Kirby's Dream Land 2

Kirby's Dream Land 2, known in Japan as Hoshi no Kirby 2 (星のカービィ2), is a platforming video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy handheld video game console. It was first released in Japan on March 20, 1995, and was later released in North America on March 21, 1995.

Kirby's Dream Land 2 continues the adventures of Kirby from Kirby's Dream Land and Kirby's Adventure, adding three animal friends to aid Kirby in battle. It can be played on the Super Game Boy, and gives slight changes to the game, such as adding a custom color scheme, a special game border, and a few new sound effects.

Kirby's Dream Land 2 was slated to be remade for the Game Boy Color as Kirby's Dream Land 2 DX, but was cancelled along with Metroid II: Return of Samus DX.

Plot
The plot follows Kirby, a resident of Dream Land. The rainbows that connect the islands have been stolen by an evil being called Dark Matter, who has possessed King Dedede, intent on conquering Dream Land. Kirby sets out to defeat Dark Matter, accompanied by three new friends.

Gameplay
Kirby's Dream Land 2, like previous Kirby titles, is a platforming video game. Kirby is able to walk, swim, and fly throughout a variety of levels, using several allies and enemy powers in order to reach the goal at the end of each level. However, a variety of obstacles lie in his path. These obstacles range from pits to enemies. If Kirby touches an enemy or is hit by an enemy's attack, Kirby will lose one bar of health (out of six total health points).

Kirby's basic abilities include running, jumping, flight, swimming, and inhaling. Flight involves inhaling air (UP button), followed with the press of the jump button which will make Kirby fly. By continuously pushing the jump button, Kirby can reach any height (unless something prevents him from reaching that height). At any time when Kirby has inhaled air, he can exhale by either landing on the ground or you can also release it yourself. When the air is released, Kirby will exhale a puff of air, which can be used to damage enemies or destroy blocks.

Inhaling objects, enemies, and food is the trademark ability of Kirby's. To inhale anything, the player must hold down the B button. Kirby can then indefinitely inhale, and if an enemy, object, or food is in range, Kirby will eat it. When food is inhaled, it is automatically swallowed and will heal Kirby if he has any damage. When Kirby inhales an enemy or object, it remains in his mouth. At this point, Kirby can shoot them out as a star (causing damage to anything in its path), or simply swallow them. When certain enemies are swallowed, Kirby will gain their ability, such as ice breath or the ability to turn into stone.

Kirby's Dream Land 2 introduces three new allies to aide him in his adventure: Rick the Hamster, who allows Kirby to ride on his back, he runs faster and doesn't slip on ice; Coo the Owl, who can carry Kirby and fly through harsh winds and allows Kirby to inhale while flying; and Kine the Ocean Sunfish, who can carry Kirby in his mouth and swim through waters (even against currents) with ease (although he performs poorly on land), with him Kirby can inhale underwater. Whenever Kirby is aided by an animal friend, his current power is altered. For example, if Kirby has the spark ability if he rides on Rick, he can use an attack very similar to the beam attack from Kirby's Adventure.

Presentation
Like Kirby's Dream Land, Kirby's Dream Land 2 's visuals are grayscale and two-dimensional. However, when played on the Super Game Boy, the graphics are drawn in limited color with a border featuring Kirby and his animal friends.

Unlike the original Kirby's Dream Land, Kirby's Dream Land 2 is composed by both Hirokazu Ando and Tadashi Ikegami, both regular composers for HAL Laboratory.

Reception
Kirby's Dream Land 2 was a hit and became a bestseller for Game Boy, selling more than a million units.