Kirby's Dream Land 2

"A game every Gameboy owner should play"

Ahh.. Kirby. You set my heart aflame. You're so cute I could just eat you all up. Oh... somebody is reading this!? You never heard me say that! Now go away and leave me alone!

Gameplay:Taking a cue from the original Dreamland Kirby 2 is a side-scrolling adventure. However, unlike the original this sequel has a much longer quest, trust me you just may fall in love with that cuddly pink ball by the end. Replay is encouraged to get the coveted 100% ranking, and the secrets that come along with it. There is many ways to add to your percentage total, but I'm sure the one that will stick out the most in the mind of most everyone will be the Rainbow drops. There is one in every world you'll visit, but finding them is just the beginning. The developers require you to use certain special abilities, (that you acquire from enemies) and (maybe) the inclusion of one of your animal friends. The animal friends are yet another addition to this sequel. Like I mentioned before Kirby can utilize the special powers of most enemies by swallowing them and then pressing down. Abilities include Fire, Water, Electric and more. It's quite a hoot to experiment with different powers with or without animals to see the results. The only problem I can possibly find with Dreamland 2 is once you completely finish the game you probably won't come back. Still this game represents some of the best gaming the B&W GameBoy had to offer.

Graphics:As far as B&W GameBoy games go Dreamland 2 ranks near the top right with the original Wario Land and Super Mario Land 2 as far as graphics presentation goes. The sprites whether it be Kirby or the many different kinds of enemies are fairly large, and sport a high level of detail. Animations are top notch, especially when Kirby does his dance at the end of every stage. The backgrounds are continually different, making every new stage all the more new and exciting.

Sound:Very cheery. The typical traipse through the flower patch kind of soundtrack for games of this ilk.

Control:Kirby has one of the easiest control schemes of any game. You can move forward,backward, and use Kirby's very vacuum like sucking ability. Simply put the difficulty of the controls isn't even on the same planet as games such as Tekken on the arcade and console systems.

Getting through the main adventure can easily be completed in a few days of gameplay, but as usual Nintendo went the extra mile to ensure the replay is high. Unfortunately, this game can be only be found on the second hand market and is kind of pricey at around $30 for a used copy. Despite this the game is well worth the pursuit.

Score:9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/15/02, Updated 08/15/02