Kirby's Dream Course

***Kirby's Dream Course*** is a golf-based video game. It was developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo in 1994. It was made for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Players bounce Kirby around a mini golf course to collect stars. People liked the game because it was weird and innovative.

## Gameplay

_Kirby's Dream Course_ is a mini golf video game. The art is in an isometric perspective, similar to games like _Marble Madness_. Its plot involves Kirby's enemy, King Dedede, stealing all of the stars in the night sky. Kirby sets out to stop Dedede and return the stars to the sky.

Players move Kirby (the second player moves a yellow Kirby look-alike named ) around a mini golf course by bouncing him towards a specific area of the playfield. Players must set the power, angle, and spin of the bounce to hit enemies in the levels. The player gets a star for each enemy they hit. When only one enemy is still alive, that enemy becomes a hole that the player must bounce Kirby into. The hole is worth two stars. In multiplayer, two players try to get the most stars. A player can hit one of the other player's stars to take it. Kirby/Keeby can hit certain enemies to get a Copy Ability, which can be used to clear courses more quickly or hurt the other player. These Copy Abilities include Kirby/Keeby turning into a tornado, a sparking ball that can break certain obstacles, and a UFO that allows Kirby/Keeby to float and move anywhere for a short time.

The game has eight single-player courses. Each course has eight holes. When the player completes a course, they get a medal. Medals can be used to get extra features, including different versions of courses. The type of medal the player gets is based on how well they played the course, with gold being the best.

## Development

_Kirby's Dream Course_ was made by HAL Laboratory and Nintendo EAD. It was published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). HAL originally made the game as a new game called _Special Tee Shot_ in 1992. It had its own characters and art. The game was given previews from magazines and was displayed on the packaging for the SNES, but the company stopped making it because their _Kirby_ series on the Game Boy was very successful. HAL later made _Special Tee Shot_ into a _Kirby_ game by replacing many of the new characters with characters from the _Kirby_ series.

Keeby, the yellow Kirby that the second player controls, uses Shigeru Miyamoto's idea for what color Kirby should be. Miyamoto's idea was replaced with pink when _Kirby's Adventure_ was released. After an unnamed yellow Kirby appeared in _Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards_, a yellow color appeared a lot when more than one player played as Kirby in the _Kirby_ and _Super Smash Bros._ series. This design was called "Keeby Yellow" in _Kirby's Dream Buffet_.

_Kirby's Dream Course_ was released in Japan on September 21, 1994, as _Kirby Ball_. It was released in North America on February 1, 1995. _Special Tee Shot_ was later released in 1996 for the Satellaview. The Satellaview is a peripheral for the Super Famicom that used broadcasts from satellites to play games. _Dream Course_ is one of thirty games included on the Super NES Classic Edition.

In 1995, Nintendo and HAL started making a sequel named _Kirby Ball 64_/_Kirby Bowl 64_ for the Nintendo 64. A playable prototype of the game was shown at Nintendo's annual Shoshinkai event. _Kirby Ball 64_/_Kirby Bowl 64_ was made to use the system's analog stick to let the player move with more precision. It also had an extra mode where the player controlled Kirby on a snowboard. _Kirby Ball 64_ was not released, but some of the ideas from the game were later used in _Kirby Air Ride_.

## Reception

People liked _Kirby's Dream Course_ for its weirdness and innovation. _GamePro_ writer Scary Larry said that it was as fun to play as the other _Kirby_ games. A writer for _Next Generation_ and a reviewer from _Electronic Gaming Monthly_ said that the mini golf gameplay system was very unique.

_Next Generation_ and Larry also said that _Dream Course_ is very complex, which was not common for a golf video game at the time. People liked the game's colorful art for its funny design. _Electronic Gaming Monthly_ said that the game's controls took time to get used to. Tom Guise of _Computer and Video Games_ and _Electronic Gaming Monthly_ said that the game's originality made it one of the best SNES games. Javier Abad, a reviewer for _Nintendo Acción_, said that _Kirby_ fans would like the game's controls and graphics.

People have also said good things about the game in reviews written years later. Staff from _Nintendo Life_ compared its silliness to Electronic Arts' _Zany Golf_. They said that _Dream Course_ had fun gameplay and a good difficulty level. They also said that its graphics looked good. _IGN_s Lucas M. Thomas believed _Dream Course_s unique concept made it impossible to compare it to other games. Thomas and _GameSpot_s Frank Provo both liked how useful the power-ups were. _USgamer_ writer Nadia Oxford liked its funny design and weird levels. She said that it was a break from the more action-oriented games on the console. _IGN_ said that the game was the 38th best game on the SNES.

## Infobox (video game)

- **title**: Kirby's Dream Course
- **developer**: HAL Laboratory
Nintendo EAD
- **publisher**: Nintendo
- **director**: Takashi Saito
- **producer**: Satoru Iwata
Shigeru Miyamoto
- **designer**: Shinichi Shimomura
Kensuke Tanabe
Hideki Fujii
- **composer**: Hirokazu Ando
- **series**: _Kirby (series), Kirby_
- **genre**: Sports video game, Sports
- **modes**: Single-player, multiplayer
- **platforms**: Super Nintendo Entertainment System