Kirby's Dreamland (Gameboy)

They say you always remember your first. Normally this is a phrase reserved for a first kiss, a first love, a first… well, you get the idea. But there are many firsts that a lot of people just can’t forget, myself included.

Nintendo is a company that is associated with a lot of firsts. First home console after the gaming crash of the 80’s, first successful handheld console. For the vast majority of gamers, Nintendo was the company that they started out with, and I am no exception to this particular rule.

In my house, we had plenty of what is now referred to as that old school, retro goodness. Original Nintendo, SNES, that big clunky, 4-battery, green screen, able to adjust the darkness when the batteries start to run low but not so low that the game shuts off but you still can hardly see brick of a Gameboy. And that brings me to what I am writing about today.

While some could put on the rose tinted Nostalgia glasses for things like Atari, or at the very least a home console, my first was a handheld. Not the first game I ever played, that distinction falls to something on the NES to be sure. But the first one that was mine, that I could say that I owned, was the Gameboy. On that fateful birthday oh so many years ago, I got this monstrosity of a handheld and two games. A match the falling bricks puzzle game called Yoshi, and the topic for today, Kirby’s Dreamland.

Over the course of the last few decades, Nintendo has become synonymous with video games, creating a number of different game series’ and mastering a few select genres. Through this skill in level and character design, certain types of games have been invaluable to both my collection and my life. While I am a fan of many genre’s, there is a special place in my heart for the Mascot Platformer. Super Mario, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, and yes, today’s topic, Kirby.

These days, Kirby is known for its incredibly easy level design, almost complete lack of difficulty, and stealing powers from the various enemies throughout the land. As this is the first game in a long running series that continues to this very day, a lot of what we know of now is present and accounted for. But there is also quite a bit of difference.

In modern Kirby days, you can suck and swallow your adversaries and steal their powers. In this game however there is no power stealing capabilities, although the aforementioned borderline de-monetized language is quite accurate here. You get a healthbar of six, and make your way from one side of the screen to the other to be interrupted by a few alternate paths and a mid boss here and there. At the end of the first four main levels you are greeted with a boss befitting the area you are in.

The reason for all this? A dastardly villain by the name of King Dedede has stolen the Power Stars of Dreamland. Well, they’re called Twinkle Stars, but it’s the same thing really. These stars are what keeps the denizens of Dreamland fed, hence the meaning of Kirby’s one and only “power”. Each boss at the end of the worlds you explore is guarding one of these Stars, and it’s Kirby’s job to defeat the boss and regain the Star.

Despite a lack of power stealing, you do get a little bit of variety. There’s the Microphone power up that clears an entire screen of enemies. There’s a lollipop that makes you invincible. A hot Curry plate that allows you to shoot fireballs for a brief period of time. And finally, a mint leaf that puffs you up and allows you to fly and shoot air pellets without falling. That last power is used in a boss fight too!

The final stage of five sees you revisiting each of the first four “worlds” to combat each of the bosses one more time to open up the final boss fight. Considering this was an original 8-bit gameboy game, this was most likely a way to pad out the game’s run time a tad. Altogether, an experienced gamer could probably make their way from start to end credits in about half an hour, even faster if you’ve played it once or twice before. Not necessarily a bad thing for a portable game with no save files, and definitely a positive thing for any younger players looking for a way to pass the time.

What few powers are available also have some thought put into them too. At one point in the Third world, you can grab the fire curry, and there’s a side area with a healing potion and 1up… but they’re underwater. Each of the powers lasts a set amount of time, but diving into the water with the fire power active actually stops the power from working anymore. The flying / floating form of Kirby also stops you from sinking underwater. It may not be much, but in a tiny little game during gaming’s early years, to me, this level of thought is impressive.

Unfortunately, the shortness of this game means that’s pretty much all there is to it. While other games in this genre, or even future entries in the series expand on the moveset significantly and offer greater variety in level design and enemy types, as this is the first, this one is short and sweet. While the simplicity works for me, both as a handheld game and the first of its series, I would be lying if I said that in this day and age that I wouldn’t want a little bit more.

This series is more than just about reviewing old games though. Nostalgia has a tendency to cloud objectivity, and while a review will always be subjective, I think context is key. One of the ways we can understand someone’s thoughts and feelings behind what they enjoy would be to take a look at what was going on in their life at the time. While I could never speak for anyone else, I can absolutely speak to my own memories and experiences.

I will always remember my first time with this game, and how I wound up getting it. I was in the second grade, and was pulled out of class just before lunch time on my Birthday. I was called into the principals office, but before I got there I saw my mom and dad in the opening area of school. We had Pizza Hut at a time when they had an All You Can Eat buffet, and naturally I overate and loved it!

From there, we went back to my mom’s friends place, who was also my babysitter. A few months earlier, my brother’s birthday took place there, and they had designed a trivia game for him. They did something similar for me, and at the end of it my prize: The original brick Gameboy system with both Kirby’s Dreamland and the Yoshi puzzle game. One day I most likely will talk about that game as well.

It’s easy to look at this game now and see how easy it was, but I was 8 years old the first time I tried to play this and actually saw the dreaded Game Over screen a few times before finally besting King Dedede.

Not all of my memories about this game were happy ones though. I remember when I was a little older, my father and I took a trip to Niagara Falls for a vacation. Since the ride was about an 8 hour drive including stops along the way, I usually brought one of my portable systems with me, with a few games. You’ll notice my tastes run the gamut of … well pretty much everything playable, and my mood swings from type to type basically at random. Kirby was one of the games I took with me on this trip, but for reasons I do not understand, it did not return with me. By the time I realized it was missing, we were already back at home.

It was several years later when I found a used copy for three Canadian dollars at a thrift store. Naturally I snagged it without a moment’s hesitation to return Kirby’s Dreamland to its rightful place in my gaming collection. I then proceeded to beat the game in twenty minutes flat in celebration.

I have loved all things gaming for as long as I can remember, but in the early years pre-internet, the best you could hope for was magazine articles and the ads within the game packages themselves for any gaming information. Nowadays you do a random Google search and you’ll get a bunch of subreddits and theories on all your favorite games, but... And boy do I feel old saying this one, but back in my day, you had word of mouth and the magazine rack.

It should come as no surprise then that I was a big fan of watching nearly anything gaming related, if only because there was so little of it in the first place. So at the risk of sounding braggy, up here in Canada we had a show that brings up all my nostalgia feels. Video and Arcade Top Ten, hosted by Nicolas Picolas… because YTV liked its word play. The main program was a group of kids trying to get the furthest in a given game, kind of like an early version of what Twitch is right now, and in between you get the host playing a commentary role.

He would also occasionally give out codes and tips on certain games, which brings me to the entire point of me bringing this up. There were two very specific ones he gave for Kirby’s Dreamland. One for the Extra mode, which I will get to in just a sec, and another for a bonus Option menu. Both of these codes could be found in the game itself after beating the final boss, but having them ahead of time was always fun.

I spent more time than I’d like to admit in the Bonus menu. There was really only two options: A toggle to increase your default life total, which was moderately useless for the main game given how very easy it is, and a Music mode, where you can listen to the soundtrack and sound effects. I grew up with a limited selection of games, but this music mode was wonderful for me!

In future reviews I will most likely bring this up as well, but any game that allows me to listen to the songs from that game gets a stamp of approval from me. Again, this is a time before the internet. Nowadays there are ways of having access to just about any game’s soundtrack, but in the before time, in the long long ago, this was one of my favorite aspects of any game. I definitely link Kirby’s soundtrack mode as the beginning of my love and appreciation for not only the gameplay and story elements of gaming, but the atmosphere and auditory aspects as well.

But enough of my memories, how does this game end? You’ve made it past the four primary worlds of Kirby’s Dreamland. You’ve defeated the minions of King Dedede, and standing in your way of seeing the end credits is a royal.. Evil… penguin thing? He’s got a hammer to smack you around with, hops up and smashes down again, and does this running headbut thing. With the hammer and jumping attacks, stars appear so with some good spatial sense you can grab the star and spit it right back at his face. Do it enough times and he will be sent flying out of his castle, ending his tyranny.

Truth be told, all the bosses except the blimp in world three is like this, and the strategy of suck up an item to spit at the boss was my strategy not only in this Kirby game, but every Kirby game that I played. On the one hand, when powers may have made things easier, I would just avoid them due to my past experience with this game. That being said, it taught me a certain level of patience, and to observe the boss patterns.

After the final boss and the credits are done rolling, you get the first of the aforementioned bonus codes, this one for the Extra Hard mode. This mode has you go through all the same levels again, only this time the game wants its revenge. Anyone who says that Kirby is way too easy… well, they’re right, but chances are they never went through Hard mode.

Enemies hit harder, even basic enemies have changed their attack patterns. Boss fights have new attacks, and it’s almost like playing a completely different game. I remember after the first time I beat normal mode, I tried out Extra and I don’t think I went any further than the second world. It was just too difficult for my young self, and I could not wrap my head around the increased difficulty.

Under normal circumstances, I am not a completionist. If I beat the game on easy, and get to see the credits, I’m good. Sure, I’ll do a few things on the side if I really get into a game, but the 100% was never really a consistent for me. That being said, for the purposes of this review, and just to say that I could actually do it, I did go through Extra mode and was glad I did. The runtime significantly increased, as did my total death count. I even saw the dreaded Game Over screen a couple of times in the process.

Now the moment you’ve all been waiting for. The purpose of both this whole review and bringing up my own memories and experiences here is to showcase whether or not a particular game is worth playing in present times. Do I like and appreciate this game because of Nostalgia, or because the game is solid enough to stand on its own.

For Kirby’s Dreamland, yes I believe the game is worth playing today. In future Kirby games, the gameplay is arguably completely different: you’re going around, acquiring new powers from the enemies you are defeating, and traversing the levels with those powers. Here though, it’s much simpler, you’re relying more on your skill as a player… even though you could also arguably just float your way through the entire game without actually running around.

There’s also the fact that there is a bonus Hard mode to go through. Most other Kirby games will give you a Boss Rush or a few bonus mini-games, but this one gives you an entire new difficulty setting, one that is legitimately tough to get to the end of. Even now, as a much older, potentially more skilled player, the second playthrough is a test of my abilities.

And finally, the main original version of this game will take you half an hour tops to go through, and that’s really not a bad time at all. It’s short, it’s sweet, it’s simple, and who doesn’t like that.

Final Verdict: Yes, it is indeed Worth it.