Cartridge Chronicles: Kirby's Adventure

One of the strangest-looking, yet cutest badasses to ever hit gaming goes by the name Kirby. Another candidate of the successful gaming franchise club, Kirby’s Adventure's simplistic controls, awesome powerups, laid back gameplay, and great entertainment value have truly stood the test of time. By looking at Kirby one would think he was some character from a little girl’s television show, but this is not the case at all. Kirby is, in fact, one of the most unique characters in all of gaming.

The only way to describe Kirby is to say that he is a healthy combo of Mario, Pac-Man, and a marshmallow. He literally consumes his enemies and, depending on the enemy, adopts whatever weapon or ability they have. Some of his abilities include freezing enemies into blocks of ice and launching the block into other enemies and literally shooting lasers from his face. The game is just awesome and, unlike my previous review, Metroid, it can be beaten.

This is, admittedly, not one of the games that I had as a child. In fact, it was because of Andrew from here on the Geek Asylum that I have even played this game. I went to his house and he made me play it on the Wii via the virtual console channel. I was so enthralled with the game that we ended up playing it till 2am, where I had to call it quits because I was literally falling asleep with the controller in my hand. The next day I downloaded it onto my own Wii and that is how I came to possess it. It was originally released on the NES. I beat the game in one sitting and felt a great sense of accomplishment.

The toughest parts of the game are the boss battles of each world, of which there are seven. The only bosses that I had some real trouble with were literally an eyeball in a cloud, a tag team between the moon and the sun, and a cosmic vampire. I know what you are thinking, these enemies are even more bizarre than the Tick or Earthworm Jim’s. In truth, they are, but that doesn’t take away from the epicness of this game. And although some of the bosses take cheap shots and it will take more than one attempt to beat, you literally get unlimited continues so it is pretty much impossible to lose. I personally enjoy this feature because there is nothing more frustrating and rage quit worthy than a game over screen when you’ve worked your butt off for the last hour and a half.

In case you haven’t gotten the message, I will make it simple: BUY THIS GAME AND PLAY IT. I promise you won’t be disappointed. It is fun, challenging, and beatable. It also has a healthy amount of mini games like a claw machine for 1-ups and arena fights. It’s not expensive on the Wii so if you don’t have an NES there are no excuses. Harness the power of a cute pink marshmallow and dominate Dream Land. You will not be sorry and you will have fun doing so. And if you find yourself dancing along with Kirby when you beat a level, don’t feel bad, you aren’t alone. The tune is catchy and Kirby has some serious moves.