Have you ever been on a ride in a theme park that, at first, seems like a really fun time and you are having quite a wonderful time with it, but then you find it is suddenly over after what feels like a couple of seconds? That is pretty much how I would summarize what it is like playing the original Kirby’s Dream Land: it is fun enough for the time it lasts, but it is over before it really offers you anything majorly exciting or substantial, even if we are ignoring how dated it is compared to every other Kirby game that comes afterwards. Thankfully though, this series was able to bounce back with Kirby’s Adventure, which not only took the basics of what Kirby’s Dream Land had and expanded upon them, but also added new series staples like copy abilities, fun little minigames to play on the side, LOTS to do, and some wonderful visuals and music that makes it one of the best games that you could play on the NES. So, now that they had a proper formula on their hands that was also pretty successful, HAL Laboratory knew exactly where they needed to go from here, which you can see start to blossom with the release of Kirby’s Dream Land 2.
I don’t remember exactly when I played this particular installment of the series, but I do know it was after I had already played a good amount of the other games in the series. I was bored one day, was browsing around the Kirby’s Dream Collection, saw this as one of the games on there, so I figured I would try it out, and based on what I played, I thought it was pretty good at the time. Coming back to it after all this time, I would say that I still hold that opinion to this day, as it is a pretty solid entry in the series, and a great follow-up to the original Kirby’s Dream Land. It isn’t perfect by any means, having its own issues that do make some parts of the game unpreferable to me, but it manages to still be good ol’ classic Kirby fun all the way through, and that’s all I really care about.
The story is about what you would expect from a Kirby game, where in the magical world of Dream Land, King Dedede, seemingly being controlled by an unknown, supernatural force, steals all of the rainbow bridges that connect all of the Rainbow Islands to each other, all as part of his plan to take over the world, so it is up to Kirby to once again set out on a journey to stop King Dedede and find out what is really going on here, which is a simple enough premise that fans of the series could easily get behind, especially with what it all leads to towards the end of the game. The graphics are Game Boy graphics, looking almost identical to that of the original Kirby’s Dream Land, but there are plenty of additional pieces of animation, much more detailed characters and baddies, and personality to be seen here, so it does look better as a whole, the music is pretty good, with there being plenty of tracks, old and new, for fans to appreciate and enjoy, despite some issues with some themes that I will get into later, and the gameplay/control is pretty much exactly what you would expect, with the game taking both Kirby’s Dream Land and the best aspects of Kirby’s Adventure and mashing them together, making for a game that works pretty well in almost all areas, and one that both fans old and new would be able to have a great time with.
The game is a 2D platformer, where you take control of Kirby once again, go through seven different worlds throughout your journey, each containing their own set of levels for you to play through, run, jump, float, swallow, and spit your way through plenty of different obstacles and adorable foes, gather plenty of food items to heal yourself and/or give you temporary invincibility, along with plenty of copy abilities from enemies that you can wield throughout the stages, such as Cutter, Spark, Stone and Parasol, and take on plenty of bosses, both old and new, that can range from being extremely easy to pretty damn difficult……. ok, well, I would only say one of these bosses falls under that difficult banner, but still, it's there. Most could just view this game as a typical Kirby adventure with no bells and whistles, nothing more and nothing less, but it does still make for a solid adventure that you can easily enjoy from start to finish, especially for big Kirby fans like me, and there are several new additions to the game that do make it more interesting to play……. for better or worse.
Obviously, the biggest change that this game introduces, as can be seen by the cover of the game, is with the introduction of three animal buddies that Kirby can find throughout the entire game, consisting of Rick the Hamster, Coo the Owl, and Kine the Sunfish. Each one of them acts as a supporting unit for Kirby, allowing them to assist not just in progressing through levels and taking out enemies, but also as a means of getting through specific terrain, such as with Coo working really well in the air, and Kine doing wonders for underwater sections, as to be expected. Not only that, but they can also use copy abilities like Kirby can, making them even more versatile than ever before, and better to use in some cases. For example, when you are playing as Kirby and you are using the Cutter ability, he just throws the one standard blade, which does get the job done, but doesn’t allow for much range other than for what is directly in front of you. However, whenever you use Coo the Owl with the cutter ability, you are able to throw three sharp feathers at once, allowing you to take out plenty more enemies at a time, making them the much more preferable option.
So yeah, using these animal buddies can be very helpful, and they definitely make plenty of the sections in the game much more of a spring breeze than others………….. but, I don’t typically go out of my way to use them that much. That’s not because I think any of them are bad to use, not at all, but there is one thing that does irritate me about them, and that is the music. Each animal buddy has their own specific theme made for them, and whenever you are on one of these animal buddies, that theme will be playing CONSTANTLY while you remain attached to them, which does really suck, especially for someone who loves hearing the different kinds of music in these Kirby games. Thankfully though, that is only a very minor issue, and I can still rely on them for help on plenty of occasions, despite their themes getting drilled into my head every time.
Other than that though, the game pretty much just plays like your typical Kirby adventure. You run around, ya jump, you suck up enemies, you do a little dance at the end of levels, it’s all the basic shit you have seen before, with there not being too many grievances to get in the way of you having fun, aside from maybe an annoying level here or there. This could, again, make the game seem generic to those from an outside perspective, as well as those who are more used to later games in the series, but, for me at least, I think the reason this game works is that it is the best of both worlds for Kirby at this point. I imagine plenty of people back in the day would play the original Kirby’s Dream Land while on a road trip with family, in the back seat of the car with nothing else going on, but would probably be disappointed by how quickly it goes by, and how it doesn’t offer that much of a reason to revisit it. Thankfully though, with all of the different additions from Kirby’s Adventure, this makes the second game much more fun and meaty, giving plenty for the player to do on said long car trips, as well as plenty to experiment with in terms of the copy abilities and how they can be used, along with the secrets that you can find throughout the levels.
However, with all that being said, this game not only takes some of the best elements of Kirby’s Adventure as influence, but also some of its worst ones as well, as this game also has a problem when it comes to its length. While I wouldn’t say this game is as long as Kirby’s Adventure, it can still last for quite a while, way longer than what you would hope for from a Kirby title on the Game Boy, and while a lot of it is still pretty fun, you can definitely feel it start to drag at some point, and you are just waiting for it to be over. Not to mention, despite the fact that this game brings back the copy abilities from the last game, not only are several staple abilities missing from this game, like Sword and Beam, but they don’t introduce any new abilities in the game whatsoever, with the exception of the Rainbow Sword, but that can only be used for the final boss. I can kinda understand why these were left out, considering that some of the abilities we have here function almost in exactly the same way, but it does suck nontheless to see them ignored, as well as having no new ones to mess around with as well.
And finally, there is the aspect of getting 100% in this game… or at least, to get the best ending, because I didn’t bother going for all that other meaningless shit. In order to do this, you need to collect the Rainbow Drops, these mystical items that serve as the collectibles in this game, with there being only seven of them, one for each world. That in itself doesn’t sound too bad, and for getting some of these, it really isn’t, but MY GOD, getting some of these things requires you to do some of the mosts tedious and annoying shit I have ever seen from one of these early Kirby titles, and it does become a pain in the ass at these points.
For example, there is one Rainbow Drop that requires you to play through the level with Kine while having the Fire ability, while having you do very specific things in order to reach the room that the Rainbow Drop is in, including at one point losing the powerup to take care of one obstacle, and then immediately getting that powerup back before it disappears. Trust me, this is all easier said than done, especially with some ways you can accidently screw yourself over out of getting the shiny droplet in the first place. Thankfully though, this does all lead to the true final boss of the game, who is definitely the hardest of the bunch to fight. I remember struggling quite a bit with this guy, which did cause some frustrations, but hey, I can’t give anything but praise to a boss fight in a Kirby game that is actually challenging. Those are rare to come by.
Overall, despite some issues carrying over from Kirby’s Adventure, as well as how annoying the Rainbow Drops can be, this is a pretty solid sequel to Kirby’s Dream Land all around, and a really good game all on its own, with plenty of levels to go through, plenty of abilities to try out, lots of simple, yet fun challenges to overcome, and several bonus collectibles to go for for those that wanna go that extra mile. I would definitely recommend it for those who are big fans of the Kirby series, as well as those who were wanting even more out of the original Kirby’s Dream Land, because this game will manage to give you exactly what you needed, while still being a fun journey all the way through. Just, you know, try to hold back on the annoying-ass collectibles next time, alright?............. or at least, enough to where I won’t need to get all pissy about it.
Game #593
I don’t remember exactly when I played this particular installment of the series, but I do know it was after I had already played a good amount of the other games in the series. I was bored one day, was browsing around the Kirby’s Dream Collection, saw this as one of the games on there, so I figured I would try it out, and based on what I played, I thought it was pretty good at the time. Coming back to it after all this time, I would say that I still hold that opinion to this day, as it is a pretty solid entry in the series, and a great follow-up to the original Kirby’s Dream Land. It isn’t perfect by any means, having its own issues that do make some parts of the game unpreferable to me, but it manages to still be good ol’ classic Kirby fun all the way through, and that’s all I really care about.
The story is about what you would expect from a Kirby game, where in the magical world of Dream Land, King Dedede, seemingly being controlled by an unknown, supernatural force, steals all of the rainbow bridges that connect all of the Rainbow Islands to each other, all as part of his plan to take over the world, so it is up to Kirby to once again set out on a journey to stop King Dedede and find out what is really going on here, which is a simple enough premise that fans of the series could easily get behind, especially with what it all leads to towards the end of the game. The graphics are Game Boy graphics, looking almost identical to that of the original Kirby’s Dream Land, but there are plenty of additional pieces of animation, much more detailed characters and baddies, and personality to be seen here, so it does look better as a whole, the music is pretty good, with there being plenty of tracks, old and new, for fans to appreciate and enjoy, despite some issues with some themes that I will get into later, and the gameplay/control is pretty much exactly what you would expect, with the game taking both Kirby’s Dream Land and the best aspects of Kirby’s Adventure and mashing them together, making for a game that works pretty well in almost all areas, and one that both fans old and new would be able to have a great time with.
The game is a 2D platformer, where you take control of Kirby once again, go through seven different worlds throughout your journey, each containing their own set of levels for you to play through, run, jump, float, swallow, and spit your way through plenty of different obstacles and adorable foes, gather plenty of food items to heal yourself and/or give you temporary invincibility, along with plenty of copy abilities from enemies that you can wield throughout the stages, such as Cutter, Spark, Stone and Parasol, and take on plenty of bosses, both old and new, that can range from being extremely easy to pretty damn difficult……. ok, well, I would only say one of these bosses falls under that difficult banner, but still, it's there. Most could just view this game as a typical Kirby adventure with no bells and whistles, nothing more and nothing less, but it does still make for a solid adventure that you can easily enjoy from start to finish, especially for big Kirby fans like me, and there are several new additions to the game that do make it more interesting to play……. for better or worse.
Obviously, the biggest change that this game introduces, as can be seen by the cover of the game, is with the introduction of three animal buddies that Kirby can find throughout the entire game, consisting of Rick the Hamster, Coo the Owl, and Kine the Sunfish. Each one of them acts as a supporting unit for Kirby, allowing them to assist not just in progressing through levels and taking out enemies, but also as a means of getting through specific terrain, such as with Coo working really well in the air, and Kine doing wonders for underwater sections, as to be expected. Not only that, but they can also use copy abilities like Kirby can, making them even more versatile than ever before, and better to use in some cases. For example, when you are playing as Kirby and you are using the Cutter ability, he just throws the one standard blade, which does get the job done, but doesn’t allow for much range other than for what is directly in front of you. However, whenever you use Coo the Owl with the cutter ability, you are able to throw three sharp feathers at once, allowing you to take out plenty more enemies at a time, making them the much more preferable option.
So yeah, using these animal buddies can be very helpful, and they definitely make plenty of the sections in the game much more of a spring breeze than others………….. but, I don’t typically go out of my way to use them that much. That’s not because I think any of them are bad to use, not at all, but there is one thing that does irritate me about them, and that is the music. Each animal buddy has their own specific theme made for them, and whenever you are on one of these animal buddies, that theme will be playing CONSTANTLY while you remain attached to them, which does really suck, especially for someone who loves hearing the different kinds of music in these Kirby games. Thankfully though, that is only a very minor issue, and I can still rely on them for help on plenty of occasions, despite their themes getting drilled into my head every time.
Other than that though, the game pretty much just plays like your typical Kirby adventure. You run around, ya jump, you suck up enemies, you do a little dance at the end of levels, it’s all the basic shit you have seen before, with there not being too many grievances to get in the way of you having fun, aside from maybe an annoying level here or there. This could, again, make the game seem generic to those from an outside perspective, as well as those who are more used to later games in the series, but, for me at least, I think the reason this game works is that it is the best of both worlds for Kirby at this point. I imagine plenty of people back in the day would play the original Kirby’s Dream Land while on a road trip with family, in the back seat of the car with nothing else going on, but would probably be disappointed by how quickly it goes by, and how it doesn’t offer that much of a reason to revisit it. Thankfully though, with all of the different additions from Kirby’s Adventure, this makes the second game much more fun and meaty, giving plenty for the player to do on said long car trips, as well as plenty to experiment with in terms of the copy abilities and how they can be used, along with the secrets that you can find throughout the levels.
However, with all that being said, this game not only takes some of the best elements of Kirby’s Adventure as influence, but also some of its worst ones as well, as this game also has a problem when it comes to its length. While I wouldn’t say this game is as long as Kirby’s Adventure, it can still last for quite a while, way longer than what you would hope for from a Kirby title on the Game Boy, and while a lot of it is still pretty fun, you can definitely feel it start to drag at some point, and you are just waiting for it to be over. Not to mention, despite the fact that this game brings back the copy abilities from the last game, not only are several staple abilities missing from this game, like Sword and Beam, but they don’t introduce any new abilities in the game whatsoever, with the exception of the Rainbow Sword, but that can only be used for the final boss. I can kinda understand why these were left out, considering that some of the abilities we have here function almost in exactly the same way, but it does suck nontheless to see them ignored, as well as having no new ones to mess around with as well.
And finally, there is the aspect of getting 100% in this game… or at least, to get the best ending, because I didn’t bother going for all that other meaningless shit. In order to do this, you need to collect the Rainbow Drops, these mystical items that serve as the collectibles in this game, with there being only seven of them, one for each world. That in itself doesn’t sound too bad, and for getting some of these, it really isn’t, but MY GOD, getting some of these things requires you to do some of the mosts tedious and annoying shit I have ever seen from one of these early Kirby titles, and it does become a pain in the ass at these points.
For example, there is one Rainbow Drop that requires you to play through the level with Kine while having the Fire ability, while having you do very specific things in order to reach the room that the Rainbow Drop is in, including at one point losing the powerup to take care of one obstacle, and then immediately getting that powerup back before it disappears. Trust me, this is all easier said than done, especially with some ways you can accidently screw yourself over out of getting the shiny droplet in the first place. Thankfully though, this does all lead to the true final boss of the game, who is definitely the hardest of the bunch to fight. I remember struggling quite a bit with this guy, which did cause some frustrations, but hey, I can’t give anything but praise to a boss fight in a Kirby game that is actually challenging. Those are rare to come by.
Overall, despite some issues carrying over from Kirby’s Adventure, as well as how annoying the Rainbow Drops can be, this is a pretty solid sequel to Kirby’s Dream Land all around, and a really good game all on its own, with plenty of levels to go through, plenty of abilities to try out, lots of simple, yet fun challenges to overcome, and several bonus collectibles to go for for those that wanna go that extra mile. I would definitely recommend it for those who are big fans of the Kirby series, as well as those who were wanting even more out of the original Kirby’s Dream Land, because this game will manage to give you exactly what you needed, while still being a fun journey all the way through. Just, you know, try to hold back on the annoying-ass collectibles next time, alright?............. or at least, enough to where I won’t need to get all pissy about it.
Game #593
I think it's a genuinely really well designed Kirby with the exception of some late game levels that are literally "choose a path! Oops, wrong one, you're dead!". Fortunately levels are pretty short so those moments don't sting quite as bad when they happen, but they still probably should have not done that! Despite that, I do have a soft spot for this one as it's the first Kirby game I ever played. I love the animal buddies, the various twists on abilities that they have are lots of fun to experiment with and they're just really pleasant guys to have around, I'm glad modern day Kirby has been embracing them more and more. I'd love to see some of the unique enemies from here pop up again, some of the minibosses are a lot of fun and unfortunately have been entirely lost to time.
Level Design is all over the place and the game actively punishes you for using copy abilities by making them hard for bosses, but the few moments where it's good are... just ok I guess
just a blast of a game with a killer final boss. super great sequel to an ok game. rick is my favorite animal friend.
Una secuela digna, agrega e innova poquito. Le agrega algunas características de la entrega de NES que se sienten bien.
cute but I prefer Nightmare in Dream Land.クー+スパークlove
No voto
This game is a lot of fun! With the help of his animal friends Rick, Kine and Coo, Kirby will have to make his way through the regions of Dream Land to reach Mt. Dedede and fight the king, possessed by a dark force.
Recommended even for a novice to the series!
Recommended even for a novice to the series!
sadly i didn’t really enjoy this one that much. it was just rather forgettable for me. i didn’t really care for the dark matter fight that much either. world 6 and 7 were okay but other than that this game was in one ear and out the other. maybe it’s something i’d learn to appreciate more if i replayed it at some point in the future. but who knows.
going for the true ending was awful, OST's a very mixed bag...
Pretty good, but the later levels become trial and error, and not because they're actually hard. The animals are kinda cool, but the only thing I needed was the owl with the flame ability, fuck that hamster and fish.
Though I do like this more than Adventure, I still think Dream Land 1 is still my favourite of the Kirbys games so far, and i'm not so sure Kirby's Pinball Land will change my mind.
Though I do like this more than Adventure, I still think Dream Land 1 is still my favourite of the Kirbys games so far, and i'm not so sure Kirby's Pinball Land will change my mind.
I played this game over and over and over on car rides. I loved the animal friends so much, and compared to Dream Land 1 this felt so much bigger and more involved. Copy powers were fun as hell, and the music still warms my heart
Enjoyable all the way through, almost went insane trying to get two of the Rainbow Drops and struggled with the true last boss fight because Im bad but overall it was cool
Kirby's Dream Land 2 is a very fun game. As far as Kirby games go, this may be the hardest I've played, as unlike many other Kirby games, many levels brought challenge. Dream Land 2 is much longer than the first Kirby's Dream Land, which is greatly appreciated as the first game was incredibly short. The copy abilities and animal buddies in this game also add a great variety to the gameplay. Although the animal buddies are cool, they make the game a bit clunkier and they also remove the music in the background with their own theme no matter what. If you enjoy other Kirby games, then you will likely have fun with this one! Also, I recommend checking out the colored patch for the game, it makes the game look great!
The game that proves that the only thing better than a pink puffball inhaling everything in sight is a pink puffball inhaling everything in sight with the help of some animal friends. Groundbreaking.
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El juego que demuestra que lo único mejor que una bola rosa aspirando todo a su paso es una bola rosa aspirando todo a su paso con la ayuda de algunos amigos animales. Innovador.
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El juego que demuestra que lo único mejor que una bola rosa aspirando todo a su paso es una bola rosa aspirando todo a su paso con la ayuda de algunos amigos animales. Innovador.
this game sucks but kirby is awesome so it gets a 5
Honestly, I thought going from DL3 to DL2 would make a huge difference, but I was able to temper my mind into not comparing it to 3, thankfully. I started off playing the Super Game Boy version til I discovered a DX patch that adds color and fixes some of the issues I had with the game. The only thing I missed was the border. The audio "enhancements" the SGB version added did not rly mesh well with the game IMO.
I really don't know how to feel about this game. On one hand, I think at times it's a great Game Boy game, one that completely exceeds Dream Land 1. Other times it's frustrating and kind of a slog to get through.
The friends you can unlock are a neat idea on paper. I think they CAN add a lot to the level and especially with this game originating the copy ability + animal friend combo it can be really interesting. However, I noticed pretty quickly how much I didn't really care for it here. Kine really sucks to use if you're not on a water level, and spoiler alert, you'll need him multiple times to unlock some of the Rainbow Drops. Coo with the right combination just completely breaks most levels with almost no effort. Rick was the only one that felt realized here, and sadly, he ended up being the one I used the least because of the game's nature. Switching off from friends was a complete hassle too. The levels also started to blend together towards the last few worlds, and it really felt like it started to overstay its welcome by the end.
Bringing over the copy ability mechanic from Adventure was a smart move and I'm glad it became a series staple from then on. However, there's only 7 copy abilities in this game. That's not necessarily bad, but some of the copy abilities here were less than desirable. That's not to say the abilities themselves were bad, but I don't really think the level designed meshed well with some of these.
Graphically, this game is about on par with the first game but with some added flair here to spice things up. The game's score was something I found myself a little disappointed in. Some tracks in this game are great, but others I found to be pretty forgettable. The friends music was cute at first but got old REALLY fast (Thank god for the DX port making the music optional).
As mentioned before, I found myself mixed on the level design. It's amplified even further with how pretty bad the screen crunch gets. It was a minor annoyance with the first game but it really annoyed me here. It's even worse when once again you lose your copy ability after 1 hit. It was already annoying here, but I'm genuinely shocked they did not think to just remove that mechanic considering the screen crunch. There were plenty of times I got hit by something I did not see and I lose my copy ability, brownie points if it happened in the water too. Maybe the games constant slow down would've fixed this but the DX part utilizes the GBC hardware so slowdown is way less of an issue, but maybe you shouldn't use slowdown to artificially fix something? The screen crunch really did add a huge chunk of artificial difficulty to an otherwise easy game. I ended my save off with 31 lives dying only once or twice. Speaking of losing copy abilities in 1 hit, the fact that certain enemy hitboxes would linger for a bit in that little explosion effect got really old really fast.
Probably my biggest issue with the game was how it handled getting the good ending. Each world has 1 Rainbow Drop you can find in a certain level. Some of these require a certain copy ability or a certain animal friend. Fair enough, that's not a bad idea. It gets REALLY annoying once the game asks for certain animal friends that aren't even in the level you get the drop from, especially if it was Kine who moves super fucking slow on dry land. Once you add on all of the other issues like the screen crunch, losing copy abilities in 1 hit, it just all falls apart IMO. I get what they were going for with encouraging experimentation, but this was just a very poor way of handling it, and I'm glad 3 improved on it in almost every way. Next time I go through this game, I'll probably just ignore the rainbow drops, because good lord I did not like that final boss. Probably THE worst final boss I've played so far in the series. The stiff controls with added momentum really started to piss me off and Dark Matter's 2nd phase feeling like it had no consistent pattern started to frustrate me. Also, the fact that this fight has a TIME LIMIT too is really fucking stupid. Kirby moves so slow during the fight by the time I finally beat the stupid boss I was nearly dead.
Overall, I think it's still good overall, but I found it to be very flawed the further I got in. I still think it's a step up from Dream Land 1, but comparing it to Adventure I found it to be a step backwards in pretty much every way. I've yet to really compare it to 3, but comparing it to 3, I almost don't really see the need to go back to this one when 3 is just 2 but better in pretty much every way.
I really don't know how to feel about this game. On one hand, I think at times it's a great Game Boy game, one that completely exceeds Dream Land 1. Other times it's frustrating and kind of a slog to get through.
The friends you can unlock are a neat idea on paper. I think they CAN add a lot to the level and especially with this game originating the copy ability + animal friend combo it can be really interesting. However, I noticed pretty quickly how much I didn't really care for it here. Kine really sucks to use if you're not on a water level, and spoiler alert, you'll need him multiple times to unlock some of the Rainbow Drops. Coo with the right combination just completely breaks most levels with almost no effort. Rick was the only one that felt realized here, and sadly, he ended up being the one I used the least because of the game's nature. Switching off from friends was a complete hassle too. The levels also started to blend together towards the last few worlds, and it really felt like it started to overstay its welcome by the end.
Bringing over the copy ability mechanic from Adventure was a smart move and I'm glad it became a series staple from then on. However, there's only 7 copy abilities in this game. That's not necessarily bad, but some of the copy abilities here were less than desirable. That's not to say the abilities themselves were bad, but I don't really think the level designed meshed well with some of these.
Graphically, this game is about on par with the first game but with some added flair here to spice things up. The game's score was something I found myself a little disappointed in. Some tracks in this game are great, but others I found to be pretty forgettable. The friends music was cute at first but got old REALLY fast (Thank god for the DX port making the music optional).
As mentioned before, I found myself mixed on the level design. It's amplified even further with how pretty bad the screen crunch gets. It was a minor annoyance with the first game but it really annoyed me here. It's even worse when once again you lose your copy ability after 1 hit. It was already annoying here, but I'm genuinely shocked they did not think to just remove that mechanic considering the screen crunch. There were plenty of times I got hit by something I did not see and I lose my copy ability, brownie points if it happened in the water too. Maybe the games constant slow down would've fixed this but the DX part utilizes the GBC hardware so slowdown is way less of an issue, but maybe you shouldn't use slowdown to artificially fix something? The screen crunch really did add a huge chunk of artificial difficulty to an otherwise easy game. I ended my save off with 31 lives dying only once or twice. Speaking of losing copy abilities in 1 hit, the fact that certain enemy hitboxes would linger for a bit in that little explosion effect got really old really fast.
Probably my biggest issue with the game was how it handled getting the good ending. Each world has 1 Rainbow Drop you can find in a certain level. Some of these require a certain copy ability or a certain animal friend. Fair enough, that's not a bad idea. It gets REALLY annoying once the game asks for certain animal friends that aren't even in the level you get the drop from, especially if it was Kine who moves super fucking slow on dry land. Once you add on all of the other issues like the screen crunch, losing copy abilities in 1 hit, it just all falls apart IMO. I get what they were going for with encouraging experimentation, but this was just a very poor way of handling it, and I'm glad 3 improved on it in almost every way. Next time I go through this game, I'll probably just ignore the rainbow drops, because good lord I did not like that final boss. Probably THE worst final boss I've played so far in the series. The stiff controls with added momentum really started to piss me off and Dark Matter's 2nd phase feeling like it had no consistent pattern started to frustrate me. Also, the fact that this fight has a TIME LIMIT too is really fucking stupid. Kirby moves so slow during the fight by the time I finally beat the stupid boss I was nearly dead.
Overall, I think it's still good overall, but I found it to be very flawed the further I got in. I still think it's a step up from Dream Land 1, but comparing it to Adventure I found it to be a step backwards in pretty much every way. I've yet to really compare it to 3, but comparing it to 3, I almost don't really see the need to go back to this one when 3 is just 2 but better in pretty much every way.
Game is very fun. Also the first appearance of 0 and dark matter.
Amazing