Still the best Kirby game around.
You can play Kirby’s Adventure a number of different ways: the original NES cart, the GBA remake (Nightmare in Dream Land), the Wii Virtual Console, the 3DS 3D Classic, in the Dream Collection, and now the Wii U Virtual Console. If you have access to any other version, the Wii U VC method may seem redundant, and I’m not going to disagree with that, but Kirby’s Adventure is one of my favorite NES games of all time, and I find myself beating the game every time I sit down with it (not in one sitting, mind you). The way I see it, you can’t have too many copies of this game. That determination is for you to make, but Kirby’s Adventure hasn’t aged a day.
Released in 1993, two years before Kirby’s Dream Land’s actual sequel, Adventure more or less revamped the core gameplay concepts. Oh sure, Kirby still inhaled enemies and floated over dangers, but now he could steal enemy’s powers and use those powers to find switches that, upon activation, would open up new places to visit. Kirby’s Adventure also introduced mini-games and bosses to fight after Dedede. In short, it modernized the Kirby series.It’s also gorgeous, with well-animated sprites, plenty of colorful environments and enemies, and charming character design. Kirby’s Adventure is an absolute joy to play, a pinnacle of easygoing platform game design. Aside from Super Mario Bros. 3, this might be the best side-scrolling platformer on the NES.
The Wii U version adds GamePad support, which is great if you want to play the game on the couch while your wife watches “New Girl,” and of course Miiverse support, where you can… look at lots of pictures of people drawing Kirby characters. Personally, I think the best version of Kirby’s Adventure is the excellent 3D Classic, but at the time of this writing, the Wii U version is selling for a bank-breaking thirty cents. I don’t care if you already have the game three other ways—BUY IT AGAIN. Regardless of price, this version of Kirby’s Adventure is still worth your time.