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Educate me on Kirby

Johnas

Member
After playing and completing (almost all the medals anyway) Kirby: Canvas Curse, I now have a keen interest in the Kirby games. Unfortunately, Canvas Curse is the only Kirby game I've played, and after trying to do some research on the older titles, I pretty much came away empty-handed. Various reviews sound OK, but I can't really tell which ones are the better ones. Both GBA games look pretty good, and have pretty good review scores, but I wondered if the NES game, or either of the SNES ones, hold up well, and are worth purchasing. I'm really looking for the good platform games, Tilt 'n Tumble looks cool for what it is, but it's not really what I'm looking for. So somebody give me the GAF angle on Kirby. Thanks in advance.
 
Game Boy:

Kirby's Dream Land: Pretty fun, basic platformer. There are small powerups found throughout, but Kirby doesn't have his swallow/morph function in this game. Lots of jumping around.

Kirby's Dream Land 2: Probably more to what you're used to with gaining the enemy's attributes. Can also combine those with any three animal friends. I thought there was a lot of replayability here to collect everything and face the true boss.

Kirby's Pinball Land: Great pinball game. I think I may have beaten it once... it was tough.

All the GB games are games that I played a LOT during my childhood, so nostalgia may have made them better than they actually were, because I didn't like many of the other Kirby games.

Kirby's Dream Land 3 (SNES) was pretty bland and boring, but I didn't get too far.

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (N64) had an interesting system in which you could combine any two powers (or the same power) for different power ups like a flame sword, a double-bladed lightsaber, superspikes, and other stuff. The level design was shit though, and I thought Kirby moved too slow.

Kirby Superstar (SNES) was pretty fun. Lots of different games to choose from in there.
 
AniHawk said:
Game Boy:

Kirby's Dream Land: Pretty fun, basic platformer. There are small powerups found throughout, but Kirby doesn't have his swallow/morph function in this game. Lots of jumping around.

Kirby's Dream Land 2: Probably more to what you're used to with gaining the enemy's attributes. Can also combine those with any three animal friends. I thought there was a lot of replayability here to collect everything and face the true boss.

Kirby's Pinball Land: Great pinball game. I think I may have beaten it once... it was tough.

All the GB games are games that I played a LOT during my childhood, so nostalgia may have made them better than they actually were, because I didn't like many of the other Kirby games.

Kirby's Dream Land 3 (SNES) was pretty bland and boring, but I didn't get too far.

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (N64) had an interesting system in which you could combine any two powers (or the same power) for different power ups like a flame sword, a double-bladed lightsaber, superspikes, and other stuff. The level design was shit though, and I thought Kirby moved too slow.

Kirby Superstar (SNES) was pretty fun. Lots of different games to choose from in there.

NES Kirby rocked, btw. And so did Kirby Superstar. And Kirby's Ghost Trap. And Kirby's Pinball Land. And Kirby's Dream Course.
 
I suggest Kirby & The Amazing Mirror for GBA. It's like a mix between Kirby and Metroid (as in one semi-cohesive map). The level design, graphics, music and gameplay are all top notch. Plus it features multiplayer with up to four people (however multicarts are necessary).
Overall I'd say it's one of the best action/adventure games on the GBA.
 
I love Kirby Pinball, Star Stacker, Dream Course and the breakout game (Block Hitter?). Note, none of those titles are platformers. Avalanche is Puyo Pop, and Dreamland 2 is fun. Haven't played Nightmare.
 
Ancestor_of_Erdrick said:
After playing and completing (almost all the medals anyway) Kirby: Canvas Curse, I now have a keen interest in the Kirby games.

None of them are as good as Canvas Curse, but generally Kirby games are decent if unspectacular. The plus side is you could probably pick up all 15 or so Kirby games for $50 bucks total, so it's not exactly a decision you should agonize over.
 
Unison said:
I have no idea what this is... When did it come out? Is it for SNES? What kinda game was it?

I just looked it up...I think it's a synonym for Kirby's Avalanche.

Thanks for the info everyone, btw.
 
Ancestor_of_Erdrick said:
I just looked it up...I think it's a synonym for Kirby's Avalanche.

Thanks for the info everyone, btw.

True! And boxart for the curious.

sneskirbyghosttrap.JPG
 
Ancestor_of_Erdrick said:
I just looked it up...I think it's a synonym for Kirby's Avalanche.

Thanks for the info everyone, btw.

Booo!! How boring... I was hoping to find out about a new game.
 
I can't get the last 3 medals on canvas curse :(
 
catfish said:
I can't get the last 3 medals on canvas curse :(

:lol I haven't tried them too seriously yet, but I know what you mean. On Block Attack, I got A on Level 1, AA on Level 2, and I think G on Level 3. I think I bumped that one up to E, but still.

I think I'm gonna grab those two GBA games, they look awesome.
 
NES Kirby is great along with Superstar play both of those. Dream Course is one of the best quasi-golf games I have ever played so addictive and fun. Kirby Crystal Shards isn't the best kriby but the combinations of powers made for a lot of fun experimenting so yes I also reccomend that one. The GBA one with the phones I could never get into as much.
 
There's Kirby's Block Ball, which is a breakout type game but with all four sides of the screen being used to knock the ball, kirby, back at the blocks. From what I remember of the game, it was pretty enjoyable, good integration of the standard kirby concepts into a breakout game.
 
SailorDaravon said:
Kirby Superstar is the best Kirby game, and one of the best games ever.
No doubt about it. :D

Dream course is one of the best spin offs ever.

other good ones are kirby's adventure/nightmare in dreamland, and kirby's pinball land.
 
Quick reviews in order of release, action/adventure games only.

Kirby's Dream Land (Game Boy) - Excellent. Pretty straight forward game with tons of charm. A little slow and easy, but upon completing the game (or visiting GameFAQs) you're given a code for a hard mode, which provides a decent challenge.

Kirby's Adventure (NES) - Excellent. Adds Kirby's ability to steal enemy powers, faster gameplay and a sort of overworld, letting you go back to levels you've already cleared. Decent challenge and a fair bit of secrets.

Kirby's Dream Land 2 (Game Boy) - Excellent and my personal fave Kirby title. A mix between DL1 and Adventure's gameplay. Adds animal friends Kirby can ride, which can also steal powers creating even more options. Decent challenge (and finding the items to unlock the true last boss/ending can be pretty damn hard if I remember correctly). The animals make it a little easy, since they have their own powerbar, so try not to abuse them.

Kirby Super Star (SNES) - Excellent. A collection of mini Kirby games that range in styles. Some are classic platform/adventure games, some are silly things like a race with King DeDeDe. All are fun. The main change to this is bad guys can now take more than one hit in most cases so it spices up the gameplay a bit and you can not only steal enemy powers, but you can also clone them to fight along side you. The challenge in this one is mixed, depending on the game, but there's a ton of content to keep you busy.

Kirby's Dream Land 3 (SNES) - Poor, the black sheep of the series. The faster speed of the later games is completely sucked out of this one and replaced with a crayon sketch art style, specific to this game only, which looks pretty good but doesn't seem very fitting. 3 new animals are added to the cast along with the original 3 from DL2. There's a decent amount of levels and a lot of hidden items to find, but the bland level design and slow gameplay really hurts the title.

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (N64) - Poor, the only title on this list I couldn't play to completion. Everything bad about DL3 returns. The 3D graphics are kind of neat, but not really needed. I recall it being a bit harder than DL3 though, so that's a plus.

Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land (GBA) - Good. A port/remake of the NES title with some added content. The new content isn't really all that fantastic, but the updated graphics and unlockable character (that really changes the feel of the game) are a plus. Much, much easier than the NES title though.

I can't comment on Kirby & The Amazing Mirror (GBA) since I haven't picked it up yet. The change to a 4 player team whatever doesn't look all that interesting, but I'll probably pick it up since I own everything else I've listed.
 
Zaxxon said:
I saw Kirby Tilt n' Tumble at my local EB. Is it worth buying?
It was a pretty neat game for its time, but there aren't any powers. It's pretty fun just for the novelty of the tilt sensor, and there are a lot of hidden stars (like medals in canvas curse) to find. I'd say it's worth it, just know that if you plan on playing it on an SP, you won't be able to control it properly because of the cartridge being upside down (relative to the other GB's).
 
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