It's pretty fun to look back on the very first Kirby game and see how much of the series lay within its genesis, in particular the game having Game Boy shmup levels that are a clear starting point to the multitude of later shooter levels Kirby will have in his games. There's the real cute animations between every level which a multitude of games like Kirby's Adventure and Kirby 64 would use, plus the fact it has a lively and vibrant soundtrack that's quite nice for an early Game Boy game.
None of this really saves Kirby's Dream Land from feeling like a boring game. The problem isn't just that it is easy, plenty of easy games are fun, but the methods in which Dream Land is easy often make it actively unengaging. There isn't enough consideration to Kirby's great flight abilities (which are stronger here than most), so a lot of levels can be beaten by mashing the jump button and ocassionally stopping to slightly descend for a flying enemy that tracks you. And even when you can't do that, the game's platforming is a bit overly simplistic for Kirby's already very simple moveset. While obviously he lacks the copy abilities, the inability to even slide is disappointing as that'd add a very casual option to allow more for the player to do. Simple can work, I enjoyed Super Mario Bros. 1 again recently, but it really needs something to challenge the most basic stuff for me because otherwise it's not doing enough. It's telling the most deaths I had were something I'd also complain about, is the background of Level 4 blends into the stage to me and so I died multiple times thinking I was landning on level but actually went through a bottomless pit. I do understand this was meant to be an extremely beginner friendly platformer and I can see it working as a kid's first game well enough, but I've always preferred platformers more engaging than this.
The bosses are also pretty lackluster, Kracko was my favorite and felt like the one with the most gameplay to it, King Dedede is shockingly boring here due to how casual he is to avoid yet how long it can take to get hits in if you are playing safely. I do appreciate the game having a second playthrough hard mode option and the vast array of difficulty options for the time is great, but the fact I need to get through the game twice before getting the difficulty adjustments is a bummer, and the actual playthrough I had gave me little desire to go through it a second time. An interesting start for the Kirby franchise, but Kirby's Avalanche feels like the truest start of the series.
None of this really saves Kirby's Dream Land from feeling like a boring game. The problem isn't just that it is easy, plenty of easy games are fun, but the methods in which Dream Land is easy often make it actively unengaging. There isn't enough consideration to Kirby's great flight abilities (which are stronger here than most), so a lot of levels can be beaten by mashing the jump button and ocassionally stopping to slightly descend for a flying enemy that tracks you. And even when you can't do that, the game's platforming is a bit overly simplistic for Kirby's already very simple moveset. While obviously he lacks the copy abilities, the inability to even slide is disappointing as that'd add a very casual option to allow more for the player to do. Simple can work, I enjoyed Super Mario Bros. 1 again recently, but it really needs something to challenge the most basic stuff for me because otherwise it's not doing enough. It's telling the most deaths I had were something I'd also complain about, is the background of Level 4 blends into the stage to me and so I died multiple times thinking I was landning on level but actually went through a bottomless pit. I do understand this was meant to be an extremely beginner friendly platformer and I can see it working as a kid's first game well enough, but I've always preferred platformers more engaging than this.
The bosses are also pretty lackluster, Kracko was my favorite and felt like the one with the most gameplay to it, King Dedede is shockingly boring here due to how casual he is to avoid yet how long it can take to get hits in if you are playing safely. I do appreciate the game having a second playthrough hard mode option and the vast array of difficulty options for the time is great, but the fact I need to get through the game twice before getting the difficulty adjustments is a bummer, and the actual playthrough I had gave me little desire to go through it a second time. An interesting start for the Kirby franchise, but Kirby's Avalanche feels like the truest start of the series.
Reviewed on Jul 09, 2021