it's fine, it's kinda on the same level as super star for me, it would seem the SNES wasn't great for kirby games in my opinion... a step back from kirby's adventure for sure.

the levels weren't as fun, the overall pacing of the game was much, much slower. and i feel like unless you really epxlored every nook and cranny to try and help out all the little dudes of each level, there isn't much point? idk, it just felt like there was no incentive to me. the little animal buddy dudes changing up your abilities was super cool however, i liked that aspect a lot.

maybe if the game's level were better this would've been more fun to play through but i felt done with the game after the 2nd world personally.

music and visuals were as fun and bouncy as always for a kirby entry. the visuals were especially unique for a SNES title, sorta reminiscent of yoshi's island.

overall not a terrible package, just not terribly fun to me. would recommend to more hardcore kirby fans rather than... well, me. someone who isn't particularly into kirby.

What happened?
I thought the "kirby is for babies" was a joke but this game makes me question it. The level design is non existent with this one, they are stale and boring with nothing going on on them.
The controls are so stiff, it feels like I'm moving a rock during the levels. And the copy abilities are insultyingly underwhelming, they try to make up for them with the buddy mechanic, but they are also like the abilities. I wish the animals where in a better game.
I really don't like the artstyle that much but it's managable. The music is good but that's a given for kirby games.
This game is fine, but it's not worth your time at all.

Low 3/10

This game is....boring.

Level design is uninspired. The abilities are basic. And there's.....a snoozy vibe idk how to explain it.

Its technically pretty SNES standards. But Superstar had so much more energy I just can't bother.

Its nothing offensive by any means but I'm sure there's better uses of your time

Not a good game.
The worst thing about this game is the controls. Kirby and his animal friends control extremely clunky and slow. Oftentimes when I stopped pressing a direction, Kirby kept going for a short while which is annoying. Moving a very short distance is also hard to do because of this. The momentum in this game is just weird and hard to get used to. Like, losing all momentum when spitting after hovering is annoying and so is all the sand that makes you jump very low and slows you down. The camera is pretty annoying too. It just does not catch up to Kirby sometimes, especially when turning around.

The powers aren’t great either. There’s only eight copy abilities but combined with all the animal friends the number of unique attacks is like 56. However, the grand majority of them are either bad and/or extremely niche. As a result, most power/animal combinations aren’t a lot of fun to use. Aesthetically, they do have a lot of charm though with a lot of silly attacks like Coo turning into a feather duster or Chuchu turning into a hot air balloon. My favorite of the animal partners is probably the little green bird (Pitch). He had some cool attacks. Rick is a cool guy too. Overall, the animal partners are adorable and have a lot of charm.

I wasn’t a big fan of the stages either. The stages were bland and uninspired in my opinion. It also didn’t help that I didn’t really like the overall aesthetic of this game. While I understood what they were going for with the crayon drawing art style, I found it looked washed out.
I didn’t care for the Heart Stars either. Many of them were just some dumb minigames, while others were: “I hope you brought the correct power bro”. Needless to say, I did not get all of the Heart Stars and as a result I didn’t beat the true final boss. I was just so done with this game after beating Dedede.

The music is pretty catchy though.

I played it. I loved it.

Kirby games aren't really the kinds of games that you overanalyze and meticulously pick apart. Not because there isn't anything of substance, or that they are perfect, but because the focus of the games tends to veer away from mechanical depth, and into aesthetics.

In that regard, KDL3 is easily the game that sticks out the most on the entire SNES. The visuals are genuinely impressive by today's standards, not necessarily in fidelity, but in art direction. Kirby always has striking character designs, but they are amplified here by the pseudo-hand drawn art mimicked by the pixel art. As someone who literally just played KDL3 for the first time, I don't have to consider the context of when the game was made when determining a lot of the aesthetics, which is something I can't say for many titles on the SNES (to clarify, I like the look of lots of SNES games, this one just sticks out). Genuinely great stuff here, which really amplifies the whole vibe of the game.

I've tried playing other Kirby games, but have only really enjoyed my time with this and Kirby 64. I hope that I can like the other games at some point too, but I think I can directly credit my disinterest in the other games to their lack of focus. Kirby doesn't really compete with other games in the same genre when it comes to raw gameplay, so the focus shouldn’t be on the gameplay, at least in my opinion.

This isn’t to say that Kirby has bad gameplay, but it's far from the most interesting thing the games offer, mostly due to Kirby being a franchise aimed for less experienced players. The other titles I’ve played seem to get right into the action and neglect building atmosphere. You can see the shift in focus directly in the power-ups as well, which have far more moves in the other games. Kirby controls tighter, the general speed of gameplay is increased, the list goes on and on of other small changes. In other 2D platformers, I would welcome those changes, but from what I’ve played of these other titles, they don’t have as engaging second to second gameplay, or as varied level design. Once again, Kirby is aimed at kids, so it makes sense that they can’t ramp up the difficulty, but this is precisely why I’ve found myself falling head over heels for KDL3 and K64.

Genuinely great games that don’t overstay their welcome, have enough interesting ideas to fill out the whole run time, and leave a lasting impression on me are few and far between. Kirby’s Dream Land 3 is able to achieve this with a much shorter run time, the unique gameplay gimmick inherent to all Kirby games (his copy ability), and the incredible atmosphere the game builds. I’m glad KDL3 turned out so great, and I look forward to playing the third and final game directed by Shinichi Shimomura in the future.

This game genuinely holds up to modern Kirby titles, especially the 2D ones. There aren't many abilities, but that is made up for by the 6 animal companions you can find and ride in different levels, which all give each power ability a new, unique spin. The levels are hit or miss, but the ones that hit truly hit. The bosses are a joy, and BOY that final boss is really fun. The controls are okay, not perfect, but still a really nice and obvious improvement over Dream Land 1&2. This game EXCELS when it comes to the personality of the characters though. Not only are the creatures unique and fun (they even get upset/sad when you choose other creatures over them, it's heartbreaking), but the side characters and enemies you encounter along the way are SO cute and fun. You can just feel the love the team poured into every crevice of this wonderful game.

No Maglor though 0/10

The only thing this game has going for it is its crayon aesthetic which really fits Kirby’s world well. But everything else makes this a slog. Kirby moves around stiff and slowly, there’s only a few copy abilities and they’re all not that great, same with the animal friends who sometimes feel more like a hindrance than a power-up. Levels are long, repetitive and annoying, and then getting the true ending requires solving vague tedious puzzles in each one. Just an overall dull Kirby game.

Kirby Series Ranked