a fun idea that can definitely be built upon. I'm looking forward to see how the game translates to a home console next.

REPLAYABILITY | 3/5

There is a hard mode that you can play after initially beating the game. This adds some enemies to the screen, makes the bosses attack faster and in different patterns compared to normal (aka easy) mode. So if you want to experience a Kirby game on the level of a medium difficulty NES platformer, there you go. Apart from this, the only replay value you get is from trying to beat your high score.

**PLAYABILITY | 5/5

Works well at all times.

OVERALL | 65/100

Often enough, the debuts of certain franchises and characters are skippable. Kirby's debut is not necessarily firmly the opposite, but the game is short enough that the novelty of the gameplay elements here don't get old by the time you finish it. So if you do intend to do a marathon, I'm sure you'll appreciate this game for what it is, though don't expect a memorable experience, but rather one that can appreciated for its place in video game history.

Pros: Simplistic but high quality and accessible 2D platformer with four total stages plus a final boss area. It's charming with cute graphics and very readable art design, where the screen is filled with detail but you're never confused on what anything is or where to go. It's really really well designed, and is one of the shining examples of Game Boy, and 2D platformers, especially as a starting point for newcomers. Flying feels great, suckin' up enemies and objects feels great, the bosses are big and engaging, and the music is just, iconic, it's iconic. This game itself, is an icon.

Cons: Again, it is simplistic and short (though it does contain a well made hard mode), and that may not be enough for some. And later games in the franchise, have in many ways, supplanted this one. But I still find value in this more limited version, one without copy-abilities or multiplayer.

What it means to me: This was my first Kirby game, played it when it first came out, I even remember seeing the tv commercial, and wanting the game because of it. Kirby was really cool! And I, a little, what, five or so year old, loved how accessible this game was for me. Far more than any Mario game, the sprites were big, I could see everything on that difficult to see pea green Game Boy screen, it was cute (I love cute), there was no timer to add stress, and I could just fly over any scary pit I'd come across with the press of a button, I could just... fly, at any time. Flying alone, made me LOVE this game, and I thought of it as, for some reason, superior to every other 2D sidescrolling platform game, well, when I was five or so I thought that anyway, haha. But hey, maybe I still agree with that. Kirby's Dreamland is an all time classic, was the start of a legendarily iconic franchise, and it's near and dear to my heart.