Kirby's Dream Land 3 (SNES, 1997)

A disappointing followup that fails to reach the lofty heights of Super Star.

Nostalgia Factor: High. I’m a massive Kirby dweeb.
Difficulty: Easy to medium. Most of the game is insultingly easy. Some parts can be aggravating, but not in a fun way.

After the release of Kirby Super Star (KSS), Sakurai moved on from the Kirby series he created to focus on Super Smash Bros. HAL then looked to Shimomura to carry the franchise forward. Shimomura delivered an excellent Game Boy title in Dream Land 2, but could he match the success of Super Star?

No. Unfortunately, he could not. The bar was just set way too high. Also, Dream Land 3 (DL3) was such a major departure from what made KSS great, it was very difficult for many gamers to make the adjustment. Let’s start with the good before we get to the bad.

The good:
DL3’s art style is very unique and interesting. I can appreciate that they were aiming for something different and distinct. It’s very bright and whimsical. The animal companions are back – Rick, Coo, and Kine are now joined by Nago the calico cat, Pitch the bird, and ChuChu the octopus. Very cute. There’s some genuinely interesting puzzles involving these different animal companions, and each companion interacts uniquely with each of the 8 copy abilities, resulting in over 50 unique attack varieties.

Instead of creating “helpers” like in KSS, DL3 has Gooey (though he actually made his first appearance in DL2). Apparently, Gooey is made from the same “stuff” as Dark Matter, though he is completely benign. Gooey can grab enemies with his tongue in order to use copy abilities. He can function as an AI companion, or he can be controlled by a 2nd player. I like Gooey! He’s neat.

Oddly enough, the soundtrack is easily the best feature of this game. Jun Ishikawa is back with an absolute banger of a score. “Hyper Zone 1” is one of my favorite Kirby tracks across the whole series. He’s revived some familiar melodies from DL1 and KSS, but there’s a lot of great new tracks here too.

Also, there are Metroid and Samus cameos in the game?

The bad:
Even though there are over 50 unique attack varieties between the 8 copy abilities and the animal companion interactions, many of these were just not very useful or not fun to play. For example, there’s an ability with Nago that shoots a projectile at a fixed 45 degree angle into the sky. Every time. You can’t shoot straight, you can’t shoot up, just at 45 degrees. If you have an enemy directly in front of you, the projectile goes over its head, so just, jump over it I guess?

Many of these ability combos were just not fun. KSS had 25 copy abilities, many of which were very deeply developed with full move sets (dash attack, an aerial attack, a ↑Y attack, a ↓Y attack, etc). Nearly all of KSS’s copy abilities felt great and were fun to use. The same can not be said for DL3’s abilities. DL3 had some hitbox issues as well, which only exacerbates the frustration.

However, the biggest disappointment of DL3 is the laughably sluggish move speed for Kirby and his companions. In KSS, Kirby was king. He was fast, responsive, and formidable. It was fun being Kirby. In DL3, Kirby is molasses. Why did they slow the pacing down so much? Much of the level design was flat, repetitive, and just plain dull. I found myself just flying over the enemies in most of the levels with Coo.

Side note: The final boss was surprisingly dark for such a seemingly kid-oriented Kirby game, haha. Keep that in mind if you introduce this one to your kiddos. The boss sequence was very fun, though.

Overall, I'm glad I played DL3, if only to get the experience and satisfy my curiosity as a Kirby fan. Unfortunately, I wasn't impressed. Some may find more enjoyment out of this one than me, but I can’t recommend DL3.