Overall 8.8 Graphics 8 Sound 8 Addictive 7.5 Story 5 Depth 8 Difficulty 7
7.8
Kirby's Dream Course review gamerforlifefor..
What do you get when you put Kirby on a golf course? Well, you get Kirby's Dream Course on the SNES of course! The game was released on February 21, 1995, and it actually became the first game in the series to receive a rating from the ESRB. The game was good enough to receive a rerelease on the Wii U Virtual Console last year. What do I think of this game? I'll tell you by making this review.
Graphics: 8/10 The visuals of each course in this game were made in an isometric perspective, similar to the way that the first 2 Roller Coaster Tycoon games were made on PC. All the holes and courses have recurring characters in the series that block your path to the hole, each of which are well detailed and look as great as you'd expect them to look on an SNES game. One thing I've never understood about this game though is why each course looks more like a checkerboard or chessboard than an actual putt-putt golf course. I mea, it would've made much more sense to make the courses have fairways, and a green right by the hole. While it would've been nice to see the courses look a little more realistic, the visuals in Kirby's Dream Course are good enough for me to give the graphics an 8.
Sound: 7/10 Like most Kirby games out there, Kirby's Dream Course has a pretty nice soundtrack. Some of my personal favorite music in the game included the theme for the first hole and the final boss theme, which are among my favorite tunes for the SNES Kirby games. The overall soundtrack isn't quite as memorable as the one from Kirby Super Star, and it lacks remixes of classic tunes like green greens, which I would've loved to see. Overall though, the music and sounds in Kirby's Dream Course are good enough for me to give the sound category a 7.
Addictiveness: 8/10 I can't think of any Kirby game that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed, and Kirby's Dream Course is no exception. In this game, Kirby is the ball, and you must guide him to the hole on each course in order to move onto the next hole. In each hole, there's a certain number of enemies you must kill in order for the hole to appear (which always shows up where the last enemy you took out was). There are some enemies that can't be taken out, such as the Whispy Woods trees and the spikes, which will deal damage out to you, resulting in less turns to complete the hole. In addition, there's medals you can get in each hole, which I'll get into later in this review. Overall, Kirby's Dream Course manages to make miniature golf as a video game be pretty fun to play. Overall, I'm giving the addictiveness an 8.
Story: N/A Kirby's Dream Course doesn't really have a storyline, so I'm leaving this category blank.
Depth: 7/10 Kirby's Dream Course has a decent amount of content. There are 8 courses for Kirby to go through and 8 holes on each course, making a total of 64 very different holes to go through. In addition, each hole has medals for you to earn based on how quickly you can finish them. Some of the holes in the game can be very tricky to get gold on, so 100% completing the game will take some time. Other than that though, there isn't much to do in Kirby's Dream Course. It would've been nice to see some more game modes added to this game, like there were in Kirby's Super Star (which by the way was also on the SNES). Other than that though, there's enough content for me to give the depth a 7.
Difficulty: 7/10 The golf courses in Kirby's Dream Course aren't exactly the toughest ones I've seen in gaming, but they provide enough of a challenge to where the game isn't too easy to beat. In addition, based on your skill in each level, you can earn medals based on your performance. There's bronze, silver, and of course, gold. Getting gold on each course is a very tough task to complete, and it's one of the main reasons why if you're looking for a challenging mini-golf game to beat, Kirby's Dream Course is the game for you. I'm giving the difficulty a 7.
Overall Score: 7.8/10 Kirby's Dream Course offers what you'd expect from a Kirby based mini golf game. It has very fun courses with medals that you can get based on your performance, nice looking graphics, very addicting gameplay for a miniature golf game, and a good soundtrack. I wish that the holes would've looked more like holes you'd see in a miniature golf course. I also wish that there would've been some remixes of Kirby songs from games that came before Dream Course, and it would've been nice to see some extra game modes. Still, Kirby's Dream Course a nice game to play for those who like Kirby and mini golf. Overall, I'm giving Kirby's Dream Course a 7.8 out of 10. I hope you enjoyed reading this review of a fun Kirby spinoff game.
Graphics 8 Sound 7 Addictive 7 Depth 7 Difficulty 7
Review Rating: 5/5
Submitted: 04-26-16
Review Replies: 2
7.7
Kirby's Dream Course G789
Kirby's Dream Course came out on SNES in 1994, made by HAL (I believe they did all the other Kirby games, too). This game is very different from the typical Kirby games in that this is not a platformer. It's more accurate to state this is a golfing video game, but Kirby style. Instead of hitting the ball with a club off a tee, you're deciding how much power Kirby should propel himself, at what angle, with what degree of spin, and will he be jumping at all? All right, I realize this sounds complicated, but it's more intuitive than I may make it seem, even if the learning curve is slightly tougher for beginners of this specific Kirby game. Also, it's really fun.
Graphics: 8Each course is basically 3D design to give the player a good view of the entire course (no need for angle/camera view rotations, etc.). Some courses will feature villain characters who have attacks. Most of the graphical work is in the form of these sprites. Some of the cooler moments are when you use special moves with Kirby. Personally, I like the graphics displayed when Kirby uses his Fireball or Tornado attacks. Otherwise, nothing too complicated or severely minimal in terms of the aesthetics.
Sound: 9A lot of tracks heard on Kirby's Dream Course are new and unique although I'm not the most familiar with the entirety of the Kirby series. As such, a lot of the most prominent Kirby tunes are not featured in this game. I was sort of hoping to hear Green Greens or Gourmet Race somewhere here, but alas it wasn't found. Sorry if that spoiled it for you! On the other hand, diversity in music is always a good thing.
In any case, I felt the music really fit in with the theme of a course, or specific level contained within.
Addictiveness: 8Not many people I know have heard of this game, and even fewer have played it for a significant period of time. Personally, I did find this game pretty addictive. Each course in this game features 8 levels/holes. You are awarded medals depending on how well you do (gold/silver/bronze) in your overall score of the 8 levels. Getting a gold medal can be very difficult, particularly for certain courses. The addictiveness kicked in and tempted my inner perfectionist, as I strove to get all gold when I played this game in my youth (and let it be known, I got the golds!). Among the others I knew who played this game, some shared in my desire to get all gold and also found this game addictive. Others had different goals, and because mastering every course wasn't a priority, they didn't find the game addictive. That probably saved them fewer headaches! So here it is, I give this category an 8, but depending on your personality or perception of the game, give or take a point.
Story: 5Story? Since it's a Kirby game, you can already safely assume King Dedede did a thing, and Kirby has to stop him. Well lo and behold, that is the case in Kirby's Dream Course! To be honest, nothing in terms of story is ever elaborated. There is no segment of dialogue or illustrations signifying some chronology of events and so forth. Before each course, there's a little animation to show the player what kinds of enemies to expect. it also features Kirby jumping around or using a special move- think of it more like a skit. Kirby's Dream Course really is all about the gameplay.
Depth: 9I like to think of Kirby's Dream Course as easy to learn, hard to master. The mechanics involving the use of spin/rotation may be enough to turn some players away, but fortunately, advanced mechanics are not required to get through the game. You will need to utilize these attributes to get gold medals, and many hole-in-ones, though.
GAME DESCRIPTION:There are 8 courses, and each course has 8 levels. Kirby must destroy each regular enemy on the map (as opposed to villain characters like Wispy Woods, Kracko, etc.). All you have to do is touch the enemy and they're destroyed. For doing this, kirby gets one unit of energy per enemy destroyed. Kirby uses 1 energy per shot and if he runs out of energy, he loses a life. When only one enemy remains on the map, it becomes the hole. Sink Kirby in the hole, and you get to move onto the next level. Worthy of mention, some enemies give Kirby a special move. A special move can be performed once per move... so after you line up your shot and Kirby is now moving, you can use a move. Some moves are meant to destroy the villain characters, while others increase Kirby's mobility. In addition to special moves, you can make Kirby pulsate, which helps him move farther, and is especially useful for making him bounce off of walls/barriers with more force/recoil. There are all sorts of features on the map that can assist or hurt Kirby in his endeavor to play golf. It's up to you to discover the tricks of each course, and advance closer to King Dedede so you can destroy him, and prevent him from... existing? As I've hinted in the earlier section, don't worry too much about the 'story' part.
In essence, I've given Depth a 9 because I've spent hours achieving gold medals in all the courses. Doing this also unlocks some other things. I won't go into details here, but you'll spend hours in each course, as well as even more hours with the unlockable stuff so check it out! Two player mode features 4 courses of 8 levels each. I enjoyed 2 player mode for this game, and I think you will too provided you're not of hyper-competitive personality.
Difficulty: 7Getting through each course is really not too difficult, maybe except for the last one, but you don't want to just survive each course do you? I chose to conquer each course in the quest for gold. The difficulty comes from that objective; let me know which course you thought was hardest to master =)
Otherwise, Kirby's Dream Course is a fairly easy game that will take you for a fun ride.
Overall: 7.7Kirby's Dream Course is a golfing game featuring our favorite pink ball of fun & air, probably his vacationing interlude from all those adventures. At the basic level, this game is easy to pick up and play. The learning curve may get a little inclined when trying to explore some of the more advanced mechanics of Kirby-style golf, necessary to master each course. While some courses may give you a headache in trying to get the lowest number of shots possible, this game is actually really fun, and is meant to be played in pieces (play a course, put it down, pick it up later and repeat). If you're looking for a Kirby game that fits in the series of Kirby's Dreamland/Adventure/Super-Star, you're in the wrong place! This game is all about playing golf with/as Kirby and changing up the usual pace of the other platformer games. This game provides its own unique challenges throughout its levels, and I definitely recommend giving Kirby's Dream Course a shot.
Enjoy!
Graphics 8 Sound 9 Addictive 8 Story 5 Depth 9 Difficulty 7
Review Rating: 5/5
Submitted: 11-01-14
Updated: 11-01-14
Review Replies: 2
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