Kirby's Adventure (Nintendo Wii Virtual Console) Review

The console wars were well under way in 1993. The Super NES was into its second year and already had a formidable library of games under its belt. It was competing against the Sega Genesis, who had an amazing library of its own. Many gamers were immersed in the 16-bit era of gaming. Meanwhile, though, the original NES was quietly sputtering to the finish line with its last few titles. Not many people knew of these games, as the only notable titles were Wario's Woods and Mega Man 6. But unbeknownst to anyone, the NES was about to release a platformer that would not only rank among the best of that time, but also one that would spawn a whole new franchise. That game was Kirby's Adventure.

Originally made by Nintendo via the HAL Laboratory, Kirby's Adventure sees the light of day once more this week via the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console. The premise is a simple one. Kirby is a little pink puffball living in a world known as Dream Land. He must stop the evil King Dedede from permanently unleashing a barrage of nightmares on the denizens of Dream Land by traversing through seven different worlds. It sounds like an average platformer, but Nintendo unleashed a big twist to the formula. Kirby could swallow virtually any enemy grunt of any variety and steal their powers. To say this adds to the gameplay formula is a major understatement. Players can find dozens of different ways to slay their foes using various enemy abilities and even mixing and matching certain powers. Opportunities to do so are plentiful, as Kirby can enter a level's museum and suck up an enemy and also swallow enemies during certain boss battles.