The pink puffball makes his celebrated NES debut.
PLAYERS: 1
PUBLISHER: Nintendo
DEVELOPER: HAL Labs
GENRE: Platformer
RELEASE DATE: May 1993
It’s really hard to hate on Kirby. His puffy pink design (complete with puffy phalanges!) and ability to copy enemies’ abilities gives him a cute, bad-ass appeal. His later games, like Kirby’s Mass Attack or Kirby’s Epic Yarn, have really expanded on the concept of what Kirby as a character is capable of, but earlier games such as Kirby’s Adventure were all about simple platforming. Kirby’s Adventure was indeed His Royal Puff-ness’ one and only NES game, and while the game can be breezed through in an hour or less, it’s still a satisfying, technicolor adventure.
If you’ve never played a Kirby game, Kirby’s Adventure is the place to start. The original Game Boy games are fun, but the NES opened up the drab gray and green landscape that was Kirby’s Dreamland and turned it into a colorful paradise. Kirby’s pink-ness in particular bursts off the screen, while the tropical palette of orange, greens, and blues complement Kirby’s upbeat personality. Kirby’s ability to suck up enemies and gain their powers also makes its debut here. Powers include beams of light, fireballs, parasols, and the ability to turn into a wheel and decimate everything. The latter is a special boss power. PRO-TIP: always suck up the bosses after you’ve defeated them to gain their rich, tasty courage/powers. There are eight worlds and four stages on each world, along with some fun bonus games, like a crane game (pick up the largest Kirby for extra lives!). Despite the thirty-two levels, the game goes by rather quickly. Normally, I would view short length as deterrent to a game’s enjoyment, but, to me, the length feels just right. Kirby games never outlast their welcome.
As I was playing (quickly) through Kirby’s Adventure last night, I wondered if I would give this game a good score, simply because it was a Kirby game. After all, a strong argument can be made against the game’s lack of difficulty and brevity. I will say this: I don’t enjoy Kirby’s Adventure as much as I used to, but what does that mean? I don’t enjoy “Aladdin” as much as I did when I was seven years old, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a great Disney movie. Both “Aladdin” and Kirby’s Adventure are well-crafted, enjoyable examples of art made for kids that adults can also enjoy. Who can argue with that?
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6 replies on “#344 – Kirby’s Adventure”
The closest I’ve ever come to playing a Kirby game is using the little pink guy in the Smash Bros. series. After reading this, I feel like I’m missing out on something.
Some consider this game the NES swan song. There were other decent games after Kirby before the NES died, but I don’t know if they were this popular. I wonder how many copies of NES Kirby sold…?
What a great colorful game with a nice soundtrack. Great late NES game. Easy yes, but the powers were fun and getting 100% and playing hard mode lengthened the game somewhat.
I remember getting this game new. It took me a while but it was my first 100% conplete game I beat. Even now this game is fun, but a bit too easy.
Too easy isnt always bad when its as fun as kirby. I wish they unlocked the minigames for free play after you beat the games, cause I couldnt get enough of the quick draw and egg eating mini games
Best NES game of all time in my opinion. As for difficulty, like all Kirby games it’s easy to get through but very hard to 100%. The secrets are often very well hidden and tough as nails to find, and after you beat the game once, you can play through it again a second time even harder, and the harder second quest doesn’t have a save feature so you have to do it in one sitting. Now that’s tough. Kirby games are always easy to pick up and super tough to master, so they appeal to gamers of all skill levels. You get as much difficulty out of it as the effort you put into it. There is a lot of difficulty to be found in this game, but it is hidden.
I was
I am currently on a road trip in small town Ontario, found this game for 5 bux in a garage sale! I mean, my gawd i thought the days of that sorta thing happening were over!
Stoked about this because this is one of the few super popular NES games that i haven’t played.