Topic: Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land Review

[Steel Diver]

This remake of Kirby's Adventure left out some of the fun and delight of the original.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/38992/kirby-nightmare-in-dream-land-review

As a fan of Kirby and all things related to the lovable puff ball, I was excited to try out one of the franchise entries I had yet to touch. Unfortunately, Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland was a letdown, leaving me exhaling all the enthusiasm I had sucked in.As a remake of Kirby's Adventure, one would expect the Game Boy Advance title to be better looking, and while it’s certainly more technically ambitious, much of the 8-bit magic and charm has been lost in translation. There’s something indescribable how Adventure looked and felt on the NES—it was charming in spite of its limitations. Nightmare in Dreamland is still colorful and the music still cheerful, but it has a little less soul.

Like most Kirby games, this one is quite easy—perhaps too easy. Levels are short and rarely complex, and the boss battles are actually much easier than they were on the NES (Mr. Sun/Mr. Moon have glass jaws in this game).  Each level features several minigames that can be unlocked by hitting switches in certain stages. Most are from the original NES game, but there are two new ones (bomb tennis and rail grinding) and a variation on Samurai Showdown, but for the most part these games feel hollow, as they only dole out 1ups, of which you’ll find no shortage anyway. Like all GBA VC games, this one includes a ghostly multiplayer option that you’ll have no use for.

The usual Virtual Console overlay for the Wii U GBA games is useful, and having the full color manual in digital form makes for some enjoyable browsing. However, if you have been itching to play Kirby's Adventure, I would recommend playing the NES original or the 3D Classic remake, as this version just doesn't do anything to improve the experience—and in my opinion, actually takes away from the charm of the original. This game is not a nightmare, but it just might put you to sleep.

[ClexYoshi]

Hi! as someone who played Nightmare in Dreamland before he ever played Kirby's Adventure and is an avid lover of Kirby and the NES alike, I'd like to take a moment and offer a second opinion review for the folks here at Nintendoworldreport.com to read and draw on their own conclusions on. After all, I own Kirby's adventure at least 5 different ways at this point.


Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland is a remake of Kirby's Adventure that was released to coincide with the Anime that had started getting rolled out in Japan and would later be localized under the watchful eye of 4Kidz Entertainment, who had also adapted the Pokemon series and would go on to also do Sonic X and the F-Zero Anime. with the extra frames of animation to kirby, enemies, and the addition of hats, the game takes on a graphical style that resembles Kirby Super Star more than Kirby's Adventure, and the backgrounds in particular are all amazingly drawn and should have special attention drawn to them. what would be solid colors or abstract patterns in Kirby's Adventure are elaborate painted landscapes of rolling meadows and sparkling sunset oceans, or impressive palaces. Nightmare in Dreamland is an impressive looking game to say the least. Also, I just really like the idea of Kirby copy abilities having hats. it's an easy and quick go-to and adds to the style and flair of the character.

This game is easy. even on the hard difficulty setting, it's easy. that was also true of the original. there are a couple of minor engine tweaks that make this even moreso the case than the NES original, such as abilities like Burning, Hi-Jump and Tornado getting true invincibility frames Vs. grabbing enemies like Phan-Phan and Flamin' Leo. Tornado in particular also feels easier to control, making in the true go-to power to cheese anything and everything in one's path. What IS a bit more difficult though is finding hidden rooms that were obvious in the NES game and are now more obscure thanks to to the more organically drawn backgrounds. what was once a black square in the NES version signifying a potential door is now a little hole in a rock that doesn't look like Kirby could squeeze through until you take a shot in the dark and hit up. there's also a point where Paralax makes a star formation that's supposed to mark a hidden door not line up quite right and cause a bit of confusion.

The Mini-games are honestly more enjoyable than the NES suite. I was NEVER good at the Dedede hurling eggs band bombs from the top turnbuckle mini-game, and the strategies for the rail grinding and the returning Kirby SUper Star mini-games are a lot easier to understand. The original game dished out just as many lives for successful attempts at the crane game and wild gunman mini-games, so that's not an issue i'm concerned with.

also, I would be absolutely remiss if I failed to mention the unlockable Meta Knightmare mode! for a hard mode 100% and Boss Rush playthrough, a time attack mode is unlocked where Meta Knight is playable, feeling much more like a Kirby Super Star ability with multiple moves depending on directional input while swiping at foes with Galaxia, his trusty sword! His faster flight, high attack power, and low health give Meta Knightmare mode a sense of speed that the original Kirby's Adventure lacked, and I used to play Meta Knigtmare ALL the darned time when I was a kid...! THIS FEATURE ALONE IS WORTH PICKING UP THE GAME!

That being said, if you want my recommendation, either play this, or play the 3D Classics version on 3DS. this is a case where I don't feel purism is the route to take.


+ Amazing art direction that revitalizes an old adventure
+ Still a fun romp with plenty of personality
+ Unlockable Meta Knight mode adds lots of replay value for speed running minded people
+ Music re imagining is great, even if the audio quality is a bit hissy thanks to the GBA Sound chip


- Very easy and unchallenging
- Broken Multiplayer functions
- Art sometimes muddles clues into hidden areas

8.0/10