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Kirby's Dream Land 2: 30th anniversary

Kirby's Dream Land 2 is an exemplary sequel, improving upon everything from its predecessor. In addition to being much longer, it includes Kirby's copy ability (from Kirby's Adventure) and animal friends for Kirby to ride!

Kirby has his usual abilities: in addition to walking, ducking, and jumping, he can inhale enemies, fly (via self-inflation), spit out enemies or puffs of air, and copy enemy abilities. This robust move-set makes Kirby games much easier than, say, Super Mario, skewing towards a younger audience. For adult fans, it may qualify as "cozy gaming"!
Riding between worlds on a star
The game has seven worlds of three to six levels each plus a boss fight. Compare that to the original game, which had just five levels (each containing multiple segments). This game is about three times longer. There are eight abilities Kirby can copy by swallowing certain enemies and then pressing ↓: fire, ice, spark, cutter, sword, parasol, needle, and stone. It's fun to try out the different abilities, even if you could beat the game without most of them.

Kirby now has three animal friends: Rick the hamster, Kine the fish, and Coo the owl. He frees them from mini-bosses. These remind me of the animals in Donkey Kong Country. Naturally, Kine is good for swimming and Coo for flying. Rick is quick. The animal disappears when Kirby gets hit. Each combines differently with each copy power, making Kirby a versatile powerhouse.
 
The levels are standard platforming fare. I didn't notice anything really innovative, but the levels are varied. The platforming is never very difficult due to Kirby's robust powers, especially his ability to inflate himself and fly around. The only time it gets tricky is when there is auto-scrolling: if you go too slowly, Kirby may get squished between a wall and the edge of the screen.
Whispy Woods returns!
Kirby can destroy blocks with his abilities and also inhale them. There are also bonus stars. For every seven bonus stars he finds, he gets an extra life. After each level, there is a quick reflex-based mini-game, the same as in the first Kirby's Dream Land. Each world contains both a unique mid-boss and a unique boss. These have health meters and can be defeated by shooting them or hitting them with a copied weapon such as the parasol. After you beat a boss, you can revisit its stage to play a bonus game for stars.

Each world contains a hidden rainbow drop. They are fairly well hidden: in my first playthrough, I only ran into one, and even then I couldn't access it because I didn't have the right copy ability. For example, you might need the parasol to attack upward through a block. Collecting all seven rainbow drops allows you to see the game's "true" ending.
That's pretty much the game. It's straightforward but enjoyable. The game begins very easy, but the last couple worlds are harder. Some of the boss fights took me several attempts. The game is definitely harder than the first one. 1995 was relatively late in the life of the Game Boy, so the bar had been raised.

Kirby's Dream Land 2 far surpasses the original, which by comparison is tiny. I wouldn't rank it on the same level as the Mario and Wario games (a high bar). Any Game Boy or Kirby fan should enjoy this game.

Grade: A
Linked Review
"The technical mastery of Game Boy really shines through even now, with great presentation and a fairly big world to conquer."
— Mike Mason, Nintendo Life, 8/10
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