The first Kirby game released for the Super Nintendo, Kirby’s Dream Course is a miniature golf game that was developed by HAL Laboratory and Nintendo EAD, and first published by Nintendo in 1994. The game began development as a standalone title called “Special Tee Shot“, with its own original characters and art assets, but was later turned into a Kirby game after the success of the Kirby series on the Game Boy.

Kirby’s Dream Course is set in an isometric world (that has many similarities to Marble Madness) and can be played by one or two players. Player one controls Kirby and player two controls “Keeby“, who is a lookalike of Kirby.

The story of Kirby’s Dream Course is that Kirby‘s arch nemesis, King Dedede, has stolen all the stars in the sky and Kirby must stop him and return the stars to their rightful place. And this can only be done by collecting stars across eight single-player courses, each with eight holes (making 64 holes in total).

Before the game starts you must create a player profile and either draw your own name, or choose from a selection of pre-made image stamps.

You use left and right on the d-pad to rotate the angle of the shot, then press ‘A’ to set it. You then have to set the power of the shot by pressing ‘A’ once to start the power bar, then pressing the button again will stop it at the required height on the meter. The shot will then take place and Kirby will roll out in the direction you chose, with gravity taking him along the undulations of the course. Ideally you want to try to hit as many target objects in one shot as possible, which you can do by rebounding off course boundaries* and by using the curves in the landscape to affect Kirby‘s trajectory. When only one target remains it’ll turn into the ‘goal hole’ which you must then ‘putt’ Kirby into to complete the hole.

*= Not all parts of a course have a boundary wall. These barriers are usually shown in green so it’s fairly obvious where they are. If you pass the edge of the course and there’s no boundary wall, you’ll simply fall off the course and lose a life.

As you progress through the first course you’ll be introduced to the kind of features you should expect, like warp gates, spike pits, walls, sand bunkers, ponds, switches, directional boosters and trees. You’ll also get to try out a few power-ups and abilities, like jumping and using an umbrella to arrest a fall. You also need to learn how to switch between a standard ‘ground shot’ and a ‘chip shot’ (chipping the ball up into the air, which is required on occasion). Note that Kirby’s Dream Course dispenses with having to choose ‘clubs’ to make shots. You simply decide what kind of shot to make by pushing up and down, then pressing the ‘A’ button to continue the shot.

Completing courses awards you with medals that unlock extra features, such as alternative versions of courses, and these medals are graded gold, silver or bronze depending on how well you performed.

In two-player mode players compete for the most stars by turning them yellow or pink (by touching them), before dropping into the goal hole to claim stars of their colour. Kirby and Keeby can also acquire an ability called “copy” by hitting certain enemies, which allows them to either clear a course faster or hinder the other player. These abilities turn the players into either a tornado, an electric ball (that can destroy certain obstacles), or a UFO that allows them to float and move around freely for a limited time.

Overall, Kirby’s Dream Course is a great-looking and playable game that is a lot of fun, regardless of whether you like golf (or Kirby) or not. It’s a cheerful, simple, and absorbing game that will appeal to both adults and children alike. I highly recommend it.

More: Kirby’s Dream Course on Wikipedia