Hello Kitty World (NES) review "Flying cats on the weather today"

Hello Kitty World is a cute yet perilous game that popped out on the Famicom during the 8-Bit era. It is curious to see how this game would never see a US release considering it was quite family friendly and the Japanese toy franchise was pretty well known through the 80s as well.

Kitty must save Tippy who has been kidnapped. Strapping on a pair of red balloons she ventures into a heroic rescue mission while dodging various enemies on ground and air all the while collecting red balloons by popping them during the entirity of each stage. The only way she can be harmed is if her balloons are popped, which then she falls down and may even lose a life if she doesn't land on solid ground. The only other way she can get hurt is by running enemies on the ground towards her; otherwise she can bump off any character as long as her balloons aren't touched. If she loses her balloons she can pump more by tapping down and the jump button, being careful that enemy characters do not approach her and having time to do so as the screen scrolls automatically. There are items that can turn her invincible momentarily, making the stages a bit easier to transverse.

Movement on the game is a bit jerky, think on terms of Balloon Fight for NES where you have to continuously tap a button to make you float around the stages but in a motion that would allow you to move without touching enemies or any other obstacle. In this game you can actually just hold the button and Kitty will be flapping her tiny arms without tapping repeatedly. There are 1-Up items present around, but in most cased you must let go of the balloons in order to snatch them up. There are also doors that lead to bonus stages where Kitty pops balloons to gain more lives before resuming the stage. Should you lose all your lives the game gives the option to continue.

The graphics while being simplistic are quite colorful and the characters well designed. The music that accompanies the game it’s quite cheerful and at times perilous, depending on what stage she goes through. Kitty herself does not meow when hit, which is something that would amp up the cute factor in my opinion.

While the game would imply an easy task to play through, skill to preserve her momentum while avoiding hazards which is no simple task. However the difficulty factor on this game isn't high enough to warrant any discontent during gameplay. Hello Kitty World is a fun, cute little romp with Sario's beloved feline mascot at the helm.

Community review by CptRetroBlue (March 14, 2019) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.