Kirby's Dream Course

"This golf-inspired game pitted one to two players against eight outlandish courses. To complete a hole, players had to defeat every enemy on the field and drop ball-shaped Kirby into the cup. Fewer shots meant a higher score. On top of planning each shot's power and trajectory, players had to make smart use of Kirby's 10 Copy Abilities."

- Summary

Kirby's Dream Course, known in Japan as カービィボウル (Kābī Bōru, meaning Kirby Bowl), is a golf Kirby game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) that was originally released in Japan on September 21, 1994, and was then later released on February 1, 1995 in North America and on August 24, 1995 in Europe.

This game is notable for being the very first 3D Kirby game. It is a golf style game with power ups. There are eight courses in the game and each one has eight holes. The game has a scoring system which awards Gold, Silver and Bronze medals for each level. There are unlockables in the game once a player gets enough medals. The player eventually meets a robotic version of King Dedede at the top.

Story
The plot of Kirby's Dream Course varies depending on the version. In the Japanese version, a short cutscene establishes the story if the player waits on the title screen. This cutscene was removed altogether in the North American localization. Instead, the North American instruction manual describes roughly the same story but with more details and slightly different events. A number of elements were added to justify or explain why certain things occur in the game, such as enemies dropping stars when Kirby defeats them.

Instruction manual ❌
After the Fountain of Dreams was returned to normal, the inhabitants of Dream Land continue their peaceful lives. They grow attached to the beautiful stars in Planet Popstar's night sky. One night, they all look up into the sky to gaze at them. To their dismay, they discover that the thousands of stars have all vanished. Though some inhabitants try to remain optimistic, their hope fades over the following nights as the stars do not return. Deeply saddened, their distress grows rapidly. Eventually they stop eating delicious meals, having pleasant dreams, laughing, and smiling.

In the midst of the turmoil, a rumor spreads that King Dedede is the one responsible for the stars' disappearance, having stolen them to keep their beauty all to himself. Kirby sets out to recover Dream Land's stars and teach Dedede a lesson. The hero heads to the king's floating castle, which is rigged with traps and secured by servants, each of which holds a missing star.

Cutscene
After a lazy day, Kirby hopes to have a good dream in the starlight. He notices that all the stars in the sky are gone, save for one. All the following nights were the same way. Worried, Kirby takes a telescope and gaze into the night sky. As he does, he finds King Dedede floating by in the distance, pulling the last star behind him. Dedede realizes the pink puff is watching and speeds off, dropping the star. It lands on the ground near Kirby. The hero promptly jumps on the star and pursues the king at his floating castle.

Gameplay
The player uses Kirby as a ball. Kirby must hit all of the enemies on the course, the last enemy becoming a hole which must then be sunk into. There is a health meter with vitality represented by Tomatoes; these are lost each time Kirby makes a shot or if he hits spikes, and can be gained back by sinking the ball and defeating enemies. If the player runs out of Tomatoes, Kirby loses a life; after losing all lives, the player is sent to repeat the failed course from the beginning. Copy Abilities can be gained by hitting certain enemies. Freeze, UFO, Hi-Jump, Wheel, Spark, Parasol, Needle, and Stone. These abilities can be used to achieve the goal more effectively depending on the situation of the player. There is a video tutorial system in the game which explains 20 techniques. The levels can have hazards such as water, sand, spikes, and moving floor traps. Some levels have switches that, if passed over by Kirby, will toggle these hazards off or on. Additionally, there are boost tiles and warp tiles, which are usually bigger.

Two-Player Mode
In two-player mode, the second player uses Keeby as a ball. Both players can play on one of four different courses, each with different main enemies: Whispy Woods, Mr. Shine & Mr. Bright, Kracko, and Gordo. In this mode, the players are set against one another in a competition to see who can get more stars. These can be obtained by defeating enemies and passing through or sinking into the hole; players can also steal each others' stars by passing through them. Stars obtained by player one (Kirby) will be colored pink, while the stars obtained by player two (Keeby) will be colored yellow. The player who gets the most stars after clearing all levels of the respective course is the winner.

The health meter is not represented by tomatoes in this mode; instead, they are changed into pink and yellow colored bars, respective to each player. If a player runs out of health, their respective character will get dizzy and lose a turn; after the turn has passed, the character will wake up and automatically get their health replenished by 4 bars.

There is a switch that only appears on this game mode: the Sun and Moon switch. When hit for the first time, Mr. Shine will appear onscreen and switch the level's background to nighttime while simultaneously switching the number of stars acquired by one player with the other. If the switch is hit for a second time, Mr. Bright will appear onscreen and effectively revert all effects. This switch can only be hit three times, after which it turns grey and stops working. Being a highly desirable switch for the player with less stars, it usually is located in hard-to-reach and dangerous spots.

Piracy
Kirby's Dream Course is the first Kirby game to contain anti-piracy measures. In this case, should the game be detected as a copy, it will hang the game at a warning screen. It also hangs the game if a copy of the North American version is played on a PAL console, stating that it is not compatible. Should that be bypassed, it will cause game behavior to change and make the game itself harder. In single-player mode, Kirby cannot recover health from defeating enemies and does not earn a 1UP from getting a hole in one. If Kirby manages to complete a course, the game crashes and deletes all save data. If Kirby runs out of lives, the Continue option is barred, and selecting the Game End option deletes all save data.

In two-player mode, recovering from sleep causes Kirby or Keeby to regain only one point of health rather than four.

Trivia

 * This game contains many sound effects from EarthBound/Mother 2 as both games were being developed side by side.
 * Kirby's Dream Course was supposed to be a non-Kirby game called Special Tee Shot. Remnants from when it was supposed to be Special Tee Shot can be found hidden in the Japanese version of the game. Special Tee Shot was eventually released in 1998 in Japan exclusively on the Satellaview.
 * This was the first game in the Kirby series to have any kind of rating. The ESRB rating scale didn't exist when the first three games were released.
 * This is the first game to feature Kirby's house.
 * In the Music Room in Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, Kirby's Dream Course is represented by an image of a hole.
 * When playing amiibo tap: Nintendo's Greatest Bits, if the player taps an amiibo product to the Wii U GamePad, there is a chance that he/she will unlock a demo of Kirby's Dream Course.
 * In two-player mode, if a player falls off the course while in nighttime, a Flapper will pick up the player instead of a Bronto Burt, as it normally happens.
 * If the player falls off the stage, Kirby/Keeby will lose two health bars/tomatoes.