Sunday 21 February 2016

Kirby's Adventure (NES review)

Developer: HAL Laboratory
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: 1993
 

Kirby's Adventure is an action-platformer and the sequel to the Game Boy original known as Kirby's Dream Land (1992). 

 
Your job is to defeat King Dedede and reclaim the seven parts of the Star Rod. The gameplay is similar to the original as Kirby can inhale enemies and spit them out as projectiles. However, the major change here is that he can now copy the abilities of 20+ enemies and attack with power-ups that include a Hammer and a Sword. Each level is short but full of imagination and diversity; for example, one minute you're on a tropical beach, the next you're in a cave, before climbing a treehouse. Other times you'll be piloting a UFO and destroying everything in sight with your Beam, or lighting a fuse and quickly jumping into a cannon to blast off to a distant cloud! You're kept fully engaged throughout and there's tons of secret areas that can only be accessed if you're holding the right weapon. The huge range of power-ups mean you can play the game several times without getting bored as they force you to attack the levels in different ways; in particular the Wheel barges through everything in its path, while the Laser turns the gameplay into a Mega Man clone of sorts! Cool mini-games can be accessed from the hub screen which include Crane Fever where you move a crane inside an Arcade style machine to grab extra lives. Each boss fight is awesome and highlights includes the tree that rains down apples, and a machine that bulldozes its way through a bunker while firing bombs. The game saves your progress which is great considering it's a lengthy adventure. The graphics are gorgeous with beautiful texture detail and top-notch animation, and the music is catchy with plenty of upbeat tracks.
 
Kirby's Adventure is a gem in the NES library and it's clear that so much thought went into every little detail. It's a massive improvement to the already excellent Game Boy original and its sheer scale and beautiful, ever-changing level design make this an action-platformer you simply owe it to yourself to play.
 
 
 
Random trivia: The game was re-released on the Wii Virtual Console in 2007.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Find a Review