Review: Kirby's Adventure

The Super Nintendo came out in 1991. Kirby's Adventure came out in 1993 - for the NES. Two full years after Nintendo's updated, more powerful console was released. This not only shows incredible support for an aging system, but it also allowed the developers to take lessons and skills learned from developing on the SNES to make this little title shine.

Gameplay
Kirby's Adventure looks like a simple platformer on its surface. Walk to the right until you reach an exit while avoiding traps and killing bad guys. Yes, this basic structure is still true, but its how you avoid traps and kill bad guys that makes the game interesting.

Kirby's primary attack is his ability to suck his enemies into his mouth like a vacuum. Once a baddie is trapped in the little pink puff ball's cheeks, Kirby can either spit him out as a high speed projectile, or swallow him and gain his ability. There are over a dozen abilities to be copied from spitting fire to wielding a sword to turning into a stone, each is wholly unique and each is more fun to use than the last. Some situations call for specific abilities, like lighting a fuse with fire, or pounding a peg into the ground with a hammer. These situations are usually relegated to obtaining bonus items or reaching secret areas, but it is rather satisfying to come across something which requires one specific ability and you happen to have it.

Kirby sucks.

As far as strict platforming goes, the controls are misleadingly simple. Kirby has the ability to float through an entire level by filling his body with air. This would make the player think that you can just breeze through every level by keeping to the top of the screen and never even bothering with enemies or powerups. You'll find that very shortly into the game, this tactic is discouraged and in most situations, made impossible. The developers designed the levels in such a way to perfectly balance Kirby's abilities with the challenge.

Down here, we all float

Level progression consists of making your way through seven themed worlds with six levels and a boss battle in each. Levels can be revisited to try to find secrets and items and unlock bonus stages. The bonus stages are actually fun and a real motivator to seek out hidden sections of different levels. They consist of a crane game, a quick draw showdown, a random boss battle, and an egg catching game. If successful, each one will give you multiple 1-Ups.

Overall the game is fairly easy - it's super generous with extra lives, and you have infinite continues. There is definite replay value if you're one who likes to unlock everything.

Presentation
This being eight years into the NES lifecycle and two years into the SNES, the developers had more than a few tricks up their sleeves. In fact, the only that convinced me I wasn't playing a Super Nintendo game was the limited color palette.

The graphics and animations are literally top notch. It's like nothing that had ever been seen before on Nintendo's original home system. If you played this and the first Mario game back to back, you would think they were on completely different systems.

Sound is equally impressive - with cheerfully catchy chiptunes soundtracking your adventure and convincing-for-what-it-had-to-work-with sound effects. Overall, this is probably the best looking and sounding game on the NES.

Manliness.

Kirby's Adventure is a fantastically fun game. It's got a slightly "guilty pleasure" element to it in that if your bro caught you playing it, you'd make up something like you were trying it out before giving it to your idiot sister who likes stupid stuff like this. My advice? Lock the door and blast the Madden sound effects while you enjoy the hell out of one of the best platformers ever made.

Review in Ten Words or Less
Relentlessly imaginative and wholly satisfying, if a little easy.

BOOM!