Genre: Action
Perspective: Side view
Visual: 2D scrolling
Gameplay: Arcade, Platform
Published by: Nintendo of America Inc.
Developed by: HAL Laboratory
Released: 1993
Platform: Nintendo (NES)
In 1992, in the depths of HAL Laboratory, work on a Game Boy game called Twinkle Popo was in full swing. As one of the temporary sprites, the designer Masahiro Sakurai portrayed a cute big-eyed ball and called it Popopo. As time went on, Masahiro became more and more attached to baby Popopo, and, at one fine moment, wiping everything from the table with his hand, exclaimed: "Here it is, here it is, the new star of video games!" The round hero was given a new name - Kirby - and the game was renamed Kirby of the Stars. In North America and most other countries, the game was released under the name of Kirby’s Dreamland.
A year later, in 1993, after a wave of success at Kirby’s Dreamland, the guys at HAL Laboratory began work on a new game for the NES platform called Kirby’s Adventure. Having kept the mechanics of the first game, the creators presented to the public a completely new opportunity for the main character, which radically transformed the gameplay - the ability to appropriate the abilities of swallowed enemies. Thus, Kirby received 25 different abilities, combining which as the game progressed, the player could form completely different strategies. Plus 5 points for replayability!
Kirby’s Adventure intro has probably become one of the most memorable games in the history of NES. In fact, was it often possible to see a small lesson in drawing the main character as a intro? “First we draw a circle, then our eyes, we add a wide smile, and here, this is Kirby!”. This intro was inspired by the Japanese television commercial Kirby of the Stars, in which a little Japanese boy draws Kirby, singing a hilarious melody. A small tutorial on drawing pink eyed we get in the credits to the anime about the adventures of Kirby. All this is explained by the fact that initially it was created as “a simple character who can easily be drawn to the music.”
But not everything was so simple in the design of our hero. Already in the first couple of years of his life, he managed to visit both white and pink, and even yellow. The “father” of the kolobok, already known to us by Masahiro Sakurai, was originally conceived by Kirby to be pink, while the head of the Nintendo Analysis and Development Department, Shigeru Miyamoto, insisted on the yellow color of the character. While Japan was debating about the image of Kirby, it was time to release Kirby’s Dreamland on counters in North America. So without receiving instructions about the color of the protagonist, the artists depicted him white by the color of the sprite in the game itself. That is how he got on the boxes, covers of cartridges, in the instructions and even in television advertising. Incidentally, what is interesting is that Kirby’s Dreamland’s American TV commercial is the only one where he is depicted with a tuft on his head and — attention — with his teeth!
However, as everyone guessed, after fierce disputes, the “canonical” image was recognized.
character's life in pink. As for his name, this is a mystery covered in gloom, for even the “parent” himself does not remember how Popopo turned into Kirby. There are two unofficial versions of the origin of this name. The first is obvious: Kirby was named in honor of the well-known cleaning vacuum cleaners, which the enterprising under-businessmen still sniff up naive housewives for tens of thousands of rubles. The second, unrecognized by the Nintendo themselves: the ball got its name in honor of John Kirby, a lawyer who defended Nintendo in the case against Universal Studios, who accused Big N of their King Kong of plagiarism, which Donkey Kong turned out to be suspiciously like. Anyway, we can only guess, because the truth is hidden in the depths of the memory of Masahiro Sakurai, and there is no possibility of extracting it from there.
Who is our spherical friend? This is a cheerful child (although his age is not defined, there is reason to believe that he is at least very young), kind, always ready to come to the rescue and save his own native Dream Land. However, more often than not, the spa is due to the impulsiveness and propensity for the premature conclusions of the hero himself - without understanding the situation, he rushes into the pool with his head. Growth in it a little, just 20 centimeters; it weighs obviously not enough to float in the air. His main activities are food and sleep. Sometimes it seems to me that I myself lead a Kirby lifestyle. Given its omnivorous nature, it is quite possible to contain it as a domestic animal. At Kirby, the calcium content in the body is definitely lowered - neither the skeleton nor the guy's teeth are observed. But this gives him an amazing opportunity to transform - even in a pancake get flat, at least sulk into a ball.
So back to the game itself. It is a platformer, made in bright, caramel colors; All this beauty is accompanied by cheerful music. What makes it special, what makes adult uncles sit for hours at a game that looks more like a gingerbread house?
Let's start with the graphics. Becoming the latest official game for NES, it gave developers a great opportunity to squeeze the maximum out of the console. The cartridge with the game contains data - scary to think! - already on 6 megabits. Ahead of Kirby’s Adventure only Metal Slader Glory, which used 8 Mbit memory. Indeed, the graphics in the game polished to a shine, each pixel literally shines - rich colors, smooth animations, gorgeous backgrounds and even pseudo-rallax make the platformer look more like an early 16-bit game. But no, it's all the same 8 bits, the possibilities of which are brought to the limit.
What makes a game a game? Of course, the gameplay itself. Everything is noteworthy here - from level maps made not in the usual top view, but representing actually playable levels, to the already mentioned possibility of Kirby due to his insatiable appetite and omnivorousness to acquire the abilities of enemies by absorbing them. The game does not skimp on the "sekretki" - in order to achieve 100% passing, you need to open all the secrets, solve all the puzzles and go through the mini-games.Among other things, each level pleases
bonuses like a machine with toys where you can pull up to 3 UP, or a museum where you can “suck in” the ability of an exhibition copy.
The game has been widely recognized among gaming professionals. In 1993, Kirby’s Adventure became GamePro's Game of the Year, and Kirby himself received the title of “Best Hero” at the Nintendo Power Awards ceremony. In 2006, the game became the 150th of the 200 in the list of the best games of its time according to EGM, and in 2009, Official Nintendo Magazine named the game 69th in the list of the best console games of Nintendo. As for our hero, Nintendo Power named Kirby 19th in the list of their favorite characters, and the gaming edition of the Guinness Book of Records 2011 put him in 18th place among the most popular video game characters.
Of course, you can paint the plot and gameplay for a long time, but, as they say, it’s better to see once, or rather, to play, if for some reason you haven’t done so yet, and the recent anniversary of the game is a wonderful occasion. Dream Land is ready to open its gates to everyone! Welcome to the fairy guys.