The game centers around Kirby traveling across Dream Land to repair the Star Rod after King Dedede breaks it apart and gives the pieces to his minions.

It was remade in 2002 for the Game Boy Advance with enhanced graphics and multiplayer support, titled Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land.

King Dedede steals the Star Rod that powers the fountain and gives pieces of it to his friends[4] in an effort to stop Nightmare.

[3] Kirby, the player character of the single-player game, mistakenly believes that Dedede stole the rod for evil and sets out to reunite the pieces.

[7]: 21  Kirby can touch or eat food items to replenish health or gain temporary invulnerability.

With Kirby's Adventure, Sakurai wanted to retain simple gameplay, but improve it so skilled players would enjoy it.

[10][8]: 16  HAL Laboratory created over 40 Copy Abilities, after which they selected their favorites to include in the final game.

Kirby was also given the ability to run faster and perform a slide attack to increase the game's pace.

Kirby's sprite was also made larger after players complained he was too small in his Game Boy debut.

[19][20] The core gameplay and level design were left mostly unchanged; minor tweaks include hidden entrances being easier to find and boss fights being more difficult.

[25] A port of Kirby's Adventure was released as a downloadable game for the Nintendo 3DS's eShop in the west on November 17, 2011, and in Japan on April 25, 2012.

[31] It was added to the library of NES games available through the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service on February 13, 2019.

[5][36][1] Some of the most common highlights by reviewers were the game's innovative copy ability and unique enemy designs,[36][1][37] the size and variety of the levels,[5][36][1][34] the tight controls, and the quality and cuteness of the graphics and animation.

[5][36][1][34][38] Nintendo Power thought the game was more difficult than its cute theme may lead gamers to believe.

[9][2][40][4] IGN called it one of the best NES games, and one of the system's greatest visual and auditory technical achievements.

[9] Eurogamer believed it to be one of the best Kirby games, and agreed with IGN's sentiments, writing, "Kirby's first and only NES outing is undeniably charming and, with its parallax scrolling and colourful characters, really showcases just how much juice developers were squeezing from the tiny system towards the end of its life.

[9][2][40][4] GameSpot wrote that Kirby's Adventure had stood the test of time well, although they felt the game was somewhat short and easy.

[50][51][22][21][52][53] GameSpot highlighted the multiple layers of scrolling, transparency effects, and other visual flair as an improvement over the original.

[50][22][21] Since the main gameplay and level design was borrowed from the original, it was generally commended but with some criticism again directed toward its short length and easiness.

[51][21][52] GameSpy wrote: "the simplicity means you can enjoy it as a light snack instead of a main course such as Metroid Fusion or Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance."

They thought the game would be best enjoyed by children watching the anime airing on television at the time, Kirby: Right Back at Ya!.

[52] GameSpot agreed, explaining the game was not as deep as Metroid Fusion or Yoshi's Island, but was suited for "younger players or the young at heart.