A Case of Mistaken Friendship: Reflections on Kirby's Adventure for the NES

gamerlance

published on January 14, 2017

Having finished my first mission this week, I wanted to take a moment and discuss what I thought of the game and how it fits into a larger discourse of the role of gaming in general. Please note that I am an English major with a strong emphasis on critical analysis so I like to think deeply about the things I experience.

That said, this isn't a review of the game, even though I had to put it in that category. I won't be talking about gameplay, graphics, music, or even the importance of this game to the series, but rather this is a pseudo-memoir of my playthrough of the game; this is a reflection on what the game taught me.

Why Am I Eating My Fellow Dream Land Citizens?

This question plagued my playthrough of Kirby's Adventure and it still haunts me. It's similar to when you realize that all the blocks you kill in Super Mario Bros are actually Mushroom Kingdom citizens that have been transformed by Browser. It's murder!

The story in Kirby's Adventure, once you dig around for it, is that his dreams have disappeared so he's trying to piece together the Star Rod to restore the Fountain of Dreams. King Dedede is trying to stop Kirby and so King Dedede breaks up the Star Rod and gives the pieces to his friends to protect.

The problem comes at the end of the game when you realize that King Dedede is just trying to protect Dream Land from the Nightmare and so he broke up the Star Rod to prevent the Nightmare from gaining ultimate power.

Wait, what? King Dedede and Kirby are on the same side here? So I just killed, and swallowed, devoured even, the protectors of Dream Land? All of these enemies who got in my way, all of the bosses who were trying to stop me, were actually protecting Dream Land from a much bigger threat?

And now, if I fail to stop Nightmare, there will no one else left to prevent him from taking over my home? No backup plan if I get my butt handed to me by an inter-dimensional creature come to divest my home of happiness and dreams?

Why didn't anyone say, "Yo, Kirby! They be on your side, bro!"

I would imagine after the murder of Whispy Wood, King Dedede would have had the common sense to say, "Kirby, here's the thing: there's this crazy Nightmare dude that wants to take over Dream Land and we're trying to keep him from getting the Star Rod, so I decided it was better to have 7 people protecting it instead of one over-inflated mass murderer try to do the job by himself."

Not to mention that Kirby has quite the entitlement attitude to think that he is stronger than the entire kingdom of Dream Land and he should be the one to fix all of its problems.

I know we aren't given the political background of Dream Land but I find it hard to believe that the King would bow down to a big pink ball of hot air. Then again, Kirby does have the seemly unique ability to swallow everything and everyone in Dream Land so maybe Kind Dedede just leaves him alone?

So I'm Actually Playing The Bad Guy?

Kirby comes across as heroic. He's on a quest to restore dreams to the land. And yet, when you get to that final cut scene and realize what is actually going on, it's hard to not look at Kirby as a bad guy.

Even after defeating Nightmare and restore the Star Rod to the fountain, Kirby still comes across as an arrogant, albeit likable, jerk. All of the destruction caused by Kirby, all of the enemies he swallowed and presumably killed, were collateral damage because of a misunderstanding between our "hero" and King Dedede.

What's even more disturbing is that the credits play over a montage of the all the murders you've committed over the course of the playthrough. You get to cringe as you watch each and every one of the Protectors of Dream Land fall to your homicidal rage.

All because no one took the time to explain the situation.

They would have all been friends, instead of enemies from the get go. Just imagine how much better Dream Land would have been off if all of the Protectors of Dream Land would have banned together to conquer Nightmare instead of standing in each other's way.

What Kirby's Adventure Is Really About, From My Point Of View

It might seem silly to look for deeper life lessons in a game that's 24 years old and was meant as a simple game where you inhale enemies and steal their powers, but I believe that the games we play shape our thinking and our way of seeing the world. They become a part of our identity and help us make sense of the experiences we have in life.

So what lesson or identity forming nugget of truth can we extract from Kirby's Adventure? If anything it's that an unrelenting zeal to prove you're right can have devasting effects on the lives of those around you.

Kirby believes that he is "the chosen one", the only person in Dream Land with the guts to stand up to a corrupt ruler and restore the dreams to the people. He goes about entrenched in that belief to the point where he is willing to murder anyone who gets in his way. Even if those people are just obeying the king and don't really deserve to die.

And the tragedy of Kirby's Adventure is that it could have all been avoided had the two main characters, Kirby and King Dedede, communicated effectively.

The lesson learned in Kirby's Adventure is as powerful as the lessons learned from history. The basis for all wars is an unwillingness to understand the other side.

Even as I write this, 6 days before one of the most polarizing presidents the United States has ever had takes office, I see this every same problem plaguing almost all of us. We are so entrenched in our belief that we are right that we can't see the other side really wants the same thing we do: a strong, unified country.

So yes, you can argue that Kirby's Adventure is just a game. And you can give it a star rating, say "that was kind of fun" and move on with your life; however, when you look at what is actually happening in the game, there are many parallels that can be drawn to our modern lives. And lessons to be learned that would greatly improve your inter-personal relationships.

Of course, taking a lesson from Kirby, I would love to hear what you think.


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