NES Review: Kirby's Adventure

Review by: Pikaboo

I'm sure you've played as Kirby in Super Smash Bros, on the handhelds, and maybe even on the virtual console. But have you played the game that first introduced Kirby on a home console and made the successful Nintendo franchise it is today? That game is Kirby's Adventure on the NES, the second game in the Kirby franchise (Kirby's Dream Land being the first). You can purchase this game for 500 Points on the Wii's Virtual Console, the equivalent of $5 US. It has also been remade on the Game Boy Advance as Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land. Kirby's Adventure is the game that made Kirby's copy ability his main move throughout the next Kirby games to come.

The story starts when Kirby wakes up from his sleep without any dreams. Kirby soon discovers that King Dedede has stolen the Star Rod, the Fountain of Dreams' power, and separated them into 7 pieces scattered across 7 different worlds. To get those 7 pieces back, Kirby must venture across those worlds and defeat six bosses that hold the Star Pieces, and then eventually defeat King Dedede who hold the seventh piece. However, when Kirby obtains all 7 star pieces and puts them back together into the Fountain of Dreams, a dark creature named Nightmare appears from the fountain. Kirby then discovers that the Star Rod had been corrupted by Nightmare and King Dedede only broke the pieces for the good of all Dream Land. Kirby must then use the Star Rod to defeat Nightmare and save Dream Land.

The thing that separated this game from Kirby's Dream Land was the ability to copy your enemies' powers. Kirby could just suck them up and swallow them to gain the abilities of the monster he consumed. For instance, if he swallowed a fire enemy, Kirby would be able to breathe out fire. If Kirby were to swallow a sword-wielding warrior, Kirby would now be the one with the sword in his hand. You get the point, right? Alongside his copy ability, Kirby can also puff up by inhaling air and inhaling more air, causing him to be able to fly. To release this flight, Kirby can just exhale.



Kirby is the basic platformer where you start at Point A and you have to go to Point B. Of course, in Kirby's Adventure going from point to point is as fun as it can get. Eat monsters, use their powers to kill more monsters, take down the occasional boss or two. Kirby's Adventure took everything that was great from Kirby's Dreamland and added the twist of copying abilities, a concept that only Megaman really used at the time. The best thing of the game was its autosave feature. Most NES games used a password system to start at certain points in the game, which, as it sounds, is a boring and tedious chore.

For its time period, Kirby's Adventure was one of the best looking games on the NES (probably because it was released towards the end of the NES generation). This is a game that is colorful and fun to look at, while still doing a good job of keeping upbeat and flavorful. The amount of different colors and tones used to bring the scenarios to life is astounding. Some may even say it looks almost like a Super Nintendo game, which I partly agree with: just not as detailed. Kirby's Adventure is basically a journey that has colorful environments, enemies, and levels.

Kirby's Adventure holds some of the most catchiest tunes in all of the NES history. Much like its graphics, Kirby's Adventure has many upbeat and light-hearted songs in the bunch. Even when fighting the bosses, it feels as though the song could just be a little too up-tempo. As far as sound goes, it is always happy, no matter what. I just wish they could have given some parts a more darker feel to it, but not too much as it should feel fitting with its level design.

The controls are very basic as one button is to jump and another button is to suck. You can press the down on the D-pad to swallow. You use the D-Pad to move and, if you prefer, the up button on the D-Pad to jump. To consecutively fly, repeatedly press your prefered jump button. Simple, very simple.

As far as replay value goes, even after you're finished you can go back to previous levels and replay them all you want. Alongside levels, you can also play minigames including a crane pick-up game, a Wild West Shootout, etc. If you want to complete the game 100% I can almost guarantee that you will have to go back to each World at least twice, so if you're a perfectionist gamer go for it, if you're not you may come to this game in a couple of years just to replay some old levels. If you're a new fan of Kirby, buy this on you're Virtual Console. If you have Super Smash Bros. Brawl, check out your 'Masterpieces' section.