Welcome to part 2 of my text about Kirby and the importance of input games!
If you have not read the first part, it is very important that you do so, because this text is a direct sequel!
Well, have you read the first part? Let’s go to the rest of the text!
My fondness for Kirby comes exactly because Kirby’s Adventure was the first game I played from start to finish without anyone’s help. It certainly wasn’t by coincidence – but by deliberate game design decisions – that this particular game was my starter game and the one responsible for getting me to dive head-first into this very crazy hobby almost 30 years ago.
Thought this article was going to be about Kirby and the Forgotten Land? You thought wrong! I am going to talk about my first experience with the IP, because I just finished Kirby’s Adventure 100% again just to write this article here. Get ready for nostalgia here.
My first console was a Phantom System, the Dynavision, a very famous famiclone here in Brazil from the late 80’s and early 90’s, that my father won in a raffle in his work. Along with the console came some games like Duck Hunt, Super Mario Bros, Pacman and, especially, Kirby’s Adventure.
At the time I was content to watch my parents playing, without much interest, after all I was about 3 years old and had no IDEA of what a video game was and what its appeal was. But all this changed when I played Kirby’s Adventure for the first time, after my mother had finished her gaming session.
Of all the games that came with this Phantom System that my dad got at his work, The Pink Ball Game was the game I put the most effort into, and I didn’t do that because the other games were bad in comparison. Far from it!
Kirby’s Adventure has an unparalleled presentation for those just starting out in the gaming world. This can be seen from the well done graphics, the extremely charismatic character design, the sublime and animated music by Jun Ishikawa, the smooth and challenging gameplay (for those who are playing for the first time), the narrative taking place through short non-intrusive cutscenes… This is a game that has all of this and much more!
And because of all this, my desire to play Kirby’s Adventure only grew. I still remember many of the sensations I had during my first experience with this game and they blend together with the first memories I can recall to this day.
The feeling of making Kirby swallow an enemy and discovering that you can absorb his power, the fun (and frustration!) of playing the mini-games scattered throughout the worlds you can visit, randomly discovering a secret while I didn’t know what I was doing, and so on… Kirby’s Adventure is the game I have the fondest memories of.
Ah, the battle against the Meta Knight… While the character today is not only a landmark and a fixture in every game in the Kirby series (and also in Nintendo as a whole!), in Kirby’s Adventure, specifically, he didn’t even have a name!
Defeating the Meta Knight after an electrifying battle and discovering, in a very brief cutscene, that he belongs to the same race as Kirby when his mask is broken in half, revealing his face, was the first plot twist in a videogame I ever witnessed in my life, and it was one of the most incredible experiences I’ve ever had with this hobby.
The story of Kirby’s Adventure is very easy to follow. It follows Kirby, an inhabitant of the planet Pop Star who possesses a fountain that is responsible for making all of its inhabitants have good dreams when they go to sleep. However, recently, all the people have been having horrible nightmares, moments before they stop dreaming altogether. Clearly, the dream source was in trouble!
To try to solve the situation, Kirby goes after what happened and discovers that the DeDeDe, self-proclaimed king of Pop Star, had broken the Star Wand, the sacred artifact of the planet responsible for making people dream, and given it to 8 of his most powerful followers!
As a famous brasilian TV hostshow, João Kléber, would say, STOP, STOP, STOP!
You have reached the end of part 2 of this story! But don’t worry, part 3 will arrive soon, so stay tuned for the compass!
