Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land

"A cool Sidescroller"

This is a review for Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland for the Game Boy Advanced. Kirby has had fifteen previous installments across various systems. The creator of Kirby is also the current president of Nintendo. Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland was released in November of 2002.

Game play: Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland is a basic side scrolling game, with a lot of style. The controls all work well, and the attacks are extremely easy to execute. The only problem is that sometimes if you screw up it can be quite irritating trying to fix the problem, but this happens rarely. Kirby can suck up his enemies and use their powers against them. All of the powers are unique and fun to use. If a certain power is needed to pass a certain spot, usually that power will be nearby. This helps give the game an easy and fun to play nature. The game also is not too linear, as there are a bunch of cool mini games you can play throughout the story mode. Once you have beaten them in story mode, you unlock them on your files main menu. Due to the fun sheer FUN of this game, I have to give the game play a 9/10.

Story: This game has a weird story. While nothing is explained at the beginning, everything is explained at the end as if something were explained at the beginning. This actually does not make a difference though, because the story is still insanely interesting to understand anyway. Other than that, there does not seem to be any story at all throughout the entire game, which will cause some problems with story freaks. The story kind of lags though, so I will have to drop it to a measly 7/10.

Graphics: This game has pretty bland graphics. They are not bad, but the GBA could do a little better, this barely matters though. Everything flows extremely smoothly. All your movements and the enemies' movements are fluid and work well. The enemies seem to not have a mind of their own. They almost all follow a certain routine. Even the bosses wont will be hard to memorize. This once again adds to the simplicity and fun of the game. The graphics are fine; I'm giving them an 8/10.

Sound: Kirby has a massive soundtrack. There are slightly tweaked songs for almost every level, and at least 40 unique songs. Every movement makes some kind of cute little noise. The sounds are great and establish a surrounding environment, which will suck you into the experience (pun not intended). You can even unlock a Kirby DJ mode that allows you to listen to all these sounds again. So put on your headphones, and crank up this 9/10.

Play time: This game is short. You will beat it in less than 4 hours on your first try doing horribly. On your next try it may take you only one and a half to two. There ARE the four mini games that each has three levels, but each one is only about 2 or 3 minutes long. On the other hand, you do obtain a secret character if you hit every button in every level than you get a secret character, and winning with him a few million times will be fun, so its not completely terrible. If you're the kind of person that only ever does one mission at a time, there are 7 worlds, each with six stages you can take your time doing. Each chapter has a unique boss that's fun and sometimes difficult to beat. But it still lacks significant length. The shortness earns a flat out 6/10.

Replay ability: To put it simply, I have beaten this game almost 4 times in the last year, and I own around twenty GBA games. This game has quite possibly the best replay value of any game I have ever played. And, as an added bonus, if you collect all of the red buttons throughout the game, you earn a secret character. This adds way more game, because once you've beaten the game with Kirby a few times, you'll be playing it again with the secret character a few thousand times. The Replay easily pulverizes the competition with a 10/10

Final: Kirby is a great game. If you only want to play it once or twice, I suggest you rent it. But if you can't get enough Kirby, this is definitely a game you want to buy. There is plenty of great game play, and the sound is cool, but the story can become confusing, and you can beat the game way to easily. The secret character bonus game adds extra hours of fun to the game. I liked it, and I hope you like it to, Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland earns an 8/10.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/29/04