“Dream Land is in peril! An evil king has stolen the magic Twinkle Stars. If they’re not recovered, the people of Dream Land could starve.”

For many in my generation, Kirby came onto our radar via his (its?—a quick google provides no clarity) inclusion in HAL Laboratory’s superlative Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64, where the other fighters’ abilities were ripe for copying by the cuddly-looking pink marshmallow. But of course, like all of the characters in that game, Kirby was making a guest appearance. His main gig was 2D platforming. Though Kirby’s Adventure, released during the waning days of the NES, propelled the character to popularity, he was actually introduced on the Game Boy, sans the copying ability and, due to the handheld system’s monochrome display, sans the pink skin as well.

Kirby’s Dream Land is a short and sweet platformer that is easy to learn but, alas, also easy to master. Across five repetitive and undemanding stages that a mildly experienced player can traverse in less than half an hour, players evade or inhale a variety of enemies, spitting them back out as lethal star-missiles when the need arises.

Without his power-stealing ability, however, Kirby proves a pretty lackluster hero. It’s not as if he needs to be able to do more than suck and blow to complete the game. I mean, most of the enemies are either on an easy-to-spot movement pattern or simply waltz straight into Kirby’s waiting mouth. Bosses are defeated by waiting for them to shoot something at you so you can gulp it up and blast it right back at them. It’s like playing the beginning levels of Super Mario Bros. armed with a bazooka and the ability to fly. But a little variety and challenge would have done wonders for this game’s simple formula.

Interestingly, a bonus quest that appears after vanquishing King Dedede replaces the leisurely enemies with more aggressive ones and upgrades the bosses’ attacks, suggesting the base game may have been geared toward a younger audience, a notion supported by the cute character designs, animations, and music which provide the game all of its adorable charm. Not to mention that the game was developed under the working title Twinkle Popo. The main Kirby series has always offered a family-friendly experience, but the subsequent games have considerably more depth and sophistication than Kirby’s Dream Land.