The premise of the NES version (the arcade version has a different plot) is that the Wicked Wizard King has turned the Fantasy Kingdom into ice, captured its palaces and princesses, and locked the people inside Dream Bags, leaving it up to Kickle to liberate the kingdom's four lands (Garden Land, Fruit Land, Cake Land and Toy Land) from icy slumber.
Provides examples of:
- An Ice Person: Kickle, who freezes enemies with his breath.
- Balloonacy: Kickle's method of travel in the NES version is a single red balloon.
- Beanstalk Parody: The first boss in the NES version, Koke, lives in a castle in the clouds, and Kickle rides a growing beanstalk to get there.
- Big "YES!": Kickle shouts "Yatta!" after completing a level in the arcade version.
- Block Puzzle: Once frozen into blocks, Noggles can be pushed around and into water to form bridges.
- The Cameo: A simple code on the NES version will cause the titular Kid Niki: Radical Ninja to appear on the title screen.
- Cool Shades: The enemies Max and Shades wear sunglasses.
- Drop-In Nemesis: Run out of time and a giant yellow star called Striker swoops in for an almost instant kill.
- Edible Theme Naming: The first three worlds in the NES version are Garden Land (as in vegetable garden), Fruit Land, and Cake Land.
- Extended Gameplay: After beating the game, there is a "Special Game" with 30 additional, more difficult levels.
- Flying on a Cloud: Kickle does so between stages in the arcade version. In the NES version, it's how he reaches the Garden Land palace.
- Frictionless Ice: Surprisingly averted. The game does feature "slippery ice," but all it means is areas where Noggles can't walk across and Kickle can't make ice pillars.
- Game-Over Man: This changes depending on how far along in the game you were. For Garden Land, a crying Kickle laments his defeat. For Fruit Land and onward, the last princess you rescued will urge Kickle to keep going.
- The Goomba: Noggles, which move around quite slowly, and, unlike other enemies in the game, can be turned into ice cubes to push around.
- King Mook: The bosses for the first three worlds are giant versions of a Mook first found within each of those worlds.
- Literally Shattered Lives: Some enemies can be destroyed by kicking them after freezing.
- Monster Clown: While not exactly monsters, there is a clown enemy in Fruit Land named Bonkers. Also, the boss of Fruit Land, Piro, is a giant clown that attacks by somersaulting your way and throwing balls at you.
- Mook Maker: Base Rocks spawn enemies if there are less than the maximum of each type.
- Odd Name Out: Toy Land, the final world, doesn't fit with the Edible Theme Naming of the preceding three worlds.
- One-Hit-Point Wonder: Kickle is a little...fragile.
- Princesses Prefer Pink: Lutea and Mira. Averted with Pumpa (who wears a red dress) and Crema.
- Save the Princess: One princess for Kickle to save in each of the four lands.
- Shield-Bearing Mook: Rooker, whose shield will actually reflect Kickle's freezing attack back at him.
- Slept Through the Apocalypse: The manual for the NES game states that Kickle was asleep when the Wizard King attacked the Fantasy Kingdom.
- Snowlems: Shades. They have a freezing breath attack like Kickle's, which they are immune to.
- Spike Balls of Doom: One enemy is an invincible spinning spike ball that likes to hug walls.
- Springs, Springs Everywhere: Not to jump on, but for blocks to bounce off.
- Standard Hero Reward: Kickle marries Princess Mira, the princess trapped in the last palace, and becomes the prince of the newly-restored Fantasy Kingdom.
- Wingding Eyes: Kickle's eyes turn into hearts at the end when Princess Mira kisses him.
- Youngest Child Wins: Princess Mira is stated to be the youngest daughter of King Tois (implying that the three princesses before her were also his daughters) and she's the one Kickle marries in the end.
