kirby's dream land already had a strong aesthetic, but adventure is just on a whole other level. the game's wide variety of colour palettes are all striking; vivid sunsets, dreamlike castles in the clouds, highly stylised pastel spacescapes, they're not only impressive on a technical level befitting a game at the end of the NES' life cycle, but they also evoke a surprising amount of ambience, giving its myriad locales a lot of character

the game generally has a remarkable sense of place, i really like how the world map is not so much a menu like in a lot of its contemporaries but more of a mini-stage that uses the same mechanical language as the rest of the game, the backdrops of the level entrances have a sort of theatre set look to them that serves as an abstraction of what that level will feature, and where it exists in relation to the other levels which is an incredibly cool idea, i particularly like how butter building's hub world is entirely vertical, giving the impression of climbing one big tower that i don't think would quite come across otherwise

all this is to say nothing of the levels themselves, which are so eager to wow you with their amount of visual themes its astonishing, the first level of grape garden for instance starts in a sort of cloudy castle area, then goes to a purple-y starry sky, and then an icy aurora borealis area, all in like under two minutes. dream land 1 was great at this too but i find it even more impressive here considering how adventure goes even harder on the detail and variety, in a much longer game to boot

the level design is very simple, more focused on enemies and stage hazards than platforming and not very challenging, but it's just very comfy as a result and as i said before never sticking with one thing too long, the stages are all very short too and while a much fuller feeling game than its predessor, the game can be comfortably beaten in one sitting, it's a game that burns bright and fast and doesn't let its simple gameplay wear thin, and if you have any passing knowledge about this series at all then you probably don't even need me to tell you what a welcome addition copy abilities are in complimenting all of this

if i were to gripe about something it would probably be that the extra mode is a little disappointing compared to dream land's which increased the difficulty by changing enemy placements and behaviours to be far more dangerous, and also introducing new enemy types altogether which made the game feel very fresh and really enhanced the game for me. adventure merely lowers your max health and doesn't allow you to save, which is far less interesting and the latter of which was a non-factor considering that i was playing the game on my 3DS that i could just put into sleep mode

otherwise though kirby's adventure is a delight, beautiful art and animation, amazing music, fun and cozy gameplay, all jam-packed into a lovely little two-hour adventure. so fluff up your pillow, for tonight dream land will sleep well~

(Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about Love Live.)

It's kind of crazy that it took this many years for Inti Creates to make a standard metroidvania. They've made games that fall fairly neatly into the genre, sure, but the worlds are usually much more linear and less interconnected.

This game is a full blown metroidvania, but it's also a very safe one; it doesn't really do anything you haven't seen before. You got a slide with some fun advanced tech to it, and summons that I assume are similar to the core gameplay of Ender Lilies. As you progress through the game you get access to a double jump essentially ripped straight out of Hollow Knight, and a wall climb ability that's reminiscent of Celeste. These are pretty fun abilities, and Inti always does a great job at making movement enjoyable.

Still, while it is a little derivative, this game is really charming. The dialogue gets genuinely funny at times, and the various summon abilities can be pretty goofy. Inti has once again nailed their pixel art aesthetic and fantastic music (This song in particular is great).

Also I've seen some criticisms that the game is too short... Guys, a 7 hour playtime for a metroidvania is pretty standard for the genre. I think Hollow Knight was so good and content-packed that it dramatically shifted people's standards. Don't be deterred by this game's length, there is absolutely enough content to be enjoyed.

Anyway I would recommend this game if you're looking for a straightforward lighthearted metroidvania experience, or if you're already a fan of Inti or Love Live stuff. Laptop attack reigns supreme.

Never looking back. The SSS are my family 😭





P.S. Rixy Mixy is my pookie wookie