timrtabor123
Kirby's Dream Land 1992
Log Status
Completed
Playing
Backlog
Wishlist
Rating
Time Played
0h 30m
Days in Journal
1 day
Last played
February 10, 2023
Platforms Played
Introduction
In the wake of my five star review of Kirby & The Forgotten Land for Nintendo Switch and the launch of the Game Boy titles on the Switch Online service I decided to give this game another shot to see if I was perhaps a bit too hard on these early Kirby titles. Baseline difficulty was played for this review.
Gameplay
Kirby's Dream Land is a 1990s 2D platformer centered on floating and using your enemies as projectiles intended for less experienced players for the Nintendo Game Boy. I think Given that development context and creative intent the game fairs remarkably well even if its not suited to my tastes personally ( to avoid repeating myself see my Forgotten Land for more details there). The floating ability is mostly carefully balanced and well suited to a small poorly lit Game Boy screen. That being said, I do feel that my character's hit box is a tad clunky at points with some of the maneuvering you have to do in the third and fourth levels being particularly spotty. That being said, when taken on a macro level everything done with that mechanic is serviceable. What is perhaps less well done though is the very bland and basic use of the sucking and spitting mechanic.
Most of what you can do with this spitting mechanic is exhausted by the second level and even what you see that basically amounts to "see an enemy? Suck it up and spit it into another enemy or "?" block". This not helped by level design that allows you to float over some of the more interesting enemy configurations that test the players grasp on the spitting mechanic. I can sorta see why this concept got deprioritized in favor of powerups (fire spitting curry and air shooter mint sections) in the late game and copy ability based exploration in the sequels. To the director Mashiro Sakurai's credit they were aware of the limitations of their stylistic choices and kept the game short with a normal difficulty run lasting thirty minutes to an hour if you play poorly.
The best use of both mechanics is probably the boss fights which are incredibly well done given that they have to convey and or balance:
A) what a platformer boss is to a beginner to the genre.
B) Making the bosses fun to fight without being brainless.
C) Something you can improve upon further exposure.
This is also why I actually like the final boss rush here while I tend to dislike it in something like say the robot master gauntlet in MegaMan 1-6's climaxes. Enemy patterns are actually decipherable to normal human reflexes so it feels like I'm applying skills learned in prior levels to finish something more efficiently and not just brute forcing the game with sheer endurance/patience.
Story & Graphics
Normally I discuss these categories separately but given how simple Kirby's Dream Land is story-wise and how much of the series's long standing narrative appeal is tied into these character designs I felt it made since to combine these categories together for this review.
Kirby's Dream Land is a very minimalist work narrative-wise. King Dedede has stolen his subjects food and its your job as Kirby to put a stop to his gluttony. This plot is a functionally fine for the target audience and style it is going for. Not much else I can really say.
Really the strongest, most stand out point here is the main villain and how he serves as a microcosm for the game's expressive graphics. You can tell the developers were really focused on pushing the Game Boy to its limit by making the sprite animation as expressive as they did with Dedede being the best example of how well director Mashiro Sakurai understands character design as a craft.
King Dedede parallels Kirby so well during the final boss fight with the monarch having riffs on the pink puffball's main two hooks in the form of a vacuum attack to punish players baiting out his hammer attack and a high jump to counter Kirby's glide. Both moves along with a tripping attack are also telegraphed slowly in order to show just how much of a powerful but clumsy oaf the penguin really is. Thus when you win it feels like a very satisfying "the emperor has no clothes" moment.
Music & Sound Design
Sound design was vital for getting the player to understand how to maneuver with this floaty character with Kirby having sounds effects for both puffing up and sucking/spitting that convey what form you are shifting out of at a given time. You can really see the beginnings of where Sakurai's audio philosophy would evolve in the Super Smash Bros series here.
Music in this game is legendary. Basically every track here is iconic and constantly reused and remixed in future entries for a reason. The upbeat and hyper active chip tune style used here really sells the cutesy but adventurous vibe. Honestly composer Jun Ishikawa doesn't get enough credit for how much of the franchise's identity is tied to their musical style.
Conclusion
Kirby's Dream Land is a fun romp and while I hesitate to say its a "must play" I think the fact that it now comes as essentially a free pack in with your Switch online multiplayer subscription you are likely to already have if you are big enough Nintendo fan to read a backloggd review for a game from 1992. I can say its worth checking out. Especially if you like seeing how auteur creators evolve across their portfolio.
In the wake of my five star review of Kirby & The Forgotten Land for Nintendo Switch and the launch of the Game Boy titles on the Switch Online service I decided to give this game another shot to see if I was perhaps a bit too hard on these early Kirby titles. Baseline difficulty was played for this review.
Gameplay
Kirby's Dream Land is a 1990s 2D platformer centered on floating and using your enemies as projectiles intended for less experienced players for the Nintendo Game Boy. I think Given that development context and creative intent the game fairs remarkably well even if its not suited to my tastes personally ( to avoid repeating myself see my Forgotten Land for more details there). The floating ability is mostly carefully balanced and well suited to a small poorly lit Game Boy screen. That being said, I do feel that my character's hit box is a tad clunky at points with some of the maneuvering you have to do in the third and fourth levels being particularly spotty. That being said, when taken on a macro level everything done with that mechanic is serviceable. What is perhaps less well done though is the very bland and basic use of the sucking and spitting mechanic.
Most of what you can do with this spitting mechanic is exhausted by the second level and even what you see that basically amounts to "see an enemy? Suck it up and spit it into another enemy or "?" block". This not helped by level design that allows you to float over some of the more interesting enemy configurations that test the players grasp on the spitting mechanic. I can sorta see why this concept got deprioritized in favor of powerups (fire spitting curry and air shooter mint sections) in the late game and copy ability based exploration in the sequels. To the director Mashiro Sakurai's credit they were aware of the limitations of their stylistic choices and kept the game short with a normal difficulty run lasting thirty minutes to an hour if you play poorly.
The best use of both mechanics is probably the boss fights which are incredibly well done given that they have to convey and or balance:
A) what a platformer boss is to a beginner to the genre.
B) Making the bosses fun to fight without being brainless.
C) Something you can improve upon further exposure.
This is also why I actually like the final boss rush here while I tend to dislike it in something like say the robot master gauntlet in MegaMan 1-6's climaxes. Enemy patterns are actually decipherable to normal human reflexes so it feels like I'm applying skills learned in prior levels to finish something more efficiently and not just brute forcing the game with sheer endurance/patience.
Story & Graphics
Normally I discuss these categories separately but given how simple Kirby's Dream Land is story-wise and how much of the series's long standing narrative appeal is tied into these character designs I felt it made since to combine these categories together for this review.
Kirby's Dream Land is a very minimalist work narrative-wise. King Dedede has stolen his subjects food and its your job as Kirby to put a stop to his gluttony. This plot is a functionally fine for the target audience and style it is going for. Not much else I can really say.
Really the strongest, most stand out point here is the main villain and how he serves as a microcosm for the game's expressive graphics. You can tell the developers were really focused on pushing the Game Boy to its limit by making the sprite animation as expressive as they did with Dedede being the best example of how well director Mashiro Sakurai understands character design as a craft.
King Dedede parallels Kirby so well during the final boss fight with the monarch having riffs on the pink puffball's main two hooks in the form of a vacuum attack to punish players baiting out his hammer attack and a high jump to counter Kirby's glide. Both moves along with a tripping attack are also telegraphed slowly in order to show just how much of a powerful but clumsy oaf the penguin really is. Thus when you win it feels like a very satisfying "the emperor has no clothes" moment.
Music & Sound Design
Sound design was vital for getting the player to understand how to maneuver with this floaty character with Kirby having sounds effects for both puffing up and sucking/spitting that convey what form you are shifting out of at a given time. You can really see the beginnings of where Sakurai's audio philosophy would evolve in the Super Smash Bros series here.
Music in this game is legendary. Basically every track here is iconic and constantly reused and remixed in future entries for a reason. The upbeat and hyper active chip tune style used here really sells the cutesy but adventurous vibe. Honestly composer Jun Ishikawa doesn't get enough credit for how much of the franchise's identity is tied to their musical style.
Conclusion
Kirby's Dream Land is a fun romp and while I hesitate to say its a "must play" I think the fact that it now comes as essentially a free pack in with your Switch online multiplayer subscription you are likely to already have if you are big enough Nintendo fan to read a backloggd review for a game from 1992. I can say its worth checking out. Especially if you like seeing how auteur creators evolve across their portfolio.