Kirby's Dream Land (GB/C Review) by Zeypher

Kirby's Dream Land
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: HAL Laboratory
System: Gameboy
Release: August 3 1992, US

Story
There really isn't a whole lot of story here. Kirby is going through Dream Land to Dedede's Castle to beat King Dedede.

Sound 13/15
Each stage has around one-two different themes that play, but they sound pretty good. Basically all the songs in the game have a real nice catchy tune to them, and they have an upbeat feeling to them. Sound effects are nice as well.

Graphics 17/20
For a Gameboy game, Kirby's Dream Land actually has some pretty nice visuals. Everything is in black and white of course, but the sprites and backgrounds are very detailed.


Appeal 14/25
This game took me literally 30 minutes to beat. Kirby games are generally really easy, but this one takes the cake. There are four main stages, and then Dedede's castle where you fight the main four bosses again and then take on the King. Because there isn't a save function, highscores aren't saved and you can't quit halfway through the game. You shouldn't really have a problem with this though, since the game is really easy and really short. The bottom line though, is that it's tons of fun. If you mildly enjoy platformers, you'll most likely have some fun with this game.

Gameplay 28/40
Kirby is able to walk, run, jump, swim, suck, and float. Sucking in enemies and spitting them back out is Kirby's main method of combat. In later Kirby games, enemy abilities could be absorbed when they're sucked in by Kirby, but sadly that isn't the case in this game. Kirby can also float for an infinite amount of time, so that really makes the game easy because you can just float right over or around enemies. If Kirby's six-bar health meter is depleted, Kirby dies and you lose a life. As stated above, there are four main stages and then the final stage which has boss battle repeats and King Dedede, so the game isn't very long at all.

Overall72/100
If you're a Kirby fan chances are you've already played this classic. If you're looking for a fun and short game, Kirby's Dream Land is sure to fill that void. It isn't anything worth spending a lot of time to find, but if you have a copy lying around somewhere, give it a whirl.

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