Kirby's Dream Land 3

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Kirby's Dream Land 3

Developer(s)	HAL Laboratory
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Designer(s)	Shinichi Shimomura
Release date(s)	JPN March 26, 1997 USA November 27, 1997
Genre(s)	Platform game
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer (2 players simultaneous)
Rating(s)	ESRB: K-A (Kids to Adults)
Platform(s)	Super NES, Virtual Console
Media	32-megabit cartridge
Input	SNES Controller

Kirby's Dream Land 3, known in Japan as Hoshi no Kirby 3 (星のカービィ3, Hoshi no Kābī Surī^?, lit. "Kirby of the Stars 3"), is the fifth platformer video game starring Kirby. Specifically, it is the third game under the Kirby's Dream Land name. Although the first two games were largely unrelated, Dream Land 3 features many similar characters to Dream Land 2.

Kirby's Dream Land 3 is also the last game released by Nintendo for the Super NES (outside Japan), but is not the final game released for it in the U.S. That honor goes to the Super NES version of Frogger instead (which was released in 1998).

1 Gameplay
- 1.1 Kirby's allies
2 Development
3 Visuals
4 Sound
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Gameplay

The game's platforming mechanics are very similar to most other Kirby games, as are Kirby's skillset. Kirby is able to jump, duck, slide, fly (by inflating himself), as well as perform his signature move, which is inhaling enemies. When Kirby inhales an enemy, it can be spit back out as a projectile, or swallowed. Normally this has no effect on Kirby, although specific enemies grant Kirby copy abilities, a staple of the Kirby games. Copy abilities replace Kirby's standard inhaling move with a special attack, depending on the enemy Kirby ate. For example, swallowing a fire-based enemy allows Kirby to become a fireball.

Kirby has ten hit points (HP); if Kirby collides with an enemy or enemy attack, Kirby loses one hit point and the enemy that hit him is destroyed. If Kirby loses all ten of his hit points, he dies. This also causes Kirby to lose the copy ability he has, as well as a friend he's teamed up with (if he has either). Kirby starts the game with two spare lives; if he loses all of them the game is over.

[edit] Kirby's allies

Kirby gets a ride with Coo the owl.

Kirby's friends, clockwise from top left to center panel: Nago, Rick, Chuchu, Coo, Pitch, Kine, and Gooey.

In Kirby's Dream Land 2, three of Kirby's friends were introduced into the game: Rick the hamster, Coo the owl, and Kine the fish. This game uses a similar "friend" mechanic, while introducing three more of Kirby's friends to the game.

Kirby can summon Gooey - a blue, long-tongued blob first seen in Dream Land 2 by pressing the A button. This costs Kirby two hit points (of which he has ten) to do. Gooey will follow Kirby around, helping him defeat enemies. Gooey's abilities are similar to Kirby's, as he can swallow enemies by reaching out his long tongue (including Scarfy). He can then spit back out the enemies, or copy them like Kirby (although when controlled by the computer, this usually does not happen). Gooey can also be controlled by a second human player. Kirby can also inhale Gooey and swallow him, reclaiming two hit points.

In addition to Gooey, Kirby can be accompanied by one of his six other friends. By pressing the X button over one his friends, he will join up with them, generally by riding them. Most of the game's levels will have enemy-less areas with one or more of Kirby's friends to choose from.

While teamed up, most of Kirby's abilities are intact, such as inhaling and using copy abilities. Depending on the friend he's teamed up with, the same copy ability will be a different attack.

[edit] Development

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[edit] Visuals

Kirby's Dream Land 3 uses a mode of the SNES termed "pseudo high-resolution" (which allows for color blending between sets of two adjacent pixels) to blend dithered sprites.