Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land

"Kirby explodes into your GBA in a burst of pink!"

Insomnia is sweeping the land Because King DeDeDe has stolen the star rod and Broken it into five pieces. Restore the Rod & Soothe the sleepless by sucking up anything that moves in this Remake of Kirby's first ever Platform Adventure!

Mario's as famous as Madonna, Link is the ultimate action hero and Pikachu's name is known the world over. But Nintendo has a dirty secret mascot. He's pink, Round & Slightly Dangerous, a bit like that Granny you only ever see wheeled out for Christmas dinner; The one who sits in the Corner smelling faintly of Cabbage and muttering about Cats she calls her babies. Well, Kirby is the gaming equivalent of that mad old Gran & He's ready to disgrace Nintendo by letting out a Giant shaming fart at the Video Games dining table.

That said, Nintendo has been pretty shrewd in letting the unpredictable Kirbster loose for the first time on their precious Handheld. It's a strict remake of the Very first game, y'see? Minimal effort required, Naturally, but at least not a huge amount can go wrong. And it hasn't either - What you get is exactly what you got all those years ago: Quality platforming with that Familiar Nintendo spark of genius.

Y'see, Kirby's got a big fat mouth that has surely seen too many pies in it's time, and you use it to suck up Enemies & Objects in the scrolling levels. And just as eating a Chocolate cake in real life makes you feel good, While scoffing down a bag of Weevil, infested split peas isn't so good for you, Consuming different types of enemies have various effects on Kirby. This is where the otherwise simplistic Gameplay starts to sparkle and Experimenting with Kirby's differnet 'copy abilities' is where you'll find the most fun.

Strangley enough though, It's the ingenuity and sheer amount of cool copy abilities available to your rotund Hero. What with being able to breathe fire, Shoot laser beams and turn into an angry ball of Electricity - not to mention sucking up air and floating around the levels at will - You'll find that Kirby is far more powerful, Invincible even, Than a pink puffball ever deserved to be. This means the game is simply easy to finish. That's not to say you won't have an amazing time getting through it, Just that you'll probably be left wanting a bit more Challenge than it actually delivers.

Fans of Kirby's previous adventures will immediately notice that this is not a "new" game. It may boast a retooled graphics engine, a few new mini-games and a link-up mode for co-operative play, but it's still an unmistakable revamp of one of the pink blob's earliest outings - Kirby's Adventure on the NES. Nevertheless it's a good starting point for Kirby virgins, and an interesting way to revisit an old classic. Issues of pricing aside (for now), it's a forgivable port, and it's nice to have something break up the constant stream of Mario rehashes.

The Good:

+Sucking up enemies & Stealing their abilities is unique and lots of fun.
+The four-player mode is a great Diversion, albeit only for a short time.
+Loads of secrets give this game a good lifespan.

The Bad:

-Don't be fooled, it's an ancient game. Dressed up in shiny new GBA clothes.
-Unless you're a youngster or idiot, It's too easy to power through the action.
-Not bad if you've never played the Original, But pretty much pants if you did.

Overall: 7/10.

Well, I wouldn't advise eating your Enemies in real life; It's a sure way to get Indigestion. In this game however, It's perfectly Acceptable. You can usually tell what what sort of ability your Gonna get by the type of Enemy you enhale. Electrified enemies give you Zappy electro powers, While fireballs let you scorch your Foe's to death. It's simple but also beutiful, And later on in the game you'll even have to use the Correct abilities to flip switches and solve Puzzles. It's an insane laugh from start to finish, But that's because the aged game this is based on is such a Classic. It's great fun, I reckon you're likely to be smiling the whole time you're playing, but where's the Innovation, eh?

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/18/05