Kirby's Dream Land 3 is a platform game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Starring Kirby, it is the fifth installment in the Kirby series and the third game under the Kirby's Dream Land name. Although the first game was largely unrelated, Dream Land 3 features many similar characters to Dream Land 2. Dream Land 3 was followed by Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards in 2000.
Kirby's Dream Land 3 was the last SNES game published by Nintendo in North America. Problems with the game's PAL conversion prevented it from being released in Europe and Australia for many years; it was eventually released for the Virtual Console in those regions in the form of an import from North America on July 24, 2009, for the Wii and on July 25, 2013, for the Wii U. The game was re-released on the Virtual Console in North America on January 5, 2009, for the Wii and on May 8, 2013, for the Wii U and in Japan on April 28, 2009, for the Wii and on May 8, 2013, for the Wii U. It was also included as part of the 2012 Wii compilation Kirby's Dream Collection and the Nintendo Switch Online SNES game service.
Plot
On a peaceful day on Planet Popstar, Kirby is enjoying fishing with his friend Gooey. Suddenly, a mysterious dark cloud begins to loom over the sky, breaking Popstar's rings in the process and reaching over the distant corners of the world. Coo quickly tells Kirby that Popstar is in trouble, and they soon set off to protect the world once again.
Two endings exist for the game, based on whether the player has collected all the Heart Stars. If the player has not collected all the stars, Kirby and his friends fight King Dedede, who is possessed by Dark Matter. Once Dedede is defeated once, Dark Matter begins to reveal himself, and Kirby must fight Dedede for a second consecutive time. After Dark Matter is defeated, Kirby and Gooey set off on the journey home, only to pause hesitantly at several points along the way. At the end of the credits, the camera pans up to focus on a huge, shadowed orb with one massive red eye. This mysterious figure is Zero, the ultimate leader of the Dark Matter Army.
If the player has collected all the stars, the player proceeds to fight Dedede as normal. However, Dark Matter then emerges and flies into the atmosphere, with Kirby in hot pursuit, armed with a weapon called the Love-Love Stick, assembled from all the Heart Stars he collected during his journey. After a climactic battle with Dark Matter, Zero himself emerges, leading to a long and difficult battle. After Zero is defeated, peace is finally restored to the universe.
Gameplay
Kirby's Dream Land 3 is a traditional platformer Kirby game; the player controls Kirby, whose objective is to get to the end of each stage. Kirby is able to walk, swim, and fly throughout a variety of levels, using several of his Animal Friends and Copy Abilities to avoid and defeat obstacles and enemies that lie in his path. Kirby's moveset includes the inhale, Star Spit, Air Gun, and floating. Using inhale, Kirby can absorb a number of enemies, often gaining their abilities in turn. These abilities can be used as weapons then. Additionally, some parts of the game world require a certain ability to be accessed, such as blocks that can only be destroyed by the ability displayed on them.
Zero is the game's secret and true final boss; defeating him is key in achieving the best ending. Zero takes the form of a giant eye with a red iris, and is responsible for leading the Dark Matter invasion of Dreamland. Zero is famous for being a rare example of graphic violence in a first-party Nintendo game – Zero fights Kirby by opening cuts on his sclera and shooting blood out of the cuts at him, as well as summoning small Dark Matters to use as projectiles. When his health is drastically weakened, his iris would rip out from the rest of his body, with blood flying everywhere as it does so. The ruined body, complete with a vicious gash to its front from where the eye burst out trails away, and the final phase of the fight begins, which involves Zero ramming Kirby to injure him. Although he is eventually defeated, Zero reappears in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards as '02' (pronounced zero two), still retaining his ability to spit blood and his motif as a giant eye. As a reference to his previous fight with Kirby, 02 wears two large plasters on the top of his 'head', covering the wound left from his iris bursting out of his body.