More Kirby’s Adventure

Most of my gaming time has been going to Animal Crossing: New Leaf lately, but tonight I made some time to play Kirby’s Adventure on the Wii U Virtual Console.

Kirby's Adventure screenshotTonight I completed the fourth and fifth worlds (Grape Garden and Yogurt Yard) and I made it partially through the sixth world (Orange Ocean). Each world has 5-6 levels, plus some bonus mini-games where you can earn extra lives or power-ups. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I really like how the graphical style and color scheme changes multiple times within individual levels. Each room has a unique look. It’s a nice contrast to a lot of other NES games, where every level in a world looks exactly the same.

Kirby's Adventure screenshotThe game is still fairly easy overall, except for some of the boss fights. Kracko, the boss of the fourth world (Grape Garden) gave me a whole lot of trouble. Kracko is basically a cloud that has a giant eye. It chases you up a long vertial section, where you have to keep avoiding it, before you can get to the actual battle. It attacks with lightning and it’s quite tricky to beat. By contrast, the fifth world boss (Heavy Mole) is a digging machine that was very easy to beat:

Kirby's Adventure Heavy Mole boss screenshotI’m getting close to the end of the game, so I probably won’t post about it again until I’ve beaten it. I’ll see you next time.

Kirby’s Adventure update

Even though I bought Kirby’s Adventure for the Wii U Virtual Console last month (when it was on sale for 30 cents), I have not been playing it much since my first Kirby’s Adventure blog entry. But I’ve decided to change that fact by playing it yesterday and today. I’ve gone through the second and third worlds (Ice Cream Island and Butter Building) and I’m now partially through the fourth world, Grape Garden.

Kirby's Adventure screenshotI’m enjoying the game more and more as I go. The controls are floaty when Kirby is flying, and it has a bit of a learning curve to figure out how to control Kirby accurately while in mid-air. Pressing B exhales his mouthful of air, so you have to get the timing just right when avoiding flying enemies or obstacles. Overall though, the game seems pretty easy so far. The lone exception up to this point would be the sun and moon bosses (Mr. Shine and Mr. Bright) at the end of the third world. They gave me some trouble for a while, although I eventually beat them. The ground isn’t safe because they may charge at you or throw a projectile. But the air isn’t safe either, because the one that’s “inactive” can still attack you in the air. Plus, they switch positions sometimes, so a lot of mid-air maneuvering is required.

Mr. Shine and Mr. Bright - Kirby's Adventure boss fight screenshotI’m also enjoying the variety of locales in the game, even within single levels. There may be a nice outdoor level, then a neon level, then a starry-night sky. Sure, there are some generic blocky-looking stages as well, but overall, the graphical variety keeps things feeling fresh. I also enjoy the many abilities Kirby can acquire. By inhaling and swallowing enemies, Kirby can use that enemy’s ability. That may give Kirby a sword, a parasol, a high jump, a projectile weapon, or even the ability to sleep! I’m not sure how useful the sleeping one is, though. My favorites so far are the ice weapon and the laser.

Kirby's Adventure screenshot - Wii U Virtual ConsoleI’ll be sure to post another update once I’m closer to the end of the game. Kirby’s Adventure is no longer 30 cents on the Wii U Virtual Console, but this month, they have Super Metroid (SNES) for 30 cents. I already own that one on SNES, but it is a great game if any of you want to give it a try. Definitely worth the 30 cents. That’s all for now; see you next time!

Kirby’s Adventure

Kirby’s Adventure for the NES is now available on the Wii U Virtual Console at a special price, only 30 cents for a limited time. I already had some money in my eShop account, so I went ahead and bought it. I have never actually played a traditional Kirby game before. I’ve played Kirby’s Avalanche, which is a puyo puyo puzzle game (much like Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine on Sega Genesis), and I’ve also played Kirby’s Epic Yarn. The latter is a platformer, but it’s not your usual Kirby game because it doesn’t feature Kirby’s typical attack of inhaling and swallowing enemies to gain their abilities.

Above is a video of the first level, Vegetable Valley. Although a “level” is really like a world, since it contains four stages and a boss. After Kirby inhales an enemy, he can spit the enemy back out at another enemy or swallow the bad guy to inherit his ability. That is a particularly cool concept. You can use it to acquire a beam attack, a fire attack, a parasol to use as a weapon, and so on. The controls are a bit floaty, but I guess that’s to be expected considering Kirby can float (and fly). I haven’t played much beyond that first world yet, but the game seems fairly good from what I’ve played. It didn’t blow me away, but I did enjoy it. I’ll be playing more of Kirby’s Adventure in the coming weeks.

Kirby's Adventure screenshotKirby's Adventure screenshot