spit...or swallow? the choice is yours.
review - kirby: nightmare in dreamland
kirby is an interesting character. she (or he?) defines the japanese "sugoii kawaii!" (super cute), in that she is completely pink, with what looks like red shoes, but she is also completely made up of sensuous circles and displays a child-like innocence and demure shyness, but a voracious appetite (girls love food).
kirby is also unique in the world of video games, because she is the only character i can think of that sucks things inside her (another nod to the true gender of kirby), rather than spitting things out (male ejaculation) like the majority of heavy masculine shooters out there.
no wonder kirby has an enthusiastic audience among girl gamers, because they have a character that they can relate to better than say, 'master cheif'.
kriby embodies the well-meaning introvert; embarrassed, small and insignificant, wearing it all as a badge of silent pathos. there is nothing inside of kirby, no substance, nothing but hot air. kirby is lacking and completely relient on the capabilities of others.
play in kirby is collaborative as you unite with your enemies, defining yourself in them and becoming the function for the form of the levels.
if we take super mario bros. as the begining of the 'conventional platformer', nightmare in dreamland (NID) is the un-doing of these rules, replacing strict horizontals in favour of lots more diagonals, water levels that transition into land levels, outsides that have insides, etc. etc. kirby's shape and ability to generate hot air, allows him to float like a baloon through criss-cross mazes and tubes of horizontal pillars, often having to deal with enemies on the way. however, the boss fights are sadly as conventional as they come.
the super powers afforded to kirby in NID include things like the sword, the wheel, the cape, the hammer, the human flame, the flame-thrower, blizzard breath, a mic for rockin' out, and even a power that obliterates all enemies on screen.
like in mario bros., these abilities give kirby an advantage and add variety to the narrative. and that is what kirby is; the constant play of possibilities and variety with no real objective or point.
for comparisson, super mario world has restrictions in place; you only get a cape on certain levels, and when you do the form of the level allows the powers of the cape to be of use, but you can still play the level by walking or running and jumping (or glide in the air to find the secret pipe).
however, most of the time in mario, it is about precise jumping and the environments in those games continue to be quite daunting due to the little plumber's momentum and inadequecies.
kirby by contrast is hampered by floating, can't jump that high, and is not very fast. so in all fairness, you have to use abilities like the human flame, to create temporary horizontal lines across the screen that obliterate foes. but in doing this, you make the level very easy. kirby becomes almost too confident as a result of gaining enemy powers, and it can often feel like there is little nuance or structure to the levels.
on the other hand, there are really cool levels like a sub-level completely constructed by diagonals from begining to end. there are wheel enemies at the begining, so you're supposed to suck one up and turn into wheel kirby, zooming across the diagonals. it's quite fun, but you just wish more levels were like that.
my favourite world is the sunset beach one (but they're all named appropriately after types of food or dishes), where NID becomes more exciting and more challaning but reminds me of the older dreamland games where kirby went on little holidays to the beach (with star-spangled water). when jumping into the water, she dons a snorkel and spits out water, which is a nice touch and is just one part of an experience that feels like a saturday morning cartoon (it pretty much is, in digital form).
the graphics in NID are okay. kirby is beautifully animated, but the backgrounds inside the levels are horrible, static, and too detailed. the soundtrack is also uninspired, sounding like bland remixes of former iconic dreamland tunes. the sound effects are excellent though and remain one of the best aspects of the game. indeed, part of the reward of the '1-UP' is not an extra life, but the familiar kirby sound it makes when touched. and who can forget the distinctive 'rip' sound when kirby's life is depleted.
all in all, NID is a somewhat bland experience. it suffers from the same ailment as kirby, a lack of identity......but therein lies its charm.
*spits*