Kirby’s Adventure[a] is a 1993 platform game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It is the second game in the Kirby series after Kirby’s Dream Land (1992) on the Game Boy and the first to include the copy ability, which allows the main character Kirby to gain new powers by eating certain enemies. The game centers around Kirby traveling across Dream Land to repair the Star Rod after King Dedede breaks it apart and gives the pieces to his minions.
Masahiro Sakurai returned as director after serving the same role for Kirby’s Dream Land. He conceived the copy ability to add more challenge and replay value after the last game received criticism for its simplicity. Because the NES hardware had greater graphical power than the Game Boy and programmers were skilled with the now antiquated hardware, HAL Laboratory was able to create impressive visuals. Kirby’s Adventure is the first game to depict Kirby in color. Sakurai had always planned him to be pink, much to the surprise of other staff.
Kirby’s Adventure was well received and commended for its tight controls, level variety, and the new copy ability. It was remade in 2002 for the Game Boy Advance with enhanced graphics and multiplayer support, titled Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land. The original NES version was rereleased later on Nintendo’s Virtual Console digital distribution services and with stereoscopic 3D for the 3D Classics product line for the Nintendo 3DS. In retrospect, journalists have ranked it among the best NES games.
