Kirby's Dream Land

aka: Hoshi no Kirby, Twinkle Popo
Moby ID: 5335
Game Boy Specs
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Description official descriptions

Dedede, King of Dream Land, is a penguin-like creature who is too gluttonous for his own good. Gathering food for his midnight feast, he got carried away and ended up taking all the food from the inhabitants of his country. One of them, a pink little guy named Kirby, decides to travel all the way to King Dedede's palace and retrieve the lost food by any means.

Kirby's Dream Land is a side-scrolling platform action game, and the first in the Kirby series. Although the protagonist appears to be a weak little marshmallow, he is actually quite powerful: he has the ability to suck up his enemies like a vacuum, and then shoot them out at other enemies. Kirby can also swallow air and inflate himself, which allows him to fly. There are four levels in the game; no save feature is available.

Spellings

  • 星のカービ - Japanese spelling

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Credits (Game Boy version)

14 People (12 developers, 2 thanks)

Director
Chief Designer
Chief Programmer
Programmer
  • Sunday Rain
GDV Programmers
Sound Composer
Supervisor
Producer
Design
Spanish translation (uncredited)
Special Thanks
  • Bubby
  • Cipher
Presented by
  • Hal Laboratory Inc.
  • Nintendo

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 76% (based on 26 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 74 ratings with 2 reviews)

Short, but sweet

The Good
Kirby's Dream Land sports pretty good graphics, fun gameplay, a decent story, good music, and easy controls. The bosses are creative and fun to fight. The level design of this game is pretty cool too, ranging from the Wispy Woods to the Clouds.

The Bad
Kirby's Dream Land was an extremely short game. It only includes 4 levels + the final boss battle. This was a real let-down, when after only 20 minutes of happiness I was greeted with the ending credits.

The Bottom Line
Kirby's Dream Land is a light-hearted adventure which is enjoyable while it lasts, but over WAY too early. If you are considering purchasing this game, it is well worth the money since you can easily replay it over and over but do not expect a long, grand, epic adventure.

Game Boy · by Jon Collins (24) · 2004

Fun and original gameplay but, oh my goodness, what a short and easy game.

The Good
The graphics are pretty good. There is enough detail and it's in a typical Nintendo style, similar to Super Mario Land 2 and Wario Land. The gameplay, though, is the most original part of the game. Kirby doesn't have any weapons or powers, except his vacuum cleaner-like ability to suck up enemies and spit them out or swallow them, and the ability to puff up into like a balloon to fly. By spitting out enemies Kirby can defeat enemies, although most can be swallowed. There are a lot of enemies, but none of them are really dangerous. Flying makes it easy to maneuver through the levels, but it's done in a way that you can't skip too much using this power. The tunes are some of the most memorable on the Game boy and nice to listen to.

The Bad
It's REALLY short. Only five levels and within an hour the credits will roll on your Game boy screen. Not only is it short but it's also REALLY easy. Only children or those who are seeking for a good introduction to the platform genre will appreciate this. It's for these people this game was made. If you finish the game you will learn how to play a harder version but it's still very easy. The much bigger and longer NES sequel Kirby's Adventure was also easy, but because it was bigger and longer it didn't feel so bad, and, more importantly, it had copy abilities giving suits like Wario Land of Super Mario Bros. 3 had but much more. In this game the same enemies are seen, but no copy abilities. It's an earlier game but it still feels bad.

The Bottom Line
Fun and original, but very short and easy. Only for less experienced gamers should buy this. If you want a Kirby game, try Kirby's Adventure or one of the many other sequels out there.

Game Boy · by Rensch (203) · 2006

Trivia

Title translation

The English translation of the Japanese title is Kirby of the Stars.

Awards

  • Retro Gamer
    • October 2004 (Issue #9) – #6 Best Game Boy Game

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by quizzley7.

Nintendo 3DS added by Joshua J. Slone. Nintendo Switch added by glik.

Additional contributors: Apogee IV, Exodia85, monkeyislandgirl, gamewarrior, Pseudo_Intellectual, Patrick Bregger.

Game added November 11, 2001. Last modified February 18, 2024.