There comes a time where the older games define what the series is to become. Kirby's Dream Land defines exactly that. While this game, unlike other Kirby games, encourages the tactical gaming approach the game offers a base for the next Kirby games to come. Even you cannot swallow your enemies and steal their power the game is still very fun and exciting to play. You start off as this little white blob that has the power that would make the strongest vacuum cleaner jealous of Kirby's power. It's almost like Kirby is a little black hole that has come to save the world from the evil that lurks within the world. With this amazing power, you have the ability to take an object or enemy, hold them in your mouth, and shoot them at another enemy to get the Kirby equivalent of a "double kill". The levels of the game are very well made and formed especially when you get to the final boss level. When you get to this level, you have to fight the four bosses again to get to the "final" boss. This certain boss is by far the most tactically annoying, most painful boss I have ever faced in any game in a long time. You have to find out his pattern, time your moves perfectly, and take down his absolutely huge amount of health (I believe you have to hit him at least 12 times to defeat him). After you beat the final boss, the credits begin to roll and you seem to have beaten the game, unless you paid attention to the fact that after the main game there is a bonus game for you to take part in. This bonus game thus adds much needed depth to the game.
Graphics 7: The graphics in this game are about what you would expect from the first game in the series, but rises above some in the graphics department, thus receiving what some may call a "generous" seven. If Hal Laboratory and Nintendo had focused a little more on the graphics, the score may have gone up a little more.
Sound 6: In this game, the sound seems to be a little above average, but does not have any of those tunes that you remember forever like in The Legend of Zelda and Pokémon series. Even though the electronics were not the best back then, there could have been a little better sound in the game.
Addictiveness 9: This game is one of those games where I could almost never stop playing. The only reasons I would stop my progress is if; a) I was being forced to do something by an adult or b) I had to go to bed or risk insomnia. This game is very much one of the most addicting games on the Game Boy platform. At first, you want to beat the first boss and then some amount of time passes and you are freaking out about having to re-beat the bosses again without any health restorations possible.
Story 9: Some of you may say that there is not a story in this game, but I disagree. It seems like the whole time you know that you will have to face this big boss in the end and that the little bosses are just warm-ups for the big bosses, when WHAM, they come back and try to block you from progressing further into the game. Not only does this game also set up who Kirby is to be, it also sets up another character as an antagonist for the games to later come.
Depth 10: Not only does this game contain the main story and a total of 9 boss fights over 5 (4 main plus stage with all bosses) levels, there is also a bonus game that comes with the game. If you are talking in terms of depth, this game is very deep.
Difficulty 7: This game is tough, but not extremely tough. Even though you have to think tactically and decide when and where to move and hit things, there are points in the game where you will think this game is the easiest game ever (more notably in the first main level) and figure the game is a shoo-over. Then the final boss hits you and you spend a long time on how to beat this monster with what seems like infinite health.
Overall, I will give this game a solid eight. This game is one of the more tactically challenging games I have ever played, which made me rate it high. If you like the idea of having to play a tactical game and challenge yourself, you should try out this game.
There comes a time where the older games define what the series is to become. Kirby's Dream Land defines exactly that. While this game, unlike other Kirby games, encourages the tactical gaming approach the game offers a base for the next Kirby games to come. Even you cannot swallow your enemies and steal their power the game is still very fun and exciting to play. You start off as this little white blob that has the power that would make the strongest vacuum cleaner jealous of Kirby's power. It's almost like Kirby is a little black hole that has come to save the world from the evil that lurks within the world. With this amazing power, you have the ability to take an object or enemy, hold them in your mouth, and shoot them at another enemy to get the Kirby equivalent of a "double kill". The levels of the game are very well made and formed especially when you get to the final boss level. When you get to this level, you have to fight the four bosses again to get to the "final" boss. This certain boss is by far the most tactically annoying, most painful boss I have ever faced in any game in a long time. You have to find out his pattern, time your moves perfectly, and take down his absolutely huge amount of health (I believe you have to hit him at least 12 times to defeat him). After you beat the final boss, the credits begin to roll and you seem to have beaten the game, unless you paid attention to the fact that after the main game there is a bonus game for you to take part in. This bonus game thus adds much needed depth to the game.
Graphics 7: The graphics in this game are about what you would expect from the first game in the series, but rises above some in the graphics department, thus receiving what some may call a "generous" seven. If Hal Laboratory and Nintendo had focused a little more on the graphics, the score may have gone up a little more.
Sound 6: In this game, the sound seems to be a little above average, but does not have any of those tunes that you remember forever like in The Legend of Zelda and Pokémon series. Even though the electronics were not the best back then, there could have been a little better sound in the game.
Addictiveness 9: This game is one of those games where I could almost never stop playing. The only reasons I would stop my progress is if; a) I was being forced to do something by an adult or b) I had to go to bed or risk insomnia. This game is very much one of the most addicting games on the Game Boy platform. At first, you want to beat the first boss and then some amount of time passes and you are freaking out about having to re-beat the bosses again without any health restorations possible.
Story 9: Some of you may say that there is not a story in this game, but I disagree. It seems like the whole time you know that you will have to face this big boss in the end and that the little bosses are just warm-ups for the big bosses, when WHAM, they come back and try to block you from progressing further into the game. Not only does this game also set up who Kirby is to be, it also sets up another character as an antagonist for the games to later come.
Depth 10: Not only does this game contain the main story and a total of 9 boss fights over 5 (4 main plus stage with all bosses) levels, there is also a bonus game that comes with the game. If you are talking in terms of depth, this game is very deep.
Difficulty 7: This game is tough, but not extremely tough. Even though you have to think tactically and decide when and where to move and hit things, there are points in the game where you will think this game is the easiest game ever (more notably in the first main level) and figure the game is a shoo-over. Then the final boss hits you and you spend a long time on how to beat this monster with what seems like infinite health.
Overall, I will give this game a solid eight. This game is one of the more tactically challenging games I have ever played, which made me rate it high. If you like the idea of having to play a tactical game and challenge yourself, you should try out this game.