Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land

"If we were getting a port, we could have at least gotten Kirby Super Star"

I've always liked Kirby. I have. Really. Something about the cute little pink puffball has always been special to me. Maybe it's his wonderfully simple, easy, HAPPY games. Maybe it's his impossible cuteness that never really gets annoying. Or maybe not. Anyway, when I found out that there was a ''new'' Kirby game coming out for GBA, I was excited, to say the least. What do we get? Let's take a look.

First Glance: OK, it's a ''new'' Kirby game... NOT! [/1993] It's Kirby's Adventure, without the charm. Updated graphics, sound, and minigames, with a boring mulitplayer tacked on, but that's it. Let's go deeper.

Graphics: Well, it looks GBA-esque, but it probably COULD have been done on the SNES. I don't really care, though Technologically, the graphics themselves aren't that bad. The framerate is good, at the very least. The style they're done in, however, doesn't quite fit Kirby. Kirby's always been cute and happy, but the baddies were vaguely menacin. Not so anymore. They smile. Almost every baddie has a happy little smile painted on. Sometimes it's more of a smirk, but I say that sometimes the lack of a mouth says more than a smile. The minibosses and regular bosses are also bigger, but they move more slowly, oddly enough. I don't know WHY they grate. They just do. Kirby's Inhale animation just doesn't look right.

Sound: This, aside from its staleness, is the game's worst point. It's a 32-bit version of the 8-bit music of the original. Precious little has been drastically altered or added. Normally, this would be a good thing. However, the charm is gone. It really is. It no longer sounds like Kirby music, it sounds like... some alien entity that's trying to be Kirby, but doesn't quite make it. KI-X, if you will. It's very, very depressing to listen to (badly done, faux nostalgia is a bad thing, kiddies), and generally detracts from enjoyment of the game.

Gameplay: Here's the biggie, as always. Well, it's the exact same thing we had, 9 years ago. It's deja vu, all over again. Not a baddie position, nor a platform, nor a level, nor a secret has been altered. Now, this I can stomach in some games. The new Legend of Zelda GBA game (a port of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, if you didn't know), for example, ported well, because it was a challenging game that would entertain for a long time on the road. However, this game falls flat there; I mean, I know of very few people who couldn't beat this in three hours at the most to begin with. This is not going to keep you busy on a plane ride, road trip, or anything like that. I mean, it WAS a good game to begin with, but it's still old. The GBA is almost a year and a half old. We should be on second and third generation games, not still first-gen and more ports. Is this what we've got? No. Not only are they still feeding us ports, ports, and more ports, but theyre being slow about it to boot. But I digress, eh wot? Anyway, the gameplay is simple and cute, but it still feels like it was made 9 years ago. That's not great, for old gamer or new gamer. It's clearly aimed at older gamers who want to relive their past in 32-bit glory, but the gameplay itself is aimed at younger gamers. Bad combo, as it more or less exactly fails to please anyone.

Extras: OK, so they gave us the SNES version of one minigame, and two ''improved'' ones. Well, OK, I can take that. Personaly I like the old ones, but... that's the nostalgia speaking. You know, the little pixelated geezer in my head saying ''Things were better back then!''. In the interest of impartiality, I shall attempt to ignore him. The two new games are as entertaining as minigames expect to be. One of them is a nice little ''race'' based on hitting or not hitting the A button, similar to the old Egg Catcher, only with four players (comp or human). The other is a reflex challenge (using the term loosely) similar to four-square (you remember that as a kid, right?) volleyball. Hard to describe in words. And of course, these games can be played single or mulitplayer, with a single game pak. They also threw in a multilayer mode for the adventure (requires multiple game paks). Sounds like a certain other port that came out today, no? That's just it, no. This is the same game, only with three extra Kirbys running around clogging the screen and confusing the scroll. Nothing new. Just more confusion. Very nindescript. It's not surprising that they're not pushnin it too hard.

Play Control: Good, especially by port standards. I swear Kirby floats faster now, but I really can't complain. It doesn't detract from the experience any.

G,B,U:
Good: Well, it's at least a Kirby game. And the minigames ARE amusing in mulitplayer. The abilities now have little ''amusing'' descriptions, some obviously self-referential (''The Cutter Boomerang come right back at ya!''). And if you're really desperate for the ''good old days'' but don't like blowing on cartridges, this IS a faithful rendition of the original.
Bad: The enemies seem different (happier, as I said), and they move more slowly. They aren't as aggressive, either, especially the bosses.
Ugly: It's so old and DONE. There's nothing new to speak of. This should have been a NON-updated version on the GBC, not a supposedly ''new'' ame for GBA.

Bottom Line: Unless you're a manic, die-hard Kirby fanboy (this goes beyond ''fan''), don't get it. You'll only regret it. It pains me to give Kirby this low of a score. It does. But it doesn't deserve anything more. It'd be a better deal for you to pick up a $12 copy of Kirby's Adventure at your local used game store, or a $7 copy on eBay. But if you MUST have everything portable, go ahead. It COULD be worse. It just could, nay, should have been much, much more.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 12/04/02, Updated 12/04/02