Kirby's Dream Land

1. I've never really gotten into the Kirby games. Years ago, I bought Kirby's Dream Collection, a six-game compilation of classic Kirby games for the Wii. Tonight marked my first time diving into that one with Kirby's Dream Land, the original 1992 Game Boy title.

2. The game was ridiculously short and easy. I'm always wary of the difficulty curve associated with old school Nintendo games, but Kirby's Dream Land was an absolute breeze. I beat the whole thing in thirty minutes. It ended with a Capcom-style gauntlet of every boss in the game, capped off by a climactic showdown with King Dedede, and this boss run of sorts may have been the easiest level of all. 

3. Marissa has always reminisced about this game when I bring up any video games I played as a kid. She and her brother shared a Game Boy growing up, and although she can't remember any other game she had(*), she's always spoken fondly of Kirby's Dream Land. She watched me play through half of this and loved it, remembering some very random elements after all these years like certain tunes, certain secrets, and certain boss fights. It was fun to see how much nostalgic fun she was having watching me play the game. She was, however, shocked that I beat the whole thing in less than an hour. She recalls spending hours and hours on this game. Isn't it amazing how many times we could replay things as kids? And isn't it funny how large and epic so many things seemed?

(*) That's not true. She also remembers Q*bert.

4. I was kind of surprised, while playing this, at just how many aspects of Kirby weren't around at the inception of the Kirby franchise. First and foremost, Kirby is white, not pink, on the American box art. Meta Knight was entirely absent from the game. And most surprising of all, to me, was that Kirby could not yet swallow enemies to take their abilities. Gameplay here consisted entirely of jumping, floating, sucking, and spitting. No swallowing! (Yes, I heard it too...)

5. I really liked it. There's nothing substantial about Kirby's Dream Land, but it was short and sweet and relaxing and charming. Plus, nerd that I am, I love exploring the origins of long-lasting video game franchises. I wholeheartedly recommend spending half an hour on Kirby's Dream Land if you find an opportunity to do so.