Kirby’s Adventure review (NES, Wii VC). Kirby is colored a glorious shade of pink for his home console debut

Kirby's Adventure for NESKirby’s Adventure marked the cute puffball’s home-console debut where he appeared in glorious pink for the first time in a game that is highly regarded as one of the best titles for Nintendo’s first game system.

In addition, Kirby’s Adventure was one of the last titles released for the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). The game was developed by Nintendo-second-party HAL Laboratory (where current Nintendo President Satoru Iwata originally hailed from), and wasn’t released until March 23rd 1993 in Japan, May 1st 1993 in the U.S. and December 9th 1993 in Europe.

To put that into some perspective, the Super NES (aka Super Nintendo, the follow-up to the regular Nintendo) was released in August of 1991 in the United States, making Kirby’s Adventure two years late to the NES party and marking the start of Kirby’s trend of not appearing on Nintendo systems until late in their shelf life. By 1993 interest in the NES was waning as developers and consumers shifted their focus to the more powerful 16-bit SNES platform which meant that a lot of gamers missed out on Kirby’s first console adventure.

Thankfully the game was re-made for a newer generation on the Game Boy Advance with Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland, which was released in December of 2002. This remake of Kirby’s Adventure sported upgraded graphics and music among other additions. Kirby’s Adventure was subsequently released on the Wii Virtual Console in February of 2007 allowing for legions of Wii owners to get their hands on a title that most probably missed. And a game that is still great to play even in 2009.

Kirby’s first colored adventure was also the only game in the Kirby series to appear on the NES and even marked the debut of Kirby’s copy ability which wasn’t available in Kirby’s first title (Kirby’s Dreamland for the original Game Boy). In addition to appearing in black and white due to the Game Boy’s lack of a colored screen in Kirby’s Dreamland, he was even colored white on the North American Kirby’s Dreamland box and instruction manual (he was pinkscale in the Japanese box and instructions and was colored white by the American crew in error). Which made his colorful debut in pink in Kirby’s Adventure all the more surprising.

So given the long-storied history of Kirby’s Adventure, how does the aging platformer released way back in 1993 hold-up to today in 2009?


Kirby's Adventure Title Screenshot

System: NES (Nintendo Entertainment System)
Also On: Wii Virtual Console, Game Boy Advance as a remake (Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland)
Release Dates
RELEASE DATES
NES – USA May 1st, 1993 – EUR December 9th, 1993 – JAP March 23, 1993
GBA as Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland – USA December 2nd, 2002 – JAP October 25th, 2002
Wii – USA February 12th, 2007 – EUR – February 16th, 2007 – JAP February 27th, 2007
Genre: Side-Scrolling Action Platformer
Players: One Player
Save: 3 Save Files. The game saves automatically after each level you complete.
Controllers Supported: GameCube, Wii Remote, Wii Classic Controller
Developer: HAL Laboratory
Publisher: Nintendo
Origin: Japan
Rated: E for Everyone
Space Required: 27 Blocks (USA), 32 Blocks (EU)

I will confess that I have never really played a Kirby game before. I did own Kirby’s Pinball Land on the original Game Boy and had played around with it but never really sat down to try and finish the game. I had naturally seen Kirby around at friend’s houses, I rented Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards a few times and I was obviously aware of the character being an avid gamer and reading about him in video game magazines. But Kirby, like Zelda and Final Fantasy, was lost on my young life as I never actually owned a Kirby game until well into my game collecting days.

So naturally I was very excited to see Kirby’s Adventure released on the Wii Virtual Console and it was one of the first Virtual Console games that I purchased. I only have just now gotten around to sitting down and playing the game from beginning to end though given all the other games I have to play. But now that I have, I can say without hesitation that Kirby’s Adventure is an awesome NES game!

Kirby's Adventure - Puffing Kirby Screenshot

As long as you are looking for nothing more than a cool and unique platformer that is simply fun and nothing more. Like all Kirby games, the storyline doesn’t really matter and in fact the game does not have an in-game story outside of the text before and after the game. If you wait on the title screen you will be given shown a tutorial of how the game plays as well as a preview of a few of the special abilities that Kirby can get from eating his foes (including a boss). Wait further and you will see a screen that tells you the game’s story.

Kirby's Adventure Crisis in Dreamland Story Artwork

Here is the short version of the story

One day the inhabitants of “Dream Land”, Kirby’s home, were struck by a mysterious crisis, they all stopped having dreams! The good dreams come from the “Dream Spring” which is fueled by the Star Rod. Kirby, ever the hero, went to investigate and found the naughty King Dedede swimming in the spring’s clear waters! HOW DARE HE POLLUTE IT! (Okay, I added that part). Being caught, King Dedede breaks the Star Rod into six pieces and hands it over to his “friends”, which naturally become the bosses that you will fight in your adventure. It is now up to Kirby to get the Star Rod pieces back and save Dream Land so that it’s citizens can sleep again!

The version above is the gist of the storyline in the game that you are given within the game itself if you wait a while on the title screen. But the game manual, as is typical with these old NES games, goes into much more detail on the game’s storyline.

So here is the LONG version of the story (feel free to skip it if you want):

Light years away . . . On a tiny star not visible from Earth, is the magical, peaceful place
known as Dream Land. The beings that inhabit this wondrous world live in a
blissful existence that centers on eating, sleeping and playing. An example
of their care-free customs include the traditional after-lunch feast nap.
After they awaken from their nap, the Dream Landers discuss their dreams and
fervently hope that each other’s fondest wishes come true.

One day, a young Dream Lander named Kirby awoke from his after-lunch nap
feeling terrible. “What happened?” he wondered to himself. “I didn’t have
any dreams during my lunch nap!” This lack of dreams left Kirby feeling
very uneasy. After talking to some of his friends, he found that the
problem was much more serious than he had thought, for they had not
experienced any dreams either! “Something must have happened to the Dream
Spring!” they exclaimed in unison.

The Dream Spring is a magical well that is a reservoir for all the dreams of
the inhabitants of Dream Land. Dreams also flow out of the Dream Spring and
envelop Dream Land, granting all sleeping beings enjoyable dreams.

Kirby's Adventure Instruction Book Storyline Part 1

Legends told that the Dream Spring was created by a magical artifact known as
the Star Rod. The sparkling star on the tip of this scepter was an actual
fragment of a star that had landed in Dream Land in the distant past. The
Star Rod now provided energy to the Dream Spring and served as the very
symbol of Dream Land.

The lack of dreams made everyone in Dream Land feel restless and irritable.
The joyful laughter that had once resounded throughout Dream Land could no
longer be heard at all. Things were bleak. Kirby, the roly-poly hero of
Dream Land, boldly announced his intention to investigate the Dream Spring
and find the cause of all the trouble.

Upon reaching the Dream Spring, who did he find but King Dedede, bathing in
its magical waters! In the past (see Kirby’s Dream Land for Game Boy), King
Dedede had caused mischief in Dream Land by stealing all the Dream Landers’
food and Sparkling Stars. Now, in the middle of the Dream Spring, in place
of the Star Rod, sat Dedede, covered with bubble bath.

Kirby's Adventure Instruction Book Storyline Part 2

“So, you’re up to your old tricks again, eh, Dedede?!”, accused Kirby.

“What are you talking about, young pudge ball?”, Dedede looked surprised. “I
thought I’d do everyone a favor by…”

“No, no no!” Kirby shook his head. “I won’t listen to your tricks! What
have you done with the Star Rod?!”

“Oh, that old thing,” Dedede said nonchalantly. “I broke it into seven
pieces and gave each piece to one of my friends…”

“What was Dedede thinking?!”, Kirby wondered. Before hearing any more of
what Dedede had to say, Kirby set off on the long trek to gather the pieces
of the Star Rod and return them to the Dream Spring. Hopefully, he could
return the sparkly to the Dream Spring so that the people of Dream Land
could again enjoy their happy midday naps.

Wait a bit further after the story and you can see a cute little diagram of how to draw Kirby (draw a circle, dot the eyes and give him a big smile). This type of uber-cute style is part of what makes Kirby’s Adventure such a charming title. Thankfully that even translates to the game itself with Kirby’s cute and funny animations. Before each world you will also see a hilarious little opening where some funny situation always befalls Kirby, such as one where he trips and rolls down the side of a mountain or falls into the water and is chased by a shark.

Kirby’s Adventure is a 2D side-scrolling platformer that has Kirby making his way through seven worlds made up of multiple levels (anywhere from four to six normal levels) with the goal to simply reach the end door (which will be lit up by a star) in each stage. Stages are full of various enemies and obstacles as Kirby goes from one section of the level to the next via doors until he reaches the end. The stages in the game are typical platformer fair although they can still be fun and challenging and you will die easily if you do not watch out for enemies and their attacks. Although you can skip most enemies and not even fight them if you want, you will eventually come across sections that will be easier for you to take the enemies out or parts where you will need to battle a mini-boss and won’t be able to proceed until they are defeated.

Kirby's Adventure World Map Screenshot

The “world map” in Kirby’s Adventure is an area where doors allow you to enter the game’s levels and you can freely choose which over ones you have unlocked by pressing up to enter a door. Initially only one door will be available and the others will be blocked. Beating a level will open up a new level and sometimes bonus doors. Some bonus doors are also hidden and can be activated by hitting switches and uncovering secrets within the game’s stages.

Bonus doors include a mini-game door, a museum door, and an arena door as well as the Boss Door and a “Warp Star” Door that allows you to visit a previous world.

Kirby's Adventure World Map Instruction Book Breakdown

Mini-Games include: Crane Fever (You get two changes to move a crane and pick up a big or small Kirby), Quick Draw (Press the A Button as quick as you can after the words “draw” hit the screen to shoot your opponent in several duals against various enemy characters) and Egg Catcher. Egg Catcher is by far my favorite. In this game King Dedede will throw eggs mixed in with bombs at you from the turnbuckle of a boxing ring. As they rain down you press the A Button to open Kirby’s mouth and let go to close it. Dedede will only throw a set number and your goal is to try and eat all the eggs without eating any of the bombs. All of these mini-games will get harder if you succeed and your reward will extra lives.

Kirby's Adventure Crane Fever Mini-Game Screenshot

The Museum Door gives you one or two enemies whose abilities you can copy and you can go into this door to get an ability at any time in between levels (you can do these for all the doors except the Mini-Game doors), the Arena door has you fighting a mini-boss which will allow you to win a Maxim Tomato (which gives you health) as well as whatever ability the enemy has which you can get by sucking him up after beating him and copying his ability.

Kirby's Adventure Moving Controls Instruction Book Artwork

The controls in Kirby’s Adventure are very simple although the game is a bit more complex than one would initially expect due to the way Kirby animates, jumps and floats. I will explain the controls as modeled after the NES controller which features a control pad, A and B Button and start and select buttons.

The control pad is used to make Kirby walk left and right while double tapping left or right will make Kirby run. Pressing the up button will make Kirby inhale air and float. If you keep tapping up he will keep on floating as he bobs up and down with the air in his mouth. Kirby can float indefinitely unless Kirby has an enemy in his mouth at which point he cannot float.

Kirby's Adventure Instruction Book Controls Artwork

Pressing the B Button while puffed will allow Kirby to shoot the air out as a star that can damage enemies, giving you a way to attack without having a power from an enemy, although you can also attack by holding the down button and pressing A or B which will make Kirby do a sliding kick attack along the ground. And naturally, if you exhale by pressing B when floating he will fall back to the ground.

Kirby's Adventure Jump Controls Artwork

You press the A Button to jump. Lastly, pressing and holding the B Button to cause Kirby to suck in air with a huge inhale; Keep it held to keep on inhaling. If an enemy gets caught in the vicinity of the inhale they will sucked into his mouth. If you press the B Button Kirby will shoot the enemy back out as a weapon. However if you press the down button when you have an enemy in Kirby’s mouth Kirby will copy that enemy’s special ability or power.

To get rid of a power you press the Select Button and the power will bounce out of Kirby as a star. Once an ability has been released you can grab it again by sucking in the star. You will also loves abilities if you are hit by an enemy attack, the power will get knocked out of you and bounce around as a star. This will sometimes require you to chase it down although it will only bounce around so much before it bursts and that ability will be gone.

Believe it or not, Kirby’s copy ability (which has become his signature ability) actually made it’s debut in this game and NOT in Kirby’s debut title (Kirby’s Dreamland for Game Boy) where Kirby was able to inhale enemies into his mouth but not able to copy their abilities.

Kirby's Adventure Ice Level Screenshot

This copying ability of Kirby’s is what makes Kirby’s Adventure such a fun game. There are a ton of different ways to attack enemies based on the game’s 24 different abilities that you can gain from sucking in and copying the abilities of your foes. In addition, it’s always fun when you first play the game and don’t know what abilities are in the game and what enemies give you which ability. This makes sucking in each enemy like opening a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get! That’s particularly true if you suck in more than one enemy; If each of them have different abilities then the game will cycle between them and then randomly pick a power.

Kirby's Adventure Inhale Artwork from Instruction Book

The list of powers in the game is quite extensive and really gives you a wide range of moves that Kirby can perform. Of course certain enemies only appear on certain levels so it’s not like you’ll have immediate and absolute access to every power on every level, some levels may only feature a few powers.

Here is the full list of enemy abilities that you will find in Kirby’s Adventure (skip the list of you want to avoid spoilers):

1. Fire: Holding B makes Kirby shoot a short range flamethrower in front of him. This is one of the most useful powers, one of the first ones you will get in the game, and in my personal opinion, one of the best powers of them all. It’s simply very easy to use and very lethal to anything that comes in your path. It’s much easier to use than say Spark IMHO.
2. Fireball: Kirby transforms into a fireball and thrusts forward at a rapid speed before coming to a halt by transforming back into normal Kirby. This is not only one of the coolest looking powers in the game but also my personal favorite. It’s so cool to “dash” across the screen and you can kind of chain the fireball-thrusts together by pressing the button again just as Kirby transforms back into his normal self.
3. Stone: Kirby turns into an invulnerable rock. If he activates this in mid-air, he plummets to the ground which will kill any enemies in his path. This is the infamous Kirby power that you see in the Super Smash Bros. series that Kirby can activate by pressing the Down+B button in those games.
4. Needle: Holding B sprouts protective spikes in all directions. This is one of those powers that looks really cool (PORCUPINE!) but can be kind of hard to use, especially if you try to jump towards an enemy and then activate it to kill them. It’s much more effective to simply let enemies walk into you. And it’s very effective for when you have enemies walking on a platform above, you can simply activate it below the platform and have them walk off the edge and land on you.
5. Mike: Each time it’s used, Mike Kirby kills all enemies on screen by screaming (METAL STYLE!) into a microphone. Mike Kirby can only be used three times and much like Crash (which also destroys all the enemies on the screen) it will not destroy blocks and such like other powers can.
6. Cutter: Kirby can throw up to three spinning blades that go forward a short distance and boomerang back. This is one of the coolest and most useful powers in the game and another favorite of mine.

Kirby's Adventure Copying Enemy Abilities Artwork

7. Laser: Kirby shoots a laser beam that can ricochet off of 45 degree angles. You rarely will get into situations where you can shoot the laser off of walls, roofs or diagonal surfaces. But this weapon is one of the best and one of my favorites since you can easily shoot enemies from afar. Although always with lasers, the actual beam is a skinny line so it’s easy to miss enemies if you don’t time your shot right.
8. Crash: Kirby destroys all enemies on screen, and does significant damage to bosses. The Crash ability is one of the most useful simply because it destroys every enemy on the screen although there are certain things it won’t destroy such as bricks.
9. Ice: Holding B makes Kirby shoot out ice that can freeze enemies. The frozen enemies can then be used to take out other foes by walking up to the frozen enemy which is now a brick and walking into it which will kick at forward and destroy any enemies that are in the way.
10. Back Drop: Kirby will suck an enemy into his mouth and then by pressing a direction on the D-pad you can make Kirby perform a wrestling move that will kill the enemy in a single strike. A very powerful attack.
11. Ball: Kirby turns into a bouncy ball. He can jump very high and will kill enemies that he jumps into. He is a bit unweildly as a ball though and I always felt that moving him around as Ball Kirby was a bit hard to get used to. It’s also important to note that you can’t kill enemies simply by rolling into them, you must bounce into them which can sometimes be hard to do.
12. Light: In dark areas, the light power will light up the stage so that you can see. This power is really only a single use type of thing as you will only encounter it a few times throughout the entire game and it does not harm enemies in any way, it simply allows you to see.
13. Beam: Kirby shoots a short range beam that shoots out in a kind of half circle around Kirby from top to bottom. The kind of misleadingly named “Beam Kirby” is one of my favorites even though the attack is such a simple one. But it’s extremely useful because it will go through certain walls and blocks so that you can kill enemies that are above or below you that you may not be able to hit otherwise.
14. Parasol: Kirby gets a cute parasol that protects him from above and slows his fall. He also can swing it to kill enemies. This is one of those powers that you either love or hate. Using it to float is kind of weird and it ended up being a power that I never really used.

Kirby's Adventure Spark Kirby Screenshot

15. Freeze: Holding B radiates an ice field around Kirby which freezes enemies (much like the Spark attack). The frozen enemies can then be used to take out other foes. This attack isn’t very different than the Ice attack.
16. Hammer: Kirby holds a giant hammer that kills anything it hits when swung. If you just press B while on the ground he’ll swing it in front of him vertically and smash enemies that come in his way but if you jump in the air and press B he’ll swing it around him kind of like the Sword. Hammer Kirby is by far one of my favorites.
17. Sleep: Kirby falls asleep for a short time . . . I didn’t get to test this out cause I forgot to do it while playing but I believe that Sleep Kirby does just that . . . sleep! In other words, the power has no purpose. At least I THINK that it doesn’t heal your health when you sleep. If it did then it would be useful obviously. Otherwise it’s just kind of like a dummy power, if you copy an enemy with the sleep power then it puts you to sleep and puts you at risk of being attacked.
18. Spark: Kirby electrifies the air around him, killing any enemies who venture too close. This power is a pretty cool one as sparks fly off of Kirby in a radious around him kind of like a cloud (they don’t shoot out or anything and it doesn’t reach very far). Like Spike Kirby Spark Kirby is most useful if you allow enemies to walk into you.
19. Sword: Kirby dons a sword with a picture that resembles that of Link from The Legend of Zelda and will swing the sword to destroy enemies. If you press the B Button while jumping in the air Kirby will twirl with the sword outstretched allowing you to jump into enemies and kill them. It is difficult to get the timing down sometimes though and can be hard to use.
20. Hi-Jump: Kirby jumps extremely high and is invulnerable. The player can control the trajectory somewhat. Since you can’t be hit while jumping this makes the ability quite useful if you can learn how to control him without getting hit when he lands.
21. Tornado: Kirby becomes an invulnerable, if hard to control, whirlwind for a short time. This ability can be really useful if you can learn how to use it but it is one of the hardest abilities to learn how to control in the game since it is wild, and it is one that I hardly use.
22. Wheel: Kirby screams along the ground as a fast-moving and invulnerable wheel that makes him control much like Sonic from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. As long as you keep the B Button held down Kirby will remain a wheel and you can use the right and left buttons on the D-Pad to make Kirby change course. Press the B Button to change Kirby from a wheel back into normal.
23. Throw: Kirby sucks in enemies and throws them in the direction the player presses on the d-pad. This is one of the coolest powers in the game and one of the funnest ones to use especially if you get a string of enemies and just throw them one right after the other. It’s also the second power next to the Back Drop where you an use the D-Pad to do different animations.
24. UFO: Kirby turns into a speedy UFO that has several powerful attacks. It takes a while to get used to not only controlling UFO Kirby but also learning how each of the attacks work. If my memory serves correct, you hold the B Button and then let go to shoot out a laser, tap it to shoot out a beam (like Beam Kirby) and I think there’s one more (I’ll update this when I turn the game on and confirm).

What’s really cool about the levels in Kirby’s Adventure is that most of the time the levels are built to take advantage of certain abilities. For example, a level may prominently feature enemies that give you the Fireball ability which allows Kirby to turn into a fireball and launch forward in a quick burst before turning back to normal. You will then encounter sections of a level that feature platforms separated by gaps. If you fall into the gaps you will die. So an easy way to pass this section is to simply use Fireball Kirby to across the platforms one by one, taking out the enemies on them in the process. However you must be careful because if you overshoot or hit an enemy after turning back to normal you may fall into the hole, as certain attacks from enemies will literally knock Kirby back. And you want to avoid contact with the enemy whenever you can because unlike in other games, your energy transfers from one level to the next and won’t fill back up.

Rolling around as Wheel Kirby in this Kirby's Adventure Screenshot

But those type of situations as described above litter the levels in Kirby’s Adventure and make the game more of a ‘technical” platformer than one where you are simply rushing through the stages quickly. It is easy to die in Kirby’s Adventure if you don’t pay attention and the way that Kirby controls and animates makes him difficult to control if you try to play the game like any other platformer where you can simply jump from platform to platform. For instance, when you hold forward and jump with Kirby he will do a kind of flip in the air at the peak of the jump before he lands again; if you don’t time it right though he will fall on his face which will leave you open for attack and slow you down. Kirby can also float indefinitely, but while floating he moves much slower than normal and much, much slower than if you double tap to run. There is also a bit of a delay between when you press the B Button and when he inhales so you need to be careful to time it right. You’ll also need to evaluate whether sucking in and copying an ability will be more beneficial than simply spitting the enemy out as a weapon. Sometimes the best course is simply to not copy an ability. And of course, some enemies you literally can’t suck up or are enable to copy or they give you nothing.

Mixing things up further are the abilities themselves which all make the game play completely different than when you are normal Kirby.

A Kirby's Adventure screenshot of the Quickdraw mini-game

For instance when you are Sword Kirby you can press the B Button while jumping in the air to do a spin attack that will destroy airborne foes, while attacking on the ground will do sword slashes. However the timing must be right or you are open to attack, even while doing the spin attack. Some of the powers are harder to control than others and thus will have plus and minuses that you will want to weigh as you go through the levels, such as the Tornado power which has Kirby flying across the screen wildly or Wheel Kirby which has Kirby racing across the screen as a wheel like Sonic the Hedgehog. Some powers offer more than one attack, such as the Back Drop which have you sucking in an enemy and then doing a lethal slam depending on what directional button you press.

Almost all the powers are cool and you are sure to have your favorite ones (my personal favorite is the Fireball) and the further you get in the game the more different powers you will encounter. Of course there are also powers that are much less effective than others and ones you won’t like (such the high jump ability which does just that, and the “sleep” power which puts Kirby into a deep slumber), but all in all the game’s wide variety of powers is impressive, and much more diverse than I was expecting it to be.

Get ready for Sword Kirby! (Kirby's Adventure screenshot)

But the coolest aspect of Kirby’s Adventure is definitely the game’s very unique boss battles. The bosses resembles that of something like Mega Man, and like most classic 8-bit platformers the boss battles are pattern-based and can be easily defeated once you know how to defeat them and recognize the patterns. But the uniqueness of the bosses in the game and the wide variety of various bosses you fight (both mini and end-world) are really what put the game over the top for me.

Kirby's Adventure Miniboss Fight Screenshot

Some of them are wildly imaginative and definitely had me impressed. One boss draws pictures that come to life and attack you from palettes in four corners of the screen. There are like seven different pictures and each one attacks in a different way. Another boss battles literally has you waging war against the Sun and the Moon. When one is attacking you the other will fly into the air and assist the other by attacking you in a different way. This boss fight was really unique and really cool and quite hard, as I wasn’t sure how to defeat the Moon originally. Another boss fight has you flying way high into the clouds in what originally is a race, where you aren’t sure if you are supposed to try and attack the boss or just keep going up. Eventually you’ll discover that you need to be evading him until you reach the summit where the boss fight against a cool cloud/eye creature really begins. Last but not least, the end boss of the game is really cool and reminded me of a Castlevania or Ninja Gaiden boss fight. Which is high praise indeed.

Kirby's Adventure Whispy Woods Boss Battle

Graphically Kirby’s Adventure has a striking art-style that is very cool and very pleasing to the eye. Some levels are awash with color and look really neat. The art style is a bit weird though and one problem you will constantly come across is that you sometimes can’t tell what part of the level you can stand on and what is just part of the background.

And in addition to having funny and cute animations for Kirby himself, you gotta love the presentation of the game, particularly the little box on the bottom of the screen which shows a little picture of Kirby that changes depending on what power you get. These pictures are often funny or cool (or even epic, such as the Sword Kirby pic) and the box will even change to reflect gameplay; It changes to “OUCH” when Kirby gets burned or to “Goal” when you beat a level. On top of this, pressing the Start Button when you’ve copied an ability will take you to a screen that gives you a little text description of each power which is useful and some of them are fun to read.

Kirby's Adventure Maximum Tomato Artwork

The music in Kirby’s Adventure fits the game like a glove and works really well. You can’t help but to love the main Kirby theme and you will definitely find yourself humming some of the tunes. Not all of them are happy and bubbly either, some of them are quite cool.

Once you beat the game you can go back and try to complete it by finding all the hidden areas in the levels that will unlock bonus doors on the world map. This is represented by a percentage next to the game’s three save files on the File Select Screen. Beating it will also allow you to play the mini-games anytime you want as well as a VS Boss mode.

FUN FACTOR: 9.0
Kirby’s Adventure is a really fun, unique platformer that holds up very well and is just as fun today as it was upon its release.

Graphics: 9.5

I love the striking art-style in Kirby’s Adventure and the game’s animations are incredibly cute. Overall it’s probably one of the best looking NES games.

Music & Sound: 8.0

The music fits the game perfectly as does the sound effects. The music can get a bit repetitive at times but most of it is good, catchy and fitting.

Ingenuity: 8.0
Kirby’s Adventure brought a lot of style and uniqueness to the typical platforming genre by creating a game that was more slow-paced in nature with lots of very cool powers. It didn’t reinvent the wheel but it did platforming in a very slick and fun way.

Replay Value: 7.5
There is no multilayer or real additional modes, however the game does keep track of how many secrets you have found and it will be a challenge to complete it 100%. So there is some reason to go back through you file and replay some of the levels to truly complete it. And the chances of you completely the game 100% on your first play through are very unlikely.