I find it interesting sometimes to think back on my childhood experiences with video games and consider how naive or silly I used to be. So, when I first played
Nightmare in Dream Land, I actually assumed it was based on Fox Box's
Right Back at Ya! anime, rather than the other way around, as indeed I assumed
Pokémon [ポケットモンスター] games were based on the show. Furthermore, while I can't recall any actual
challenge in this game, I do believe it took me much longer to complete than it has in my adult life, and so I assume it felt a bit "harder" than it does now. I suppose it's also worth noting this was one of the few times I actually "beat" a game as a kid, as in contrast I got too lost in the "Metroidvania" of
Kirby & the Amazing Mirror [星のカービィ 鏡の大迷宮] that I never completed it. But at the same time, having beaten
this game in childhood, I never knew about "Extra Mode."
I found my brother's old cartridge (as it was originally his game rather than mine) somewhere in my house years ago. Feeling nostalgic, I popped it into my old GBA, which I still had for some reason, having sold my later SP at some point, presumably having kept the OG because I assumed GameStop would have fucked me hard on store-credit. Anyway, I jumped into the game and ended up being a little "disappointed" at how fast it took me to nearly beat it. I think I actually tapped out around Orange Ocean, if not maybe Yogurt Yard, as by that point I'd been playing for less than an hour, I think, and I guess I felt finishing the game too soon would make it feel "bad" for being so damn short and easy. I believe I'd been doing a self-imposed challenge to kinda-sorta "Nuzlocke" the game a bit, by which I mean I would grab the first Copy Ability in a level, keep it for as long as I could, but if it got knocked out of me I'd have to let the star go and grab the next Ability, and/or finish the level/stage as base Kirby. This was probably pretty fun, but the game was still "too easy," so I benched it.
I can't remember why I came back to the game years later, other than that I wanted to bring my GBA to work on a Friday to kill time while I wasn't actually busy. (I'd tried to start "Gameboy Fridays" for myself some months back, bringing
Pokémon Sapphire Version one day, and I planned on playing
Hotline Miami or
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis on my Vita the following week, but I got wrapped up in a big project that stole all my time for the next couple months or so....). My aim was simple: finish the game where I was, go back and hit all the Big Switches, unlock Extra Mode, and try to beat that before the end of the day. I was at Orange Ocean already, but I don't know if it was from my playthrough as mentioned last paragraph, or if I'd restarted in the meantime and forgot about it. Regardless, I changed my "challenge" to minimize use of Copy Abilities, as well as not Floating unless absolutely necessary to progress in platforming (though I would often Float to avoid boss attacks by reflex...). I think I actually did use Copy Abilities throughout the rest of that Normal Mode run, but Extra Mode was specifically using base form, though I guess I still have to hit the Switches for 100% again, which I'll save until I beat Nightmare, I guess.
I don't really
like placing limits on myself to enjoy a game differently, but I'm afraid it's the only real way for me to enjoy Kirby's games in adulthood. That said, these "rules"
have made the game more fun to me. Kracko especially is a blast to fight without Copy Abilities, as while I'm forced to Float to reach his arena I've learned to drop Kirby's breath to fall in the sky to avoid Kracko, before Floating again to dodge around him, and generally speaking every boss allows you to jump over them with a single leap rather than requiring the Float, so it's mostly good. The painter guy in the second world kinda sucks to fight when I won't allow myself to Float to the higher platforms to hit him, but otherwise the game's major battles are pretty good. The dual Poppy Bros. Sr. fights are kind of tough for me still, as well as the dual Mr. Frosty (whom I actually skipped in favor of Poppy Bros.!), so there are still some things to look forward to here. And that's not even getting into Meta Knightmare, which I haven't played yet.
I could see myself replaying this a lot more in the future, for sure!
However, the graphics are quite impressive for a GBA game, and it can be finished in about 2 hours.
The backgrounds in this game are amazing, and I fell in love with it all over again. Very short game, but hits all the right notes. Bumping rating from a 4.5 to 5.
I'm also pretty sure it took me more than a couple hours to beat this as a kid, so wtf