Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland

Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland is a remake of the previously released game Kirby's Adventure. It is a 2D platformer like the Super Mario series of platformer games.

Story

You play as Kirby who must save the residents of Dreamland from King DeDeDe. King DeDeDe has stolen the Rod of Dreams and you set out on an adventure to find the stolen rod.

Gameplay

Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland retains the same basic gameplay as Kirby’s Adventure. The major differences are the improved graphics, coop gameplay and some minigames. The level design remains the same. You fight your way through the stages and battle enemies that you encounter. There are about 40 stages with a wide variety of enemies. The stage moves from left to right and from bottom to top. There are some hazards like cannons and firepits in the stages that you have to avoid.

You can swallow some enemies to access their powers. So, you get to attack other enemies using your newly accessed powers. It’s refreshing to meet a new enemy, swallow them, and test your newly accessed powers. There are about 30 enemies that you can swallow their abilities. Abilities include things like laser beams, swords, flames, rocks, etc.
The game is simple and easy to play. It even becomes routine at a point. But the boss battles are quite challenging. You need to study the attack patterns of the bosses to fight them. You can’t use the same pattern to fight bosses. You’ll face about 12 bosses in the game. As you beat each boss, you reclaim a portion of the Rod of Dreams.

Kirby can walk, float, swim, and jump. You can even complete some levels by simply avoiding the enemies instead of battling them. You have six hit points per life. But you can gain extra lives from many sources, so the possibility of the game been over before completion is very slim.
There are hidden doors that you can discover in each level. You get rewards for finding each hidden door. The graphics have improved and the cel-shaded animation looks good on the Game Boy Advance.

Minigames

There are minigames in the form of challenges. When you complete these minigames, you gain extra abilities and lives. These minigames mostly test your abilities to react fast. They aren’t that difficult in any way. If you choose to, you can play the minigames from another game menu instead of continuing them from the main game menu. But you won’t earn extra abilities or lives from playing them this way.

Multiplayer

The game has multiplayer support for up to 4 players. You and 3 other players can compete against each other with the minigames. The multiplayer also works for coop gameplay, so you and your friends can complete the game together.

Pros

• Easy to play
• Improved graphics
• Coop mode

Cons

• Routine, unchallenging gameplay

Nintendo's lil' pink puffball hero follows up his animated debut on Fox this fall and his role in Smash Bros. Melee with a new game on GBA. Simply called Kirby for now, this adventure in Dreamland will tread familiar territory. Kirby sucks in the powers of the enemies he encounters and throws it right back at 'em.

Kirby's M.O. has always been hyper-cute action. The creative thing about Kirby games is his ability to eat his foes and steal their powers. The new GBA version has that, but otherwise it's very basic. Kirby doesn't include improvements made to the series over the years. But you will find a bunch of minigames to make up for it.