Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land

Fans of the little pink guy might be a little disappointed to find out that the game isn't that much more than a retooled copy of Kirby's Adventure released on the NES platform almost a decade ago. But it's a good introduction to newcomers to the character, and players who have already played through this adventure in its original 8-bit incarnation can still enjoy a quick play-through with a few new additions to take advantage of...namely, four player cooperative mode, as well as three new mini-games that take advantage of the GBA's single cartridge link feature.

Features

More than 20 different abilities to utilize
Three mini-games
Extra boss battle mode
Link cable support for four players (single and multiple-cartridge support)
Cartridge save (four slots)

Seems King DeDeDe, one of the only videogame bad guys that's not truly "evil" (except for maybe in the cartoons), has stolen the Star Wand from Dream Land, broken it into five pieces (man, is this ever a familiar videogame cliché), and handed each segment to his underlings. It's up to Kirby to get the wand back in one piece, otherwise nobody can dream. Or so the story goes, anyway. Kirby's this pink ball with arms and shoes that has the unique ability to suck in enemies and steal their abilities, from a cutter sword to an ice blaster, to laser beam; 24 different abilities in all. By himself, Kirby can inflate and float infinitely, but to do so means his mouth has to be shut. That's okay, though, since that breath can be used as a short-range projectile when he needs to come back down to earth. Levels have been designed to put these abilities to use, and certain, hidden exits cannot be accessed unless Kirby finds and utilizes a specific ability. Hidden areas will unlock extra parts of each world, from mini-games that will earn the player extra lives, to a museum where Kirby can snag a power-up for absolutely no charge.

The game as a whole is a very satisfying Game Boy Advance experience, with clever level design ideas that put Kirby's move-stealing abilities to good use. Most of the areas can be completed without breaking a sweat, which is a shame for the many gamers that just blow through a game without really doing any of the "discovery" stuff; the real challenge is to learn where all the hidden stuff is tucked away.

Unlike the way Nintendo has handled past ports for the Game Boy Advance, Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland really only lifts the gameplay and level design from the NES Kirby's Adventure; all of the graphics and sound effects have been recreated from scratch in order to take advantage of the GBA's more powerful system capabilities. Kirby's animation is absolutely fluid in all of his adorable movements, and what's more, since the guy visually shows what power he's currently holding onto, the artists had to redraw many of Kirby's motions while he's wearing his different hats. Backgrounds are almost as impressive, as many of the backdrop images look to be handpainted, scanned-in paintings, definitely putting the GBA's high-color abilities to use.

The gameplay from the NES game received slight tweaks here and there, but nothing to get in a twist over. Some of the alterations, like providing more visible hidden doorways, make the game a bit easier, while others, like end boss size and behavior, give the game a slightly more difficult challenge. But to be honest, the game's average in difficulty; it's no slouch, though, and it'll take a bit longer to complete the game 100% (and to get the "extra" element), but the first time through the game shouldn't take more than a couple of hours of play.

There are a few things that increase Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland's replay value. Along with the discovery of the hidden doorways to earn the 100% complete status, the mini-games in the adventure can be played with up to three other GBA owners through the magic of single-cartridge multiplayer. though they're really nothing hugely elaborate, the games are a nice change of pace from the main adventure and put the system's more challenging abilities to work. The Air Grind level in particular is pretty impressive to watch, as four rails intertwine like a Twizzler vine, with each of four Kirbys scaling into the foreground and out to the background as they slide along the line. The Bomb Rally is nothing more than a game of Hot Potato-meets-Tennis, but it's still a good way to earn a few extra lives. And Quick Draw says it like it is; the fastest player on the A button after the timer starts wins the battle.

Most promising is its cooperative option; if every player has a copy of the game, they can enter the adventure together...at any time. Find a boss battle particularly challenging? Get a friend (or two, or three) involved to take him out a little easier. While the game isn't a massive pain in single player, it's always great to work together with a couple of other Kirby fanatics.

Verdict

Nintendo seems to really like rehashing old games on the Game Boy Advance, but at least when they used Kirby's Adventure as the blueprint for Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, it wasn't "quick and dirty" like Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island. Not that those ports weren't top notch developments on the GBA, it's just that, even though not a lot of level design effort went into the Kirby project, a whole team of artists were put to work for this game; it's definitely one great looking GBA platformer. It's not a hugely challenging game, and don't be surprised if you blow through the game to the end in a sitting or two. But keep in mind that there's a lot of discovery and, yes, a little strategy in order to complete the game 100%, and you'll want to do that to get the "extra" something.