Kirby's Dream Land - Reception and Legacy

Reception and Legacy

Kirby's Dream Land has received generally mixed to positive reception. It holds an aggregate score of 64.83% on Game Rankings with six reviews, making it the 13th best Game Boy game and the 7,279th best video game. By May 28, 1995 Kirby's Dream Land had sold 1.3 million copies, making it the fourth biggest Game Boy release to date. To date, it has sold in excess of 5 million copies worldwide; Gamasutra cited its new style of gameplay for its success. At the time, it was HAL Laboratory's most successful game. Gamasutra's Osamu Inoue attributed the game's success to Satoru Iwata, formerly an employee of HAL Laboratory, who Inoue comments has a "simple-minded passion for creating games". Author Wendy Despain used Kirby's Dream Land's plot as an example of how early platform games' plots, which she collectively described as "the main character needing to reach a villain to put right a wrong." Humongous Life's Jonathan Wahlgren called it a strong game, but felt it to be "too elementary". GamesRadar's Brett Elston did an article on its music, specifically giving praise to the final boss music, stating that it is the "only song in the original Kirby that had a sense of challenge or conflict instead of skipping through a field of floating cakes." Nadia Oxford of 1UP.com praised it for its unique platforming mechanics, describing it as the start of a "gluttonous legend". Allgame's Joshua Crystal called it a "great game for beginner players and ones that enjoy a fun, but short, experience."

In an article detailing various Kirby series video games, IGN stated that it was a decent platformer, but also very basic compared to later titles. IGN's Lucas M. Thomas and Craig Harris included Kirby's Dream Land in their wishlist for a hypothetical "Virtual Console" for the Nintendo 3DS, commenting that its inclusion would be based on nostalgia rather than it feeling "new and sensational". They also added that original characters like Kirby were the stars of the Game Boy rather than established characters such as Link, Mario, Samus Aran, and Pit. They would again praise Kirby's Dream Land for being an original game in their "History of the Game Boy" article, adding that while "attitude" was common in new platforming mascots, Kirby was cheery and adorable, while the game featured "breezy, casual gameplay and lighthearted atmosphere". GameSpy's Gerald Villoria, Brian Altano, and Ryan Scott called it "basic" compared to later titles in the series, adding that it lacked a sense of danger because Kirby could fly. Nintendo Power editors George and Bob shared roughly similar opinions of the game; George stated that it is a really fun game, owing its quality to its excellent play control and well thought out concept, while Bob stated that it is deceptively simple looking, when it in fact features a decent challenge for more experienced gamers. GamesRadar listed Kirby's Dream Land and its sequel as two of the titles they want in the 3DS Virtual Console.

Kirby's Dream Land has since spawned dozens of sequels across more than a half-dozen video game consoles. The second direct sequel was Kirby's Adventure, which was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System console. It introduced the ability to steal powers from enemies, an ability which has been used in the majority of games following it. It was followed by two more Dream Land titles: Kirby's Dream Land 2 and Kirby's Dream Land 3. The series has featured several spin-offs, including the racing game Kirby Air Ride and pinball game Kirby's Pinball Land. Several other games have featured Kirby's Dream Land in one way or the other. In Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee, a stage called "Dream Land" appears, taking elements from Dream Land.