Kirby's Dream Land 3 (1997)

This Kirby entry is a whimsical and heartfelt platformer that represents both the end of an era and the height of Kirby’s 16-bit charm. The game takes the familiar Kirby formula, float, inhale, copy, and enriches it with a hand-drawn, pastel aesthetic that makes it feel like an interactive picture book. Every world feels alive with soft, colorful details, while the gentle soundtrack complements the visual warmth, creating one of the most relaxing experiences on the Super Nintendo.

Gameplay stays true to Kirby’s roots but introduces new layers of depth through his animal companions, Rick, Coo, Kine, and others, each offering unique twists on Kirby’s abilities and altering how you explore levels. Collecting Heart Stars by helping friendly NPCs adds a light puzzle-solving element that rewards patience and curiosity rather than raw skill.

While it’s not a particularly challenging game, its slower pace and forgiving design make it perfect for people who value creativity and atmosphere over intensity. As one of the SNES’s final first-party titles, Kirby’s Dream Land 3 serves as a gentle farewell to the console, an imaginative, cozy platformer that embodies Kirby’s spirit of kindness, charm, and playful discovery.

Another standout is the contrast between the cheerful crayon-like presentation and the surprisingly moody, almost melancholic undertones in certain stages gives the adventure a depth that lingers after the credits roll. Boss encounters range from adorable to unexpectedly eerie, reinforcing the idea that this is a children’s storybook world with hints of something stranger beneath the surface. It may not demand mechanical mastery, but it leaves a lasting impression through tone, artistry, and sincerity.

The difficulty is all over the place. It has sections that are too easy and secions that cheapen the difficulty. If you've read some of my other Kirby reviews you know I'm not a fan of that.

Still visually pleasing with a nice soundtrack to boot. If you like Kirby I'd still recommend giving this game a try. You may find more fun in it than I had.

This game is cozy and relaxing but not that easy as newer Kirby games. I liked the cozy atmosphere and many music tracks. The game uses also the buddy-concept from Dreamland 2, but extends it. Now you always have the choice between some of Kirby's friends. What i liked very much ist that each of Kirbys friends uses the Power ups in a different way. Therefore I saw until the last Level new variants of for example the fire or the spikes Power up. In this instance it has much variety.

On the other Side i was a bit dissapointed of the graphics. The colours were so pale, so i had to change the display settings on my TV what I normally never have to do. In comparison with a Donkey Kong Country the graphics of Kirby's Dreamland 3 look very regular and not outstanding. You are used to more, especially when you know that the SNES offers more. Also i have to critisize the controls. Kirby runs very slowly and is very unflexibel, for example when you spontanously has to change to the left because an enemy appears directly in front of Kirby or when you realize an enemy too late. The consequence is... you get hit although it would theoretically possible to avoid that.

All in all 3/5 stars.

https://noahsbarks.com/reviews/kirbys-dream-land-3/

Think of a forgotten Kirby game. Kirby's Block Ball? Kirby's Pinball Land? In all likelihood, it was one of the creampuff's many esoteric spinoffs. The platformers have generally secured a legacy, even among their less financially successful entries. Out of these, if one could be said to be the blackest of all the sheep, it's probably Kirby's Dream Land 3 (KDL3). To remember that it's a follow-up to what's often considered one of the greatest games ever made, Kirby Super Star (KSS), and on the same damn platform, it's nigh unthinkable the mild acknowledgment it has received.

Consider a few other factors, however, and things start to fall into place. For starters, it was Nintendo's final SNES game published in North America - the Nintendo 64 had been out for over a year at this point. Naturally, many potential customers would have already moved on. To make matters worse, the game was completely denied a stake in the PAL region due to technical difficulties preventing its release, slicing the potential audience even further. Another factor, and arguably the most important one, is that the game isn't that great.

To be frank, Kirby's Dream Land 3 makes a questionable first impression. Yes, the visuals are gorgeous and uniquely stylized, but so were Kirby Super Star's. For the sake of argument, if we're to consider the graphics a lateral move, the game starts off on awkward footing by removing KSS's central gimmick. Whereas KSS opened with the promise of multiple game modes and even more to discover, KDL3 returns to a traditional level-by-level structure established by its sub-series namesake. You might consider such a judgment unfair, as it's only meeting the standards set by its true predecessors, but therein lies the rub. The first two entries of Kirby's Dream Land were Game Boy games. KDL3 was not. It was a game charging players the same price as Super Star, while decreasing the scope. Consider that, along with the natural expectation that the progression of time should result in superior games, and KDL3 finds itself up a river without a paddle.

But let's be fair to the lil' puff. Time has passed, and we all know we're pirating these games now anyway, so who cares about cost? And in some ways, history has already vindicated KDL3. Its style and some of its concepts would go on to inspire Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (K64), a game that also released near the end of its console's lifespan and didn't sell that much. Wait, what point was I making? Anyway, though KDL3 came and went, its DNA found a place in the greater Kirby genealogy. Kirby 64 might even be my personal favorite of the franchise, so it stands to reason I should find something to appreciate about KDL3.

The closest thing tying these two grotesque incestual siblings together is their power combination mechanic. Though they're contextualized differently, they share the same fundamentals. K64 allowed the player to absorb one of a handful of basic powers, then combine it with one more of the same or a different type to wield dozens of amusing, highly unorthodox abilities. KDL3 only allows the player to hold one power, but the other influence is Kirby's accompanying animal buddy, if any. A mechanic carried over from KDL2, Kirby can encounter one of many animal friends and choose to team up with one at a time. Doing so changes Kirby's basic controls and physics, but also provides a new power depending on which animal is teamed up with and which power Kirby is carrying. This, in theory, makes up for the smaller amount of basic powers in the game. Taking advantage of your partners' innate traversal abilities and the potential powers they offer when considering a level's enemy line-up appears to be the bread and butter of KDL3's game design.

One of the few mechanics brought back from KSS is your ability to create an ally. Pressing the A button causes Kirby to asexually produce a horrible creature called Gooey. This appropriately-named slime ball will follow Kirby and assist him in defeating enemies. Like KSS, a player can control Gooey with the second controller input, or the AI can be allowed to take the reigns. Unlike KSS, Gooey's AI isn't completely horrible. Gooey's bloodlust will have him naturally pursue enemies on screen rather than ones close to Kirby, and he'll make full use of his ability to inhale and spit enemies. Naturally, he's also able to copy abilities like Kirby. While Gooey can only use the basic powers due to being unable to ride a partner, he is able to freely choose which power he has - a marked upgrade from KSS. Gooey's services don't come cheap, however. He possesses his own health bar, which is represented by splitting Kirby's in half. Ouch! Another (annoying) aspect of Gooey that bears mentioning is that he shares camera priority with Kirby. Even when AI-controlled, Gooey can influence how the screen scrolls. It's not a huge problem, but it's an odd design decision that could have been exclusive to 2-player co-op.

Last of KDL3's gimmicks is that each level offers a unique character and an associated puzzle or task. Completing this side objective rewards you with a Heart Star (stick to one shape, please), and collecting all of these is required to fight the true final boss and get the best ending. While a cute idea, its contribution to the game ends up feeling minimal at best and obtrusive at worst. On occasion, the minigame is fun enough diversion. One enjoyable one is where a character will toss an object behind a wall with a brief opening in the middle. You need to use that split second of clarity to determine which is the correct object when asked to distinguish between it and a bunch of similar sprites. It's short, requires a different but not entirely unique skill to the main game, and it makes you feel smart when you solve something meant for literal toddlers.

Get one of those three questions wrong, however... and eat shit. You're donezo. You don't get a Heart Star, and the universe is doomed to eternal darkness and suffering. Of course, you can always try again - by repeating the entire damn level. While this is tedious on its own, you still need to remember that we're discussing one of the skill-based side missions. You technically have some measure of control in those, and failure is your fault. These losses are likely to compose your minority. The bulk of the objectives are "puzzle" based, and I use that word generously. If you're a long-time Kirby fan, you can predict exactly what I'm going to talk about. It's a design trend that's long been a thorn in the franchise's side, and while HAL has gotten much better at executing it, its shadow looms large.

Environmental puzzles that require bringing a specific power to part of the stage. Yes, in many of KDL3's stages, you are required to bring the right combination of power and/or partner to do some such bullshit so a crying porcupine or something can give you a Heart Star. There are a few ways to go about this, and most are unintuitive. The better ones provide some kind of hint in the design of the NPC providing the quest, which is visible on the stage select screen. A running theme is one of your partners' lover or family will be waiting later in the level, and because they're the same species and look similar, you can reasonably assume who you need to bring to that point. Simple deductive reasoning, and what remains turns the challenge into a skill-based test, as you can't lose your partner during the level. It's not amazing, but it's eloquent and works.

The rest, though? Man. Get to some arbitrary point of the level, make an educated guess about what you need only after seeing the objective where it's already too late to enter with the right power, and then replay the level only to learn the fire power you brought was wrong. Only the fire power when combined with Rick the hamster is good enough for some reason. And that adds on another replay. Sure, you could play with a guide, which is what I strongly recommend. But even doing that adds a layer to the game that's simply less fun than you could have been having were they simply willing to abandon this side quest concept. It's a chore, and it's made worse by the fact you can't simply exit an already completed level after fulfilling the objective - you are only rewarded the Heart Star right before the goal. And to be clear, levels can get surprisingly long.

So, padding to add replay value. A gaming tale as old as time. While annoying, replaying a stage now and then wouldn't be so bad if not for one thing: KDL3 is... kind of difficult? This realization struck me suddenly in the middle of my playthrough. It occurred to me that I had been dying at the same part repeatedly, which is definitely not something I'm used to from Kirby. It's fairly well-known Kirby began on the premise of being a platformer that anyone of any skill level would be able to complete. Ever since, the franchise has generally felt like it has stuck to that ethos, only occasionally pivoting for extra challenges in the main games, or going ballistic in spinoffs (if you want to lose all pride in yourself as a gamer, try Kirby's Dream Course.) To see that pattern broken as part of the sub-series containing that original game is unexpected, to say the least.

I had to pay extra attention to why KDL3 was giving me, a veteran of the franchise, such a hard time. Relatively speaking, of course. I'm not going to say this is a particularly difficult platformer in the grand scheme of things, but just an outlier among its peers. Is it that I'm bad at video games? No, of course not. I'm fucking amazing at video games, and you should never suggest otherwise. After analyzing the game from countless angles and running tests in my laboratory, I've identified two contributing factors. One is enemy density. There is a lot of shit trying to kill you on some of these screens. Enemies can populate screen real estate like it's fucking Mardi Gras. This naturally increases the possibility of being hit, even if it's simple contact damage. Increasing that possibility further is that Kirby's sprite naturally becomes larger when attached to an animal partner. But what really seals the deal is its combination with the second factor. And that is...

Your powers suck. They blow. And not in the Kirby way. Quantity over quality with regards to the combination mechanic made this an inevitability to some extent, but the persistent issue isn't simply that powers are esoteric or niche, rather many are just downright impractical to play the game with. If I had to generalize the issue, it's that very few powers provide a hitbox while moving. So many abilities force Kirby to stop in his tracks, forcing him to aim or otherwise be vulnerable due to a long start-up animation, often all for the process of defeating a single enemy.

Think of some basic Kirby powers from throughout the series, and you'll probably notice that a great many of them put an active hitbox around Kirby's sprite, effectively protecting you from contact damage while also defeating enemies. Some powers, such as Burning, also provide forward momentum, meaning progressing to the goal is never in conflict with engaging baddies. Powers that do this are at an absolute premium in KDL3. Kirby moves at one of his most sluggish paces to begin with in this game, and the cumbersome controls of many powers exacerbate this weakness. Attempting to move at a decent clip in this game without one of the few powers that allow for it is a good way to pile on damage fast. If you want to retain your sanity, I would recommend seeking out powers that let you move while attacking. ChuChu + Umbrella is one, as is ChuChu + Broom. There are other examples, but these make the game so much more playable that the bulk of the powers feel wasted. In contrast, Kirby 64 certainly has powers that are less useful than others, but you'd be much harder pressed to find ones that outright kill your pacing.

And that's what I've been trying to build to this entire review. KDL3 is just kind of... boring. Without the variable move sets provided by KSS powers, the novelty of many of these powers wears off quickly. Keep in mind that your power pool is limited by which animal partners you have access to, and levels typically only contain around two partners each. In K64, because your powers are combined from basic abilities provided by enemies, you can reliably have access to most of the game's powers in a single level. If you're not having a good time with a power in KDL3, it's not necessarily trivial to switch to something decent. Add to the fact that Heart Star missions often require you to lose your power to carry a specific one, and you have a recipe for frustration. Before I jump ship from the topic of difficulty, my notes mention the second to last level as being a particular gauntlet. I don't recall the details anymore, but this will have to do as an example.

I may as well use this as a jumping off point for another criticism of the powers: redundancy. To be fair, this was a problem with many Kirby games for a long time. It doesn't take a genius to realize Spark and Needle in classic games were exactly the same. However, in a context where the animals ought to provide some creative options, it stings a little more when you realize this veritable playground repeats some of the attractions. To wit, Kine's Cutter power is exactly the same as his Fire power, with the only change being the visuals. To make matters worse, there are many instances where a power combined with a certain partner is functionally the same as Kirby's solo power.

One of the more interesting meta aspects of this game is how much Kirby 64 feels like a reboot in hindsight. In what's perhaps an attempt to salvage assets many players missed out on, KDL3 features the debut of many enemies and locales that would go on to populate K64. A certain one blew me away personally. In World 2 of K64, there's a stage where you begin in a desert and end up boarding a spaceship that you travel through for the remainder of the level. Said stage is probably my favorite in the entire game. World 3 of KDL3 has a level with the same progression. Said stage is probably my least favorite in the entire game. Crazy how much execution and context can make a difference. Reusing some concepts isn't necessarily bad, but it hurts KDL3's relevance in retrospect for so much of its ideas to exist in a superior game. To drive the nail in further, many bosses from Dream Land 2 reappear. While it's nice to see them in beautiful 16-bit glory, it's not that exciting in lieu of new characters.

As I wrap up this review, I would like to leave off on some positives. KDL3 is an absolutely gorgeous game. The entire game is stylized to look as if it were drawn by crayon, with rough textures and bright tones that pop owing to a visual effect that constantly animates solid colors by alternating frames of similar shades. It's an approach that defines "vibrant," and competes with the best of the best when it comes to beautiful platformers such as its contemporary, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. I have nothing but praise for the visuals, and I would like to extend that enthusiasm to the soundtrack. This game has potentially my favorite music out of the entire franchise, which is no small feat. It was a warm, nostalgic delight playing through this game and discovering many melodies that had been stuck in my head from other sources. Anyone ever play that old flash game, Panda Golf? Then you might know what I'm talking about. Soothing, peaceful melodies that still have enough pep in their step to not undercut the action of the game.

In its totality, would I recommend Kirby's Dream Land 3? Ehh, yeah. Probably. Do you love Kirby? Are you really into platformers? Would you be willing to play a game just for its aesthetics? Your answers to these questions should make this decision pretty obvious. It's kind of an irritating game because there's such a harsh dichotomy between its good and bad qualities. It bears mentioning that this isn't as much of a wash as it might seem. For instance, the difficulty isn't simply annoying, but it undermines the fundamental idea of Kirby being a playground to mess around with a variety of abilities. It can feel actively punishing to engage fully with what is otherwise one of the franchise's greatest strengths. Oh, well. I want to move on. Did I mention there are three more in-depth minigames that can be played from the main menu? Those are fun, I like them. Also, I want to make a shout out to the three form final boss that has way too much health. Ironically, it wasn't that bad - because you could move while attacking.

This is an extremely beautiful game that manages to stay visually stunning to this day thanks to it's unique children's book artstyle and beautiful environments. Unfortunately however they're in a game that just isn't that fun to play. The game is for the most part a very mundane platformer with pretty boring gameply that only has rare moments of brilliance. There's also a mechanic whereby you can help the citizen's of Dreamland but unfortunately I was only able to figure out what to do in a few instances and most of the time it's extremely frustrating, for instance you might have to avoid stepping on a flower or counting some number of things that you weren't instructed to count beforehand, it's just annoying.

Overall this game wouldn't be noteworthy at all were it not for it's artstyle.

Games #33/200

Kirby's Dream Land 3 is a tough one to write about because I really LIKE this game, but it's just not that fun. The music and art are some of my favorite in any video game. The "chalk" color scheme and style is incredibly unique. I don't think I've seen it anywhere else before or since. The pastel colors are vibrant and fun and fit beautifully with Kirby's aesthetic. The animations are even very good with lots of unique ones (my favorite being Kirby's puffball, which comes out like a mini angry Kirby). Cuteness is the name of the game. There are a lot of nice touches too, like random plants that serve no real purpose but can be stomped or moved through. There's a good amount of enemy variety and plenty (PLENTY) of unique backgrounds. It's a 10/10 in the graphics department for me -- one of the best looking games I've seen and timeless. The music is also fantastic. There are many familiar tunes, which I wonder if they were debuted in this game or are only familiar because they are recycled throughout the series. Either way, the fast tempo jams are bright, breezy, and colorful. They are mood lightening and fit the appearance of the game perfectly. Now the gameplay: it's not great. The screens are pretty standard platforming stuff for the most part. There are not many powers in this game. I would guess 7 or fewer (Googled it -- there's 8 exactly, but one is sweeping... not sure who would ever use that). The gimmick in this game is a partner system. You have your blob buddy who you can summon in exchange for one HP container, and he does stuff for you sometimes, but mostly just dies and makes the screen advance slower. There are also other buddies that can fly, swim, roll you around, etc. but I mainly skipped them because I didn't love their mechanics much. I also didn't care for the game's optional puzzles. There is one in each stage and the game is quite vague about how to solve most of them. I just found myself not caring much about them. I imagine a completist would have fun going back through stages to solve them all though. Other than that it's just Kirby stuff. You'll fight some easy bosses, have some branching paths here and there with some miniature puzzles, swap out your powers for other ones, and knock out some feeble enemies as you advance forward. I'd rank this somewhere near the bottom of my Kirby rankings, but not as bad as Superstar Saga.

Considering this game came out after the N64 was released and after Super Star, it’s a bit disappointing. Not entirely sure if I like it more or less than Kirby Adventure. Excited to try Kirby 64 for the first time soon.

The eleventh Kirby game ever released and the fifth mainline installment of the series, this time HAL Laboratory created the direct sequel to Kirby's Dream Land 2, which means that the animal friends are back, now with even more allies.

Unlike Kirby Super Star, there is only a story mode, and the minigames are reduced to puzzles that you need to complete in order to get heart stars, which are similar to the rainbow drops from Kirby's Dream Land 2, as you need all of them if you want to unlock the true final boss. The main difference is that there is a heart star in every level. Some of them are easy to get, like completing a level with a specific animal friend, while others are way more complex, like guessing minigames where you have to guess right three times. The best part? If you fail even once, the only way to try again is retrying the whole level.

Now, to be fair, you don't really need to get any heart star if you just want to play all the levels, but then you will get the bad ending that makes pretty clear you didn't get the full experience, as the main conflict of the game won't be resolved and Dark Matter will attack again, so your only options are getting a unsatisfying ending or getting all the heart stars, which, in my opinion, can be a little annoying, especially the ones where you have to play a minigame or use a specific ability that you can only get in a previous screen, as you can't go back from most doors. I like the idea of focusing more on doing puzzles than on platforming, especially because platforming in Kirby isn't that interesting, but it could have been implemented a lot better.

However, on a more positive note, I love the art style, which is pretty similar to Yoshi's Island, full of pastel colors and cute characters, like the new animal friends, Nago the cat, ChuChu the octopus and Pitch the bird. You also have Gooey the blob, which can be controlled by a second player or an IA, just like the helpers in Kirby Super Star, although I found him to be more annoying than helpful. They don't have the best gameplay, and you will probably use them just because they are needed in order to get most heart stars, but they are still a breath of fresh air, and some of their abilities are actually fun to use, like the clean ability with Nago or the spark ability with Pitch, which transforms him intro a drone that destroys everything he touches!

It's also worth mentioning that if you defeat the final boss you unlock extra modes that you have to complete if you want the 100% completion rate, which is pretty useless but looks good on the save file: Super NES MG-5, where you do all the guessing minigames in a row, while trying to guess right in all of them, Jumping, where you play the same bonus that appears at the end of most levels and try to land on the happy faces at least 10 times (although the mode continues until you lose) and Boss Butch, which is your standard boss rush mode. They aren't anything special, but I'm sure you'll enjoy them if you liked the minigames in Kirby's Adventure and Kirby Super Star.

In conclusion, this is a cute looking game more focused in doing puzzles than platforming, and with a considerably slower pace than the frantic nature of Kirby Super Star, something that I didn't really enjoy a lot, but if you liked the Animal Friends and Rainbow Drops from Kirby's Dream Land 2, I'm sure you'll love this game.

Beat 47%. I only got the special star thing in 2 levels and I did not care about getting them. I did not enjoy the silly minigames at all. I used the cat early on with the umbrella, pogo sticking around. I eventually lost the cat and switched to the fish for the water world, which seemed like the right thing to do. I found fish + fire gives a sweet long range attack, but the fish is not great at platforming. The boomerang was the best powerup for just Kirby, and it gives the fish a more powerful ranged attack that has slightly less range. I kept running into situations where I had to abandon the mounts to proceed, or needed certain powerups that were only good with certain animals. By the snow level I was using the little green bird with fire. Then I switched to the owl or whatever it is, which is fast and moves in the air like the fish in water! Fire sucks with the owl, but I had to switch to ice and that gave the owl a decent ranged attack. More often I went high and just zipped past everything. By the end game I had the owl + boomerang, allowing me to zip around and shoot the entire length of the screen; best combo. I tried out the other animals with a variety of powerups but nothing was interesting. The hamster and octopus girl particularly sucked. I did not like the AI companion. He mostly got in the way and caused the camera to be a bit disorienting. I used him early on and a few times later when I was low on health, but mostly just unsummoned him.

Definitely getting some Mario Bros feel to the game, but it is not up there with Super Mario World or Kirby Superstar. A few parts were annoying, some were quite creative, and the game was very easy. I found it a little boring, particularly with the complete lack of dialogue, but still a very well made game.

7.8/10

Kirby's Dream Land 3 is leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor, even while doing most tof the same core mechanics. Kirby and his friend Gooey are on a fishing trip when the evil Dark Matter appears and possesses the fair inhabitants of Dream Land. Now it's time for Kirby to team up not just with a two-player mode with Gooey, but six partners instead of three!

It's staggering the amount of potential Kirby now has with each power and partner combination - introducing Pitch, Chu-Chu, and Nago along with the original three Rick, Kine, and Coo. The game's design provides the necessary powerup and partner in a pinch, but it's up to the player to experiment and go the way they prefer through each level. The two-player is also pretty flexible, as Kirby can spit out and swallow back in Gooey. Gooey's AI is simple but the 2P action adds to the fun.

The stages are much more unique and longer than the second game, even though the amount of stages is roughly comparable. Instead of Rainbow Drops, each stage has a friend at the end that requires certain criteria to be met in each stage in order to get a Heart Star for the final battle. Some may require the right partner, certain flowers taken care of, guessing games, etc. It's much more varied than the previous game.

As for the cherry on the sundae, Dream Land 3 is also one of the most gorgeous and unique games in terms of style on the SNES. Much like Yoshi's Island, the childlike sketchbook aesthetic is pleasing and provides for a lot of flair - it's easily one of the best-looking games on the system.

Immensely varied gameplay with gorgeous looks and an adorable cast, Dream Land 3 is one of the heights of Kirby's career and the way a Dream Land game was meant to be played.

Gameplay, Story and Value:

Mechanically, there's little difference between Kirby's Dreamland 3 and its predecessors. You're still running and jumping and floating your way through stages, vacuuming up enemies for their abilities, and working your way to the end of the stage. Like Dreamland 2 before it, Dreamland 3 has various animal companions that will change how Kirby's abilities handle, as well as adding new control opportunities.

New to the series is the ability for Kirby to split off into a second character who can be controlled by a second player, allowing for co-op play. Personally I'm not a huge fan of this in Kirby, as it just feels a little clunky, but it's completely optional and I like having options!

Controls are the same as they've ever been, though handling feels a bit different. Controlling Kirby feels a bit stiffer than before, and he feels heavier. That is to say, floating takes a bit more effort and jumping feels more weighty. I also found myself having trouble dashing, with the double-tap on the D-pad being somewhat inconsistent. This made some platforming sections more frustrating than I think they should have been.

Level design has been tightened up and it's no longer possible to simply float your way through most of the game. You'll now encounter many more enclosed levels like caves, castles and mazes, as well vertical levels or water areas. Even open stages implement many more aerial enemies as well as ground enemies that jump or fire upwards. You'll still need to float, it's still a staple maneuver, but you'll no longer be able to rely on it completely. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it forces you to play through stages differently than you would in, say, Kirby's Adventure.

Animal companions from Dreamland 2 make a triumphant return with the addition of Nago the Cat. Sure there's a couple other new friends you could take along with you, but none of them matter when you have the option of letting a giant, fat cat roll you around like a pink ball of Kirby yarn.

Presentation, Music and Sound:

Gone is the sharp, vibrant art style of Kirby's Adventure and Kirby's Dreamland 2, replaced instead with something that ultimately looks faded and blurry. Colors all seem faded and washed out, and honestly it can all be a bit strenuous on the eyes after a while. It doesn't look bad, but I think it looks significantly worse than other Kirby games.

Sprites are all expressive (that cat!) and generally fun to watch, and environments look good. Environments, and I feel like this has a little to do with the art style, are somewhat lacking in variety, especially compared to older Kirby games. World 3 and 4, for example, look nearly identical.

Sound effects are all standard issue Kirby, which is to say they're just fine. Music is good, though once I again I didn't think it was as good as former Kirby games.

Afterthoughts:

I'd heard some less than stellar things about this game leading up to my actually playing it. Realistically, I don't think it holds up to other entrees in the series, especially another Kirby game I'll be playing later on for this console. That said, it's not a bad game by any stretch and I'm happy to give it shelf space.

Review: