The NES version of this game is no longer in stores, but thankfully this last-minute NES masterpiece has been released on the Virtual Console. It costs 500 Wii Points, and is it more than 10 dollars worth of points or is it just a waste of your Wii's memory?
Storyline: 8/10
Dream Land, Kirby's home world, is a peaceful places where the denizens dream every night. But one day, the people didn't dream and instead were plagued by nightmares. The reason? At the Fountain of Dreams, King Dedede took the Star Rod that fuels the fountain, broke it into pieces, and gave those pieces to his friends to guard. Now Kirby has to collect the Star Rod pieces and defeat King Dedede. The alternative is a lifetime of horrible nightmares. It's a pretty basic story, and with a good plot twist at the end to spice it up. Still, the overall story isn't to be obsessed about, but it's pretty good compared to a fraction of games in its generation.
Gameplay: 9/10
Classic Kirby gameplay: swallow enemies, copy their abilities. You gotta love that. Around 26 abilities are available from the wide bestiary. Even with some lousy abilities like Ball, Throw, and Wheel, you've got a good selection of great powers like Sword, Laser, and the beloved UFO. Deciding which abilities are worth it is really based on your skill and taste. (Heh, rhyme.) This gives Kirby's Adventure somewhat of a customized gameplay feel. Of course, the game has more than just Copy Abilities to note, there is a well-designed overworld. Each world has an area with doors to other levels; once you complete a level, more of the world is unveiled. It doesn't just serve as a port for level selections, but if you fully explore a level you may find that more cool stuff will be revealed. The Arena lets you fight a mini-boss for recovery and rare abilities, Museums contain helpless enemies that you can swallow for a quick ability, and a variety of mini-games to play offer points or 1-Ups. Without a doubt, this is much better than just level after level after level.
Graphics: 10/10
In the current time these graphics wouldn't be pleasing to most of us, but for the NES these are the peak of graphic design. It really wouldn't be fair if I graded it on a modern scale. While most NES games are heavily pixelated, Kirby's Adventure makes significant use of shading. Notable graphic features include sparks, ice, maybe the aurora in World 7... Okay, I'm getting desperate here, I'll put it plain and simple. The graphics are masterful for the NES, okay?
Music and Sound Effects: 8.5/10
While the game's music is made up of bleeps and blips, these bleeps and blips just happen to be arranged in a great manner. Cheerful tunes give the worlds of Dream Land an upbeat atmosphere, but that shouldn't upset a mature gamer so much, as there are a good deal of catchy tunes, for forest levels, the final boss battle, World 7-1... But there are some dull and forgettable tunes to plague the soundtrack; Museums, World 5, and various island levels didn't quite give me the same feel as the rest of the music pieces did. The sound effects, on the other hand, are nothing special. You have your typical inhaling, sword slices, and jumping noises, nothing too big to note there.
Controls: 9/10
Obviously, the GameCube controller feels the most comfortable out of the three controller choices, the only problem is that floating can only be done by holding the analog stick up, which feels kind of irritating. The Wiimote comes close, but having a control pad instead of a control stick can sometimes get in the way of movement. The Classic Controller may feel good for those who played the original version of the game, but I personally kept getting the jump button (A) and the inhale button (B) mixed up. They all have their flaws, but it barely interferes with the gameplay.
Length: 8/10
The game consists of 7 worlds, each with about 6 levels and a boss at the end. The adventure itself is pretty easy and should take maybe 1 to 3 days. But most levels have secret switches in them that can unlock further features in their world. These levels are indicated by flashing doors, so you won't have to go through each and every level to see which switches you missed. In some levels, you're gonna have to really think to find the switches. *coughWorld7-6cough* Even after you've found all of the switches, you may feel the desire to go back to various levels, maybe go on a rampage with the UFO ability, and there are always those notorious glitches and easter eggs...
Replayability: 8/10
As I mentioned before, beating the game 100% will likely take quite a while. But there's still more to see after that, as there is an extra version of the game that is much, much more challenging. In addition to that, there's also a Boss Rush game where you fight all of the bosses with no recovery or Copy Abilities. It's harder than it sounds, and it sounds pretty hard. The main problem is that the Extra Game and the Boss Rush are too difficult, or sometimes you may just quit of boredom. But it's something to do when you have a lot of free time on your hands.
Fun Factor!: 9/10
The lighthearted atmosphere in Adventure makes the game very fun to play. Unlike most of the future Kirby games, Kirby's Adventure maintains the classic Kirby formula. Most of the puzzles in the game aren't too hard or easy, so you wo't be left feeling untested or frustrated. The main thing that kept it from a perfect 10 was that the mini-games are kind of weak. Egg Catcher is too fast paced to be able to get a decent score, Crane Fever can sometimes be inaccurate and hard to aim, and Quick Draw... well, there's nothing too notable wrong with that. Still, the mini-games are optional and are pretty much made up for by the rest of the game.
Overall: 91/100
Beaten only by Kirby Superstar, Kirby's Adventure is one of the very best Kirby games and also one of the greatest NES achievements. It's worth well over 500 Wii Points, and quite a popular download. Those who are picky about sound and graphics might prefer Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, which is a GBA remake of Adventure with enhanced graphics and sound. Still, you can't beat the original. Anyone who's not a Kirby fan may quite easily be changed into one by this game. Hey, I was. =)
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