I don't know why, but Kirby's Dreamland 3 always felt like it was in a state of denial. A giant blob of darkness was shown to come crashing down on Popstar and the game almost forcefully tries to show *cutesy animals and whimsical music* to compensate, like how people smile too hard even when they don't feel that happy. By the time Hyper Zone rolls around, it feels like the game just *gives up* and admits it has a problem in the form of Dark Matter and Zero.
i like how all the zone map sounds happy instantly(excluding iceberg) except pop star..the theme sounds creepy but the melody still tries to convince something joyful
It's mad, i've had almost the same kind of thoughts. Like, the game is like when you're a kid and you don't really understand when something tragic happens in your/your family's life, so you just sort of continue going as if nothing happened. The art style really adds to that, it's like a child's drawing interpretation of what's really happening
There’s a section in the first level song Grass Land 1 that perfectly encapsulates this. The song almost sounds sad for a brief moment, before quickly going back to being happy.
There's so much I love in this game, and the art style is one of the big ones. It's so comfortable and cute, complemented by the awesome music perfectly! The different abilities and animal friends, the missions of each game, the final boss, it all makes for a really special package!
Honestly, Ant sounded more like he was reacting in a "I don't think I can handle how adorable this is" kind of way, rather than a "I can't believe how stupid this is" kind of way. That's how his tone of voice reads to me, especially since he was quite positive about Dream Land 3 in general in that video.
That bit describing Kirby's old visual identity with the abilities as an alien morphing to adapt to each power was cool. Never put together that connection for some reason after the hats became more established
It did feel a little weird how he wrote it as if it just stopped existing though when Kirby and the Forgotten Land was right there with peak body horror thanks to mouthful mode.
In terms of traditional copy abilities I don't think we'll see morphing Kirby, unless it's paired with another gimmick like mouthful. Unfortunately, hats are probably here to stay. It can only be unexpected when marketing depends on it
I've said this other times before, but Shimomura's Kirby games should be appreciated not as a action-packed fighter-esque game with fancy movement and attacks, but as a sort-of interactable artform. These games really encourage you to slow down and play around with different possibilities, and admire the world around you. (Very good video, I am willing to forgive all the RTDL slander)
Oh hell yeah, one of the most chillest RU-vidrs I know reviewing one of the coziest games I've played. Can't wait to watch this so I can watch it again and again and again on repeat like a super professional autist.
Okay, so I'm happy to know I'm not the only one who watches his videos over and over again just to hear him talk. His voice is super soothing. Also, professional autist. I love it.
You mentioned you don't give a fuck about Kirby lore, but even so you managed to correctly identify exactly what they were going for with Dark Matter and Gooey. You can read into it as much as you want, but the heart of Dream Land 3 (and other Kirby games but especially this one) is about fighting off an apocalyptic miasma of bad vibes with friendship and love, and Gooey compliments that perfectly. Great video. Always happy to see more Gooey propaganda. They really need to make him a main character again. But even if they don't, at least we have a game like this to look back on.
The Dark Matter trilogy truly has something special to it. They're inherently simple, as Kirby tends to be, but with just enough complexity in terms of puzzles and ability mixing and stuff to keep you coming back. Also Dracula Flow Kirby is the greatest addition to any review of this game.
As someone who wasn't the biggest Dreamland 3 fan even I have to admit the clean ability deserves more respect than it gets. I won't tolerate slander from mediocre Nintendo youtubers!
Stuff like using Ice on the Metroids is one of those situations where you'd go to school and tell your friends "I dont know what to do with these blobby green things" and your friend who was fanatical about Super Metroid would say "Does Kirby have an ice beam?" and that's how you find out. Or maybe you or another friend read Nintendo Power. I only got through Link to the Past thanks to a friend a grade above me who was way better at games than I was. Good memories.
im glad someone is sticking up for the broom. most needlesly overhated power up like ever. every youtuber is like "OH CRINGE A BROOM???" just because conceptually its a bit silly, but that is such a weird reason to hate something. no one hates it for its actual usefulness they hate it because conceptually a broom isnt a very good weapon, which is such an odd reason to hate something for. also that "my girlfriend" guy actually made me wince up so hard near the end lmao.
I think people have come around from hating weird stuff on youtube. idk maybe we got bored from doing that. like I've seen it with gen 1 pokemon sprites too, the reception to silly stuff in older games seems to be changing for the better lately.
@@usernametaken017 yeah i remember that kinda phase when i was younger, & i never really like meshed with it. even as a kid i thought it was a vapid reason to write something off, a lot of older nostalgia critic videos still unironically make me mad, because his criticisms a lot of the time are *show joke* "This is so weird!!!! Were they on DRUGS when they made this????" which is such a vapid, & frankly not funny observation especially when a scene is meant to be weird. this was a trap i feel like a lot of older youtubers went into saddly. as for gen 1 pokemon sprites, tbh i never got why people hated some of them. especially mew who got all the hate, i thought gen1 mew looked cool, & kinda creepy & appreciated its resemblance to an embryo. it felt very uncanny fitting of an otherworldly primordial being.
Your seriously one of my favorite people on this site. I'm so sick of people who think video games discussion consists of recapping the story and saying if the combats good or not. You're videos are very human and you deserve more subscribers
You really hit the nail on the head for why Gooey being Dark Matter is so cool. It's a quiet plot point in an already subtle story, but it's very sweet and very Kirby. This was a nice retrospective to watch! _(also, revealing your taste in fictional characters and immediately hating that it left your mouth is. A mood...)_
I like that they randomly decided to bring Clean back in Star Allies but made it a further DL3 reference by making several of its attacks just summon the animal friends to do their respective takes on the ability.
You didn't mention it too much, but Kirby 3 has the most Kirby soundtrack that has ever Kirby'd. No other Kirby game has a soundtrack that so perfectly fits what Kirby is all about. There are probably individual songs in other Kirby games I like more, but as a package Kirby 3 is my favorite OST. You can hook that Ripple Field 1 right into my veins though... just don't tell me girlfriend cause she's gonna dump me when she sees I can't listen to the middle part of that song without shedding a tear.
i think it's super funny that you bash kirby's friends for being sad that kirby picked someone else and then refuse to play deus ex because it doesn't have gooey. that made me giggle a little bit
Kirby's Dreamland 3 is the pinnacle of 'Kirbyism' to me, from the sound design, the distinct identity certain instruments (like that one drum, you know the one) in Dreamland 3 give its music a special flavor, to the entire game being a hand-drawn cozy, whimsical and cute crayon picture book-esque world, to the way even the game mechanic of collectables in the form of Heart Stars tie into the core Kirby themes of friendship, positive emotions, and specifically to the plot of Dreamland 3, gratitude. This game feels like pure Kirby distilled into a fine point. Absolutely whimsical video.
Also, came back just to say holy fuck that Cronenberg shot edited with Meta Knight and Dedede is gonna send me to an early grave. Points made about a Cronenberg Kirby movie.
12:20 this part hurt deep cause while I do actually 100% understand what you’re saying, I actually find triple deluxe in particular to probably be the most like the older games in terms of atmosphere and weirdness. That’s actually why it’s my favorite in the series! It just feels so whimsical.
The Kirby series is really unique as you have a bunch of different series headlined by different directors, and for having a loosely-defined, mysterious universe, you really get to see some interesting spins on it. Masahiro Sakurai seems to interpret his creation as being a primarily action-focused series (or, at least of Super Star), in contrast to the character's cute appearance, with his games being very fast paced and having these grand, epic stories, like a shonen manga (the copy ability panels in Adventure and Super Star looking like panels straight out of one), matched with super-saturated, intense colors. Shinya Kumazaki, the direction of the modern Kirby titles, seems to emphasize the mystery and scale of the universe, always hinting towards some bigger story, focusing on the lore with pause screen descriptions aplenty, but unfortunately with his games there never seems to be a desire to push the characters and the universe in a unique direction with each title; much of his games tend to blur together, reusing models, animations and sounds. It might be some team at HAL wanting to consistently retain the marketable appeal of Kirby, and that's really unfortunate, because keeping things always on-model, on-brand is boring (we all know what happened to Paper Mario). I tend to find myself gravitating to the original Kirby games more often because of this. Shinichi Shimomura is really curious in that his games seem to embrace the cute, comfortable, dreamlike appeal of Kirby. Abstract worlds, a relaxing pace, pastel colors and slower speeds. That style really persists through all of his three games (DL2, DL3 and 64), and I can see why someone like you would really gravitate to them, finding great value in the passion put into games. The Shimomura games are incredibly focused on being soothing, immersive works of art, having personal touches in just about everything. In terms of games I would call an "art piece", I would absolutely say Dream Land 3 is definitely up there. It's the most visually distinctive mainline Kirby title to date, and it's a shame that a lot of future titles haven't really dared to branch out more with the art. Though I still appreciate later titles, there's a unique, artistic, personal appeal upon those games that's been lost since. I'm split on Dream Land 3, though. It is a beautiful, contemplative game that can probably make the most spiteful, jaded and cynical person smile. And for those who enjoy that kind of thing, it's excellent. I've praised what it achieves artistically enough. But as a platformer, it is a little lacking in the gameplay department in contrast to Super Star, and even frustrating at points. The autoscrollers, some obtuse puzzles, minigames that can be rather punishing, there's a lot of irritation you can have on a playthrough of the game. Ability mixing and animal friends (Pitch being my favorite) are a wonderfully creative idea, but with each ability having only one attack, gameplay tends to be rather shallow. Not asking for them to have full movesets for each ability, but there's likely a reason the later titles have sort of drifted away from these "wider, not deeper" mechanics. It isn't to say the ideas don't have any worth, and I wish the modern titles had a willingness to actually experiment with the formula rather than tacking on a single gimmick to the otherwise bare-essential Super Star Kirby gameplay that Shimomura and Sakurai's games did. I do think you should play Forgotten Land though as that game I feel is the biggest evolution of Kirby since Crystal Shards, but it's understandable if you're allergic to modern Kirby. I'm surprised you complimented the music of the Kirby games here in these videos without so much as naming the composer behind it. Jun Ishikawa has been with the series since the beginning and I can't imagine what Kirby would be without his bouncy, catchy and memorable tunes. He's often paired with Hirokazu Ando, another longterm series composer who has this really jazzy style and collaborated with ishikawa on many Kirby titles. If you're acquainted with the two composers, it's always fun playing the games and pointing out what songs belong to who (though later titles in their sound tests actually have colored music notes indicating the composer). Dream Land 3 is unique in that Ishikawa did the soundtrack entirely alone, and it's really clear given that there's a stylistic throughline through every song in that game. Ando himself has also been a solo composer on many Kirby titles, including Adventure and Dreamland 2. Kirby 64 has them together, with Ishikawa working on much of the level themes and Ando the cutscene music. Recently though, HAL's music team has expanded significantly, and Ishikawa's taken a step back, acting mostly as a sound director without many compositions in the games of his own. I don't think Kirby will be quite the same without his iconic compositions, when he does inevitably retire. You might've already been familiar with these names and chose to opt out of talking about it for brevity's sake, but I can't help but gush as Kirby music, Ishikawa's especially, never seem to leave my head. But, hey, maybe Kirby doesn't need to last forever, and art can exist in its time and appreciated as is without being endlessly iterated upon...but, of course, it's a best-selling hit video game franchise, so the show must always go on. And though it has its flaws, I will appreciate Dream Land 3 for being such a game that you can really feel the personal touch of the artists who helped make it. Its imperfections make it all the more memorable. I think these retro games are so impactful because they often have small, tight teams of people fulfilling one single director's vision, rather than being these multi-million dollar affairs, bloated by hundreds of different professionals and watched over by a hawk by legions of executives and producers. Dream Land 3 had less than two dozen people working on the game itself, and it's a game you can really feel the passion behind every frame of it. ...you like Pitch for being into thick women, and you like glasses-wearing pigtail nerdy fairy women like 64's Fairy Queen. Does that mean your dream girl is both things?
I loved your comment, I do feel KDL3 is an amazing game but can be quite frustrating at times, SPECIALLY Sand Canyon 3 but I do like KDL3 as its own thing that stands as its own separate thing compared to other mainline Kirby games (except for Canvas Curse, Mass Attack and Rainbow Curse)
Love both 64 and Dreamland 3. Never ever understood the critics who disliked Dreamland 3. I always heard that the reception was meh but I've loved it for over a decade since I first completed it.
i tthink people disliked it bcus of the fact its much slower paced compared to kirby super star and the movesets werent as expansive as that game etiher
lute, fun fact: gooey is actually exactly what you thought. he’s just a nice Dark Matter and he’s also probably a little brain damaged but he’s a friend :)
I know this video isn't about kirby 64 but I'm so glad that there's someone out there who feels the same way about it. When I tell my fellow kirby loving friends that crystal shards is my favorite game I don't think they really understand why. You managed to put all my feelings as to why crystal shards is such a magical game to me in a way I could never come up with myself. If you haven't already, please make a full video on Crystal Shards, I would be delighted to watch it
Finally, someone made a video to counter all of the anti Dreamland 3 propaganda. This game is so incredibly underrated, it's so refreshing to see someone here who actually has good taste.
Died of laughter at 16:40. A Kirby game making you guess someone's secret kink to acheive 100% simultaneously gives "made up for an obvious joke" and "couldn't make this up if you tried," I am AGHAST
ur videos rlly make me appreciate the novelty of just having a little doodad and game to play. Like sometimes it's nice to just step back and see that i can play as a cute ball and prance around a vibrant place. How quaint.
God fucking damn I can't get enough of your videos, they have such a comfy vibe to them, feels like I just got into a discord call with someone I don't talk to often enough but is a completely joy to be around
Major disagreement about post-Return to Dreamland games not having whimsy. Planet Robobot, despite Pop Star being turned into the USA, has a lot of really fun and whimsical elements. Like the city of Waddle Dees driving cars, and the ice cream factory. That being said, subscribed.
@@moosesues8887 That...actually sounds quite nice, how is that lacking in soul? Furthermore, how does "Kirby destroys capitalism with a giant mech" lack soul or personality? Because that, imo, is one of the coolest things they've ever done with Kirby!
I'd say, while they might still be whimsy, post return dreamland games have always felt a bit... uninteresting? The Kirby was where it all started, Adventure added copy abilities, remade with Nightmares in Dreamland Kirby 2 & 3 have the animal friends. Kirby Superstar has the transformation hat and allies, as well as a whole collection of games and extra. Kirby 64 has dual abilities. Kirby & the Amazing Mirror is a metroidvania. From Squeek Squad onwards, there's been little innovation to the formula: The super transformations, or the mega suck berry, or the robots, aren't so different between each other; just another gimmick that doesn't change how you approach the game or the level design. Don't get me wrong, still super fun games, but I'd agree they lost that "oh man, I wonder what they're going to do with the next kirby" deal.
@@MyNameIsMir to be fair all of them change a lot of their atmosphere and premise to make them more unique and distinct even if the core gameplay is quite similar, and i could also add the osts and new characters having a major role into doing that! the reason why some people perceive those as a sort of "new super mario bros" era is probably because of the sfx and returning copy abilities not changing too much and the gameplay being similar to the previous game, although i wouldn't ever call them as repetitive as the new super mario bros games
For anyone going through the comments thinking about picking the game up: You can fix the transparency issue in retroarch's bsnes core by enabling "hi-res blending" in the core options. The setting is made for this specific rare transparency usecase.
I love Gooey. Shoutouts to characters who are either related to or used to work for the main villain but are now your friend. Love to see it. A few years back i learned that the game had a bug that made it so when you floated and then spit an air puff your momentum just stopped for some reason. Naturally, someone made a patch to fix that and playing the game patched gave me even more of an appreciation for it.
When I was really young, I’d call this Kirby: “Crayon Kowby”. [sic] I used to just stare at the sprites in 2000s-era soundtrack rips. Since I never owned a way to play. Very fun for my small brain.
I woke up and opened my window and saw the beautiful light rays shining down from the heavens but, oh no whats this? That was not the light from the sun at all but was the light from my monitor shining into my eyes making me shed a tear as Lute has uploaded a video about Kirbay Dreamgland 3...I did not expect to see such beauty on this day but as I shed a tear and sit myself down in my big chair which envelops me like a warm hug from the greatest youtube video creator Lute. Literally just looking at the screen nodding my head and smiling. Truly grateful for the opportunities in my life :)
This is the kind of game that really deserves a remake while keeping the art style. It's true that Sakurai's Kirby is closer to an action platformer with Beat'em Up elements whereas Shimomura's is more puzzle/platformer-like (akin to Wario Land 1).
Wario Land Mentioned But yeah, you could easily remaster KDL3 by just making it higher res and making the transparency effects convincing on modern displays, that's it
@@iwannabethekid34xc I'm not really sure everyone would agree with everything said in the video lmao If this was a review that's mostly focused on criticizing KDL3 then I imagine the OP's comment wouldn't be in such video
Kirby Dreamland 3 is such a underated Kirby game. The artstyle is gorgeous, it's just beautiful all around, I used to play it loads at my grandparents house, then I eventually got it on wii and played it again. And I know it's a dumb thing to bring up/mention, but it's a cool piece of media, on Scratch, a children's game maker thing, there is a really cool project called "Kirby's Dreamland 3 Maker" by BenjaminWins11 which replicates Kirby's Dreamland 3 to perfection, the physics, the artstyle, with a link in the notes/credits of the project to a Forum to share levels. I just thought to bring it up as it's someone taking this fairly underated and unique looking Kirby game and translating it pretty well into a basic kids program. But gg Lute on another banger before you go back into hibernation lmao
Gooey would've made for a better "Player 2" in modern Kirby than Bandana Waddle Dee, change my mind. Main point being: He can ACTUALLY use the copy abilities!
Counterpoint: Kirby's return to Dreamland having Meta Knight, Dedede, and bandana waddle dee as a complete 4 player co op Crew makes him work in that role. Plus when else do you get to play as a waddle dee?
@@elijahgearhart5116 What's preventing Gooey from hanging out with Dedede and Meta Knight? And Waddle Dees are still playable in any game with helpers. There's no obligation to play as what's essentially the Kirby equivalent of a goomba outside those games.
@@MrMetal-xe8lg ok when you point that out, I'm imagining gooey also doing mouthful mode transformations and that is a wonderful thing to picture. So I offer a truce between the two ideas: whenever it's just Kirby and a second player, bring in Gooey, but if there's 4 player co op, bring in the return to Dreamland crew. What do you think of that?
I know you said you didn't care but yes. Star Allies pretty much confirms that the animal buddies can do all that fucked up shit on their own. They can even attach themselves to other life forms to become... cleaning supplies since they brought that ability back there too.
I think fairies are cool. But anime girls with glasses? Whoo, now that's a cultured man right there. (I really love Hanekawa from the monogatari series)
something that struck me while watching this is just how many different art styles they sneak in there without it feeling out of place. there is the colours themselves that are pastel and always looked like watercolours to me. something like you would see in my neighbours the yamadas (peak Ghibli). but there is also those little cuboid guys that you have to recreate with blocks, who kinda look like they're made of clay to me. then there's the backgrounds that sometimes look like way more realistic photographs compressed down (like the stonehenge background at 32:24) or sometimes get super simplified and abstract like the blue spaghetti room. its just a very unique feel that i havent seen in any of the other kirbys, especially the handheld ones that stuck with the same thick outlined cartoon style. this was a great vid man, really like your stuff
this game, canvas curse and epic yarn are my pick for best art directions in the series, they bring such a unique atmosphere to their games and the fact that they never go back to these styles give them even more identity imo (probably why kdr3 is my favorite of the trilogy and epic yarn is one of my favorite game ever lol)
yes!!!!! whenever i think back about these games im awestruck with how unique, innovative and amazing these games' art directions are. Playing epic yarn as a kid changed my brain chemistry forever & is still one of my favs after all these years
That clean ability review montage just reminded me how much I hate most RU-vidrs. Like, at least AVGN and Nostalgia Critic played up their whining about trivial problems from laughs, these guys don't even try to pretend they are joking, just complaining about how much they hate this game for being cute and easy. Not even saying it's not for them, but outright calling it worthless. What's their problem?
I've been getting a bit burned out on video game channels. They all seem to mesh together to me, especially if they are bog standard review channels. "Analysis" videos become basically narrated playthroughs or summaries. Your videos, somehow, break the mold. You, Running Shine, and Geno7 both do it for me. Something about the casual personal touches and talking about how a game makes you _feel_ just really connects with me. Video games aren't just games, they are interactive media, interactive art. I want to know how a game plays with your emotions and expectations. I say all this because I really like your stuff. Great work.
Couldn't agree more. Videos like this are refreshing. The youtube meta is so stale that it's nice to just listen to someone talk passionately about their personal attachment to media and at the same time lovingly appreciate the team behind the work. Sadly it's so hard to find buried under mountains of assembly line commentary slop. The bit poking fun at youtubers who made snarky jabs at the sweep ability really drove that home. I find there's a fine line between a video like this though with its laid-back tone versus some sort of Super Eyepatch Wolf 'How Sewage Man 64 Broke Me' overly sentimental shite.
@@nortonrory I find Lute’s videos have a unique casual touch. They’re easy to get into and don’t get too deep beyond informally appreciating parts of a game. My biggest gripe is when he tangents off topic for a bit too long and almost breaks the pace of the video for me. For example, the ROB bit was funny but probably could’ve cut off at the initial memorial photo. I don’t like when he goes off track of his own interesting opinions on the game I came to watch for to make a joke that overstays its welcome or jab at some RU-vidrs when I don’t really care about them.
Fun observation, every Kirby game directed by Shinichi Shimomura (Dreamland 2, Dreamland 3, and Kirby 64) are the only Kirby games to have a true ending tied to collecting all of a certain item.
Return to Dreamland I think was planned to have a bad ending if you didn't get all gears. Squeak Squad needed you to get all 5 stars to open Secret Sea (the glowing big treasures had important items such as these).
this is the best KDL 3 retrospective i’ve ever seen, this is my favorite snes game and im so happy to see somebody else appreciate its beauty and charm, thank you!
Aw man, when you played the songs i felt so emotional. Kirby Dreamland 3 still is my favorite of all the franchise, the cute crayon-like visuals alongside the stellar OST really makes me remember my childhood, i played this game with my younger brother a lot, its slower pace was really good for our developing brains (back then i felt that kirby superstar was too loud and fast) and we had plenty of time to spare so even the hard memory game levels were eventually beaten.
Kirby 64 is my favorite too! I love all the ethereal sounds in the soundtrack and it just either makes you completely relax or instantly puts you in a good mood. All the settings addition of combining abilities was so cool I thought they would never go back to the single-ability system again, turns out it was the other way around lol.
Dude, you're so relatable, I lol'd so many times watching this vid XD You really "get" KDL3, and as one huge Kirby fan to another I have only this to say: Subscribed~!
Loved the part where you called out all of the bleak RU-vid “essayists” who just repeat the same sardonic garbage about the same games over and over again. Great video, I subbed 💋
this vid made me want to play dream land 3 specifically for the clean ability. love it when kirby games have abilities that are unique to them. one of the DS games had a metal ability that was basically useless, but it was one of my faves. awesome video 👍
Pretty cool how you managed to figure out gooeys backstory, more or less spot on. Dreamland 3 has such a special place in my heart, it was the first game my ex and I ever played together and neither of us had ever touched it before. The sweet memories combined with the intense dreamlike feeling from the music and visuals certainly left an impact on me
That level of detail you describe in 64 is something I felt was missing in every Kirby game since. It had a real sense of place, and it felt like we were just seeing a bit of these worlds and the secrets they offered. The 2.5D aspect really helped sell this. The camera panning and the 2d plane bending really added to the sense that were were exploring actual environments. I was so happy to have that feeling return with Forgotten Land
thanks for talking about a kirby game, been waiting to hear you talk about another of your favorite little fellas. kirby is such a perfect little space blob. also, clean is such a cool ability, it's so much more satisfying to clean in a game than to do my dishes. ii bet the reason the other guys complain about it so much is just because there's hardly anything to complain about in any kirby game at all, so "guy doesn't like cleaning" stereotype comes forward.
