seaman 2 is in a very unique pocket of Localization Hell. not only will it (likely) never be localized officially, but even if some fans were to try translating it, they'd have to like... completely overhaul the game's voice recognition system. they'd need to make the game recognize english commands and phrases instead. i don't know if that will ever be possible

Leonard Nimoy, the man who graciously provided his voice as the narrator for the first game, is sadly no longer with us as well

the only way to ever experience this game, no matter what, will be to become fluent in another language

An honestly brilliant puzzler, doomed to obscurity. Guru Logic Champ is something like Flipull meets the exact inverse of Picross; instead of carving a picture into granite, you instead are given something of a "stencil" and must build it up from scratch by shooting blocks into the frame from the cardinal directions... a truly wild amount of headache-inducing geometric reasoning, gap shooting, and needle-threading ensues.

Considering the clumsiness of Denki Blocks, plodding pace of Mario vs. DK, and mediocrity of Tetris Worlds, this might just be the best puzzle game on the GBA, though ChuChu Rocket puts up a fight.

One of the main reasons I had not replayed Kirby's Dream Land 2 in almost fifteen years were the visuals. Regardless of how I might protest otherwise, graphical presentation does, in fact, matter to me, especially when it comes to older games. Kirby's Dream Land 2 is a very nice little game and a solid Gameboy game on its own, but when played on even a Gameboy Advance, its tri-color presentation tends to bring out the feelings I have with the rest of the game; a sense of dull apathy. A "yeah, this is alright I guess, but I'll stop after this level's over". Dream Land 2 on its own is simple, relatively uncomplicated, and doesn't really have any stand out features beyond the introduction of Kirby's animal friends (and the secret level layout in 5-5). So if I'm me, 25, choosing between Kirby's Dream Land 2 and something similar, like Kirby's Adventure, I'm more likely to choose Kirby's Adventure because "haha it looks pretty".

Well, no longer!

Kirby's Dream Land 2 DX is the exact upgrade the original game needed: a direct port to the Gameboy Color. With the added color, the visuals pop! These neat little background details are now not only visible, but actively interesting too. Maybe it was just because the colors had folded into the flaps of my brain, but I did not remember how detailed some of the level select maps were in this game. Red Canyon, and Cloudy Park are my personal favorites. The former takes on this deep rusty-orange color scheme that accurately reflects its name while still having little tufts of green that add some lovely contrast. The latter now has so much more detail in its background, like little spires and tints of yellow on the clouds, which provide a tasteful contrast against the soft purples and grays of the mountain landscape. These two are made especially more impactful upon reaching the final zone, Dark Castle, which still maintains a tricolor aesthetic, now just with purples, grays and black. This trichromatic final zone really stands out as a "dark imposing site" with the addition of color to every other zone in the game. It has to be seen to be experienced in full.

Dream Land 2 DX is absolutely the definitive way to play Kirby's Dream Land 2. Beyond the obvious improvements with the visuals, there are also a few measures taken to reduce any slowdown in the software, which is a godsend against later bosses. I distinctly recall being quite frustrated fighting later bosses and having my inputs eaten because I was trying to both move, jump and spit at the same time. While still not perfect, Dream Land 2 DX makes me feel like I have slightly better control over Kirby. This control really makes a difference in the last few parts of the game, especially against the fight against the boss at the end of Dark Castle (even if its still bullshit at times).

If you're looking to play Kirby's Dream Land 2 in any capacity, I cannot recommend this version enough. It's worth your time to find a cute little emulator, a corresponding rom of the game, and patching it with the excellent work done by kkzero. It's a short game, that still holds up quite well for a game turning 30 next year, and its made all the more interesting and fun with the addition of color.

I'm keeping the GBA Marios in my collection, even though there are the original NES classics still available, even though there's also All-Stars, even though the SNES originals are far better as well, even though they sound much worse and the screen crunch is not great, for the simple reason that the goofy Charles Martinet voices are in these. That's it. It's the end of 2023 and I have officially reversed my stance on Charles Martinet Mario voice. Gimme more wahoo! and letsa go! please. Oh, you want a patch for Super Mario Advance 4 that gets rid of the Charles Martinet voices? That already exists, dumdum, it's called Super Mario Bros. 3.

Weird how I never knew what I had all along until it's finally gone. On an unrelated note, I do tend to get into classic bands just as their members start passing away. My first major Beatles phase started not long before George Harrison died. Ramones? High school, well after Joey left this earth but right when Dee Dee got it. The Clash? Around the same time, RIP Joe Strummer. The Cramps? Oh, you better believe it was around 2009 when I was starting grad school and Lux Interior passed away. The moral of this story is if you want to live, you better not let me like what you do. Hideo Kojima is going to be immortal, I guess

I was lucky enough to get to spend a week at a lake "resort" for early summer vacation as a youth. They had a little arcade that no one ever went to that was just a concrete box with a couple games in it and maybe even a laundry. Choplifter was one of the cabinets there.

Now, you'd think that a rowdy youth would be obsessed with a helicopter that can blow up jets and tanks, but for some reason this game didn't take up as much of my time as the other cabinet in that concrete box: Pac Man. Probably because we found a way to cram our grimy mitts into that machine and activate the coin counter...

At any rate, I recall the controls on Choplifter were also a bit tricky to master. I mean, helicopters are a crazy thing to fly around and people crash them all the time. Plus, rockets on helicopters that can shoot down jets? Bananas.

Now maybe if we'd figured out how to play for free...

Review from thedonproject.com