Kirby's Adventure blows almost every other 8-bit platformer out of the water. I mean, I get it. It was 1993, so HAL had all the know-how and in-cartridge chips to make a game this good for NES, but still.
Copy Abilities debut here, and the system is done quite well for its first iteration, with a good variety of them and puzzles designed to keep you playing around with what they can do. World maps with secrets entice you to thoroughly explore levels for things you might've missed. Gorgeous pixel art and great music make the presentation something special.
One of the last big games on the NES, Kirby's Adventure is quite the note to go out on.
Copy Abilities debut here, and the system is done quite well for its first iteration, with a good variety of them and puzzles designed to keep you playing around with what they can do. World maps with secrets entice you to thoroughly explore levels for things you might've missed. Gorgeous pixel art and great music make the presentation something special.
One of the last big games on the NES, Kirby's Adventure is quite the note to go out on.
One of the strongest proofs that easy games can be fun because the level design & scenarios are fun and just feel so good to play.
I've still only played a handful of NES games, but I think this is easily my favourite so far.
If you like later 2D Kirby games I think Kirby's Adventure can be worth your time.
I've still only played a handful of NES games, but I think this is easily my favourite so far.
If you like later 2D Kirby games I think Kirby's Adventure can be worth your time.
Um plataforma mt daora do nintendinho, talvez o meu favorito, teria que zerar o Mario 3 pra ter certeza. Pode ser meio 'dificil' as vezes com um monte de inimigo na tela e um framerate que fica caindo muito, mas mesmo assim divertido! Fiz 100% na file.
A última fase ser um 'remix'/ referência do Kirby's Dreamland foi mt maneiro
A última fase ser um 'remix'/ referência do Kirby's Dreamland foi mt maneiro
Kirby’s Adventure is a 2 hour showcase of what the NES was truly capable of.
Obviously, this game could’ve just been on the SNES, since it was released in ‘93. But, the consumer wasn’t feeling the SNES just yet, so Nintendo decided it’d be best to put Kirby on the OG.
The reason I say this shows off NES capabilities is because of how detailed and colorful the entire game is. The lengthy health meter, the multitude of copy abilities, the bangin’ soundtrack, it’s practically an 8-bit SNES game.
You aren’t without your shitty NES level design, of course. The worst NES stereotype is the occasional awful enemy placement, but bearable enough to not have to worry about too often. Also, if there’s too many enemies on screen, or an exploding attack, the game dips to, like, 10 FPS, it’s very annoying.
If more NES games were like this, I think the newer generations wouldn’t have has hard of a time going back and enjoying some of the pioneers. 7/10.
Obviously, this game could’ve just been on the SNES, since it was released in ‘93. But, the consumer wasn’t feeling the SNES just yet, so Nintendo decided it’d be best to put Kirby on the OG.
The reason I say this shows off NES capabilities is because of how detailed and colorful the entire game is. The lengthy health meter, the multitude of copy abilities, the bangin’ soundtrack, it’s practically an 8-bit SNES game.
You aren’t without your shitty NES level design, of course. The worst NES stereotype is the occasional awful enemy placement, but bearable enough to not have to worry about too often. Also, if there’s too many enemies on screen, or an exploding attack, the game dips to, like, 10 FPS, it’s very annoying.
If more NES games were like this, I think the newer generations wouldn’t have has hard of a time going back and enjoying some of the pioneers. 7/10.
tô apaixonada nesse jogo, se tava relutante na nota que deixei no primeiro kirby agora tenho certeza que tinha que ser assim: esse merece 4 porque aprimorou ainda mais o que já tinha. o kirby agora imita as habilidades dos inimigos, as cores dos cenários cheio de vida e é um jogo bem completo, tem várias coisas pra fazer nas fases.
An sich dem Vorgänger in jeder Hinsicht überlegen und das hier erst die Einführung der Kopierfähigkeit ist, fühlt sich ein wenig falsch an, da diese gar nicht mehr wegzudenken ist, zeigt die Innovation, die dieser Teil mitgeliefert hat. Zudem reizt das Spiel den NES ziemlich aus, was an einigen Stellen beeindruckt und an anderen dir das Spiel durch regelmäßige Slowdowns auch genug Zeit gibt wirklich alle Details richtig aufzusaugen.
Was it a good idea to give Kirby copy abilities? From a sales perspective, maybe so; but from a game design perspective, I'm not so sure.
I grew up with Kirby 64, and I always felt cheated when I'd bring in a copy ability to a midboss, and curb stomp it before its health bar had even loaded. Those poor developers had to design traditional boss attack patterns, and enemy projectiles for players to exhale back at them in case little Timmy wanders into a boss arena without a copy ability, and here I am, ignoring all that by spamming the B button. It also wasn't fun in the slightest to have to bring in copy abilities from other levels to break the color-coded blocks hiding crystal shards. It didn't test my skills or ingenuity, only my patience.
Last year, I picked up Kirby's Dream Land, which was a revelation. THIS is the game I suspected was buried underneath the incongruous copy ability mechanic! I really enjoyed the ebb and flow of inhaling and exhaling enemies, and actually having to learn and accommodate for Kirby's slow, unorthodox movement system.
Instead of copy abilities, traditional power-ups are sprinkled in for the developers to design level segments around; I found these sections - such as the bullet hell-like boss Kabula - to be much more engaging and memorable than usual Kirby fare.
The game is a little on the simple side, without the wrinkle in game design that copy abilities provide, sure, but I think its simplicity compliments its pick-up-and-play handheld format; and I doubt many of Dream Land's detractors have really engaged with its criminally overlooked extra mode.
But this is a review of Kirby's Adventure. Most everyone sees it as an unqualified upgrade from Dream Land - it added Kirby's signature copy abilities, how could it not be? Unfortunately, I see it as a downgrade.
In my opinion, Adventure is a much more bloated and haphazardly designed game. It feels like they stretched each level from Dream Land into an entire world, without adding anything engaging to make up for the increased length.
Several enemies, background elements and music tracks are recycled from Dream Land. Instead of funnelling the player into enemies and obstacles, levels are much more open, and Kirby takes up much less space on the screen. I found myself able to simply fly over obstacles much more often this time around.
Performance is rough, too. Slowdown in retro games doesn't really bother me, but here, it leads to temperamental controls. At first, I thought something was wrong with my NES controllers, but it's definitely the game's fault. Every tenth or so button input simply doesn't register, which was especially frustrating on this game's harder extra mode.
I can't help but feel that many of this game's problems result from squeezing in Kirby's copy abilities. The level design has to accommodate for whichever ability you might have, leading to bigger, blander spaces. Less tightly designed, engaging obstacle courses, and more empty rooms in which to experiment with copy abilities.
Level segments are occasionally designed around nearby enemy copy abilities. But the one hit loss of abilities often led to times where I'd be slowly walking along a long stretch clearly designed for the wheel ability, or slowly flying over a dozen trees laden with exploding coconuts clearly designed for the parasol, thinking, "Wow, this might have been kind of fun." The punishment for losing the copy ability is...being forced to easily beat the level in a less interesting way?
And just as in Kirby 64, bosses were pushovers if I didn't challenge myself by tossing my copy ability in the garbage beforehand. Of course, the exceptions are Meta Knight and the secret final boss, which force power-ups on you that ignore the usual one hit ability loss rule. And of course, these were the most engaging moments of the game for me, especially the tonally discordant spectacle of the Nightmare.
Was it a good idea to fracture Kirby's moveset via copy abilities? My experience so far says no. I tend to believe these games would have been better going the traditional collectible power-up route. It's possible that the execution has simply been lacking in the games I've played so far, so I'll withhold final judgment.
Overall, not a bad game, just underwhelming. I'm interested to hear any feedback on my ruminations. Next up is Super Star.
I grew up with Kirby 64, and I always felt cheated when I'd bring in a copy ability to a midboss, and curb stomp it before its health bar had even loaded. Those poor developers had to design traditional boss attack patterns, and enemy projectiles for players to exhale back at them in case little Timmy wanders into a boss arena without a copy ability, and here I am, ignoring all that by spamming the B button. It also wasn't fun in the slightest to have to bring in copy abilities from other levels to break the color-coded blocks hiding crystal shards. It didn't test my skills or ingenuity, only my patience.
Last year, I picked up Kirby's Dream Land, which was a revelation. THIS is the game I suspected was buried underneath the incongruous copy ability mechanic! I really enjoyed the ebb and flow of inhaling and exhaling enemies, and actually having to learn and accommodate for Kirby's slow, unorthodox movement system.
Instead of copy abilities, traditional power-ups are sprinkled in for the developers to design level segments around; I found these sections - such as the bullet hell-like boss Kabula - to be much more engaging and memorable than usual Kirby fare.
The game is a little on the simple side, without the wrinkle in game design that copy abilities provide, sure, but I think its simplicity compliments its pick-up-and-play handheld format; and I doubt many of Dream Land's detractors have really engaged with its criminally overlooked extra mode.
But this is a review of Kirby's Adventure. Most everyone sees it as an unqualified upgrade from Dream Land - it added Kirby's signature copy abilities, how could it not be? Unfortunately, I see it as a downgrade.
In my opinion, Adventure is a much more bloated and haphazardly designed game. It feels like they stretched each level from Dream Land into an entire world, without adding anything engaging to make up for the increased length.
Several enemies, background elements and music tracks are recycled from Dream Land. Instead of funnelling the player into enemies and obstacles, levels are much more open, and Kirby takes up much less space on the screen. I found myself able to simply fly over obstacles much more often this time around.
Performance is rough, too. Slowdown in retro games doesn't really bother me, but here, it leads to temperamental controls. At first, I thought something was wrong with my NES controllers, but it's definitely the game's fault. Every tenth or so button input simply doesn't register, which was especially frustrating on this game's harder extra mode.
I can't help but feel that many of this game's problems result from squeezing in Kirby's copy abilities. The level design has to accommodate for whichever ability you might have, leading to bigger, blander spaces. Less tightly designed, engaging obstacle courses, and more empty rooms in which to experiment with copy abilities.
Level segments are occasionally designed around nearby enemy copy abilities. But the one hit loss of abilities often led to times where I'd be slowly walking along a long stretch clearly designed for the wheel ability, or slowly flying over a dozen trees laden with exploding coconuts clearly designed for the parasol, thinking, "Wow, this might have been kind of fun." The punishment for losing the copy ability is...being forced to easily beat the level in a less interesting way?
And just as in Kirby 64, bosses were pushovers if I didn't challenge myself by tossing my copy ability in the garbage beforehand. Of course, the exceptions are Meta Knight and the secret final boss, which force power-ups on you that ignore the usual one hit ability loss rule. And of course, these were the most engaging moments of the game for me, especially the tonally discordant spectacle of the Nightmare.
Was it a good idea to fracture Kirby's moveset via copy abilities? My experience so far says no. I tend to believe these games would have been better going the traditional collectible power-up route. It's possible that the execution has simply been lacking in the games I've played so far, so I'll withhold final judgment.
Overall, not a bad game, just underwhelming. I'm interested to hear any feedback on my ruminations. Next up is Super Star.
Kirby is a classic character and this is his first game in color on the NES. There is no such thing as a "bad" Kirby game but this one does have a slight flaw: the way Kirby flies. In most Kirby games you tap the jump button to fly but in this game, you have to press up on the D-pad; this difference led to several deaths and made the game much more difficult than it needed to be for someone used to the usual controls. Still, this is a good game and a classic in gaming history.
Kirby’s Adventure is a late era NES game that pushes the console to its limits. While the gameplay vastly overshadows that of Dreamland on the Game Boy it suffers from slowdown at the mention of an attack being made. (I heard somewhere this might be due to Wii emulation instead of an innate game flaw)