For a GameBoy title, this game is very technically impressive. Appealing visuals, great animations, and a still to-this-day iconic soundtrack easily allow this game to stand out amongst the GameBoy's library. What truly holds this game back from the best it could do on this platform is the simplistic level design, in addition to some clunky movement mechanics that can make certain boss fights (especially the new game + variants) a large spike in difficulty. Ultimately, this game lays a solid foundation for the many sequels it would receive, and is a standout in the GameBoy library that is so easy to pick up and play it's an easy recommendation to anybody.
Completed on both regular and extra modes.
Kirby’s first adventure is a very quick and easy game. Five short levels with little challenge save for a some later bosses. Then you get the extra mode which cranks the difficulty up and adds some more challenge, but it’s still a short game that can be quickly cleared.
If only there were some sort of ability Kirby had that added a neat gameplay gimmick to make fighting enemies and bosses feel a little more engaging and exciting. Hmmm…
Kirby Series Ranked
Kirby’s first adventure is a very quick and easy game. Five short levels with little challenge save for a some later bosses. Then you get the extra mode which cranks the difficulty up and adds some more challenge, but it’s still a short game that can be quickly cleared.
If only there were some sort of ability Kirby had that added a neat gameplay gimmick to make fighting enemies and bosses feel a little more engaging and exciting. Hmmm…
Kirby Series Ranked
Kirby's Dream Land is the first game in the Kirby series, and surprisingly the main platform for the first game in the series is the Gameboy, not the NES. The fact that Kirby, one of Nintendo's long-established series, came out on the Gameboy, not the NES or SNES, shows the importance Nintendo attaches to the Gameboy console.
Briefly talking about the game, Kirby's Dream Land is a kind of demo of Kirby's Adventure on the NES platform, but there are differences. The most famous game mechanic of the Kirby series, which is the ability to gain the enemy's feature after swallowing the enemy, is not available in the first game. Instead, there are features that we can use for a short time during map exploration. Character control and flying mechanics are quite fluid and comfortable. Boss battles are quite friendly and enjoyable compared to other games of the period. If we talk about a few complaints, the duration of the game is short and the number of stages is low. At the end of 4 stages, you move towards the boss battle that will end the game, but before this boss battle, you need to defeat the 4 bosses you have defeated before once again. Fortunately, they are not unnecessarily long, boring and tiring. In short, Kirby's Dream Land is a nice prototype for the continuation of the series, even though it does not have the main mechanic of the series, the mechanic of gaining enemy ability.
Briefly talking about the game, Kirby's Dream Land is a kind of demo of Kirby's Adventure on the NES platform, but there are differences. The most famous game mechanic of the Kirby series, which is the ability to gain the enemy's feature after swallowing the enemy, is not available in the first game. Instead, there are features that we can use for a short time during map exploration. Character control and flying mechanics are quite fluid and comfortable. Boss battles are quite friendly and enjoyable compared to other games of the period. If we talk about a few complaints, the duration of the game is short and the number of stages is low. At the end of 4 stages, you move towards the boss battle that will end the game, but before this boss battle, you need to defeat the 4 bosses you have defeated before once again. Fortunately, they are not unnecessarily long, boring and tiring. In short, Kirby's Dream Land is a nice prototype for the continuation of the series, even though it does not have the main mechanic of the series, the mechanic of gaining enemy ability.
Thirty-sixth GOTW finished for 2023. Epitome of the term "short and sweet". Great little platformer that doesn't take too much of your time, but is great fun to play. Not nearly enough meat on the bones to be meaningful past the 30 minutes it took me to beat it, and no copy abilities certainly felt weird, but a good time was still had.