Kirby’s Dream Land is largely carried by the cute animation. Seriously, this is super expressive for Gameboy. Kirby and Dedede are especially endearing. As for gameplay, the inhaling mechanic is solid enough, and improves the otherwise basic platforming.

I was surprised when the last level turned out to be a boss rush. It’s pretty crazy to have reused content in such a short game. I doubt that hardware restrictions are the reason. Metroid 2 and Mario Land 2 released on Gameboy at around the same time, and were still able to feel complete despite the hardware. Dream Land’s length barely reaches a fraction of those games.

That said, I still had a fun time playing this, and keeping in mind that it was made for new, younger gamers, it clearly fulfils that purpose.

A wonderful introduction to a wonderful character. Many of Kirby's trademark abilities would be introduced with this first game through a relatively short, but very accessible action platformer with some light shooter segments. The gameplay was intentionally designed to be easy to pick up and play by none other than the Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai, and even his first game shows his dedication to making games accessible while also offering a hard mode for those looking for more of a challenge. The cutesy visuals and excellent soundtrack really helped to cement the look and feel of Kirby and instantly made him a household name in Nintendo's roster of mascots.