Kirby's Dream Land 3

Kirby's Dream Land 3 is the fifth platformer video game starring Kirby. It was originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan in 1997 and then in North America in 1998. This is unlike the game's two predecessors, Kirby's Dream Land and Kirby's Dream Land 2, which were released for the Game Boy. Kirby's Dream Land 3 was developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo. It was the last Super Nintendo game that Nintendo published in North America. Kirby's Dream Land 3 was ported to the Wii's Virtual Console in 2009, then the Wii U's Virtual Console in 2013, and for the Nintendo Switch Online in 2019.

Gameplay
The game's platforming mechanics are very similar to most other Kirby games, as is Kirby's skillset. Kirby is able to jump, duck, slide, fly (by inflating himself), as well as perform his signature move: 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 gets knocked out. 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, he gets a Game Over.

Kirby's allies
At any time during play, Kirby can summon Gooey - a blue, long-tongued blob first seen in Kirby's Dream Land 2. Doing so costs Kirby two hit points. When controlled by the computer, Gooey follows Kirby around and helps him to defeat enemies. (Gooey can also be controlled by a second human player.) Gooey's abilities are similar to Kirby's: He can swallow enemies using his long tongue, then either spit them out or copy their abilities to a limited extent. Kirby can also inhale Gooey and swallow him, reclaiming his two hit points.

In addition to Gooey, Kirby can team up with any one of his six other friends, three of which were introduced in Kirby's Dream Land 2, Rick, Coo, and Kine. This friend mechanic allows Kirby to be ridden, carried or rolled, enabling new team-based abilities, as well as variations of Kirby's Copy Abilities.

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

The cartridge also takes advantage of Nintendo SA-1 technology to process game data at a faster rate, which was necessary for the large number of bitmaps and special effects used by faster releases.

Reception
The game received mixed reviews from both fans and critics. Because the game was released in close relation to Kirby Super Star, the game was panned by critics and fans for not using Super Star's style of gameplay, instead offering a more simplistic and rudimentary experience similar to Kirby's Dream Land 2.